What it’s like to intern at GS: feel free to ask about anything.
Have some time since it’s Labor Day and classes are light this week. Thought I’d give my perspective and answer questions on what it’s like to intern at GS in IB.
Edit: see this got a lot of hate. I guess one could take this as me being an a** and humble bragging. Intent here was to shed light on the experience
How did you pin Lloyd in your interview? In my superday he had just been oiled up so I had a hard time getting a grip on him.
Lived in an NYU dorm. Roomed with a friend. Had to make arrangements on my own
Hard to say because I haven’t worked at another bank. A few positive things stick out that may (or may not) be true elsewhere.
People are generally willing to meet you, get coffee, give advice, connect you, etc. Everyone is usually generous with their time, even if they don’t have a lot of it.
Senior people were generally pretty welcoming and friendly. Yes, their processes were still inefficient and some of the tasks asked would drive people crazy, but they were generally nice people.
I suspect these things are true as well at many banks. Frankly, the business has become so commoditized... wouldn’t surprise me if the BBs are culturally fairly similar. GS still comes out on top but that’s likely because of the deal experience + the reps & creativity that come with that experience
Does it live up to what you thought it would be , everyone talks about GS being the golden ticket to prestige so did you get chicks by saying you work at goldman, were your family & friends happy for you and overall do you feel more secured in your professional career because of this brief stint?
Lol. Can’t tell if this is sarcastic or not but will answer anyway. Also interesting that you assumed I’m a man...
Women don’t care, nor should they. GS is a great investment bank, but unless a woman you’re talking to has seriously f’d priorities, it’s not gonna sway them either way. Same goes for the people working there — anyone who thinks they’re a total hotshot for working at GS, especially as an intern, is a clown.
Family and friends were proud of me but also interested in whether I actually enjoyed the experience. I don’t think any of them understood what I was really doing all day.
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I really don't know what to say anymore... I'm sure you had thinly-veiled good intentions, but...
Edit: I apologise, I was tired and unjustifiably jaded for my age (under 26). I've done a plethora of internships and had younger students reach out to ask me about my experience - it's just I would never entertain the idea of me starting an AMA on WSO about my experience as an intern. Kudos to you, hope you got the return offer.
My intent here was to provide some insight into what the internship experience is like, for the benefit of both incoming interns or people interested in applying.
I couldn’t care less if anonymous people on an Internet forum are impressed that I spent ten weeks at a bank. I didn’t start this to get some satisfaction... really just trying to be helpful
Any 140 hour work weeks? How many 120+?
Hours were probably between 80-90 each week, with a few that were worse and a few that were better. Saturday’s were generally protected, as is firm policy. Sunday’s were not, and I was there for at least 4-5 hours every Sunday with some being significantly worse
Not sure why you are getting so much hate because of the thread. The OP sounds like a genuine person looking to help others and offer guidance.
Yeah pleas comment and leave a ms ;)
So, I used to be a VP at GS in one of the most sought after IBD teams. I would say the following:
be normal, observant - you don't have to know much and no one expects you to, tbh;
rather ask too many than too few questions, especially if it comes to time management/wasting time;
Please do use your judgment and try to ask the right ones (it's ok if you don't); preferably only once;
take notes and learn what they mean, what you can action before someone gives you instructions. be proactive, but thoughtfully so;
tidy folders, sources, formatting and files. watch and learn;
make sure you know where every single data point, statement and number comes from. and that any person accessing your files will, as well;
leave all data tweaking, assumptions and judgments to more experienced people; we want to make sure we can own up to what we say and we (rightfully so) are held responsible. please do come with suggestions as we will listen to you and appreciate it, but don't ever go rogue;
do offer / invite people for coffees or catch-ups as we are all keen to get to know you, help out and we would take the time to do so. however please exercise judgment - if we don't show up don't take it personally and do not chase. I repeat: do not chase. just suggest another time or reschedule through outlook without any fuss. no need to come by and pick us up by the desk or ask if we are good to go because if we were, we would have been there. we have PAs who will make sure we don't miss appointments but if we are deep down a live situation and at least 250 emails behind, your coffee appointment will go unnoticed I'm sorry; however we are happy to do it next time if it works better; ]
always read through, double-check, triple-check, sanity-check everything. make sure things tie, especially if you have changed a seemingly small assumption somewhere which may (or probably will) bring changes to more places than you think, if only a decimal. Check for double spacing, referrals to old versions but importantly to other presentations and companies. Mistakes and typos etc are completely fine as those happen (as long as you own up to them), but sloppy mistakes, esp those which would be avoided by just flipping through without even having to review or read the words on the pages, are not ok and they have an exponentially negative impact on the responsible person. we are all busy and the likelihood of presenting the client with materials containing references to another client or with section dividers not making any sense is directly damaging, sometimes also from a compliance perspective;
on the same note - don't ever judge your performance after the tasks you are asked to help out with and never ever, ever, see yourself as above any task; no matter how mundane. i'm eight years in, I have a pretty decent CV and pedigree but I still happily make or edit the simplest of charts or pages and will continue to do so as they are so very important. what some call 'monkey work' is actually not seldom the most visible to the client and to whoever looking through the materials we have produced. most often these are also not explainable, forgivable and may account for the whole difference when it comes to the perceived level of professionality.
Agreed - it's fun, developing and fulfilling to sit with complex modelling and analyses. This is an important part of our work (however, a surprisingly small part ) but if we have a team rushing through simple market size charts and thereby making stupid mistakes by virtue of 'this is beneath me', we will def lose the pitch and that rightfully so;
Keep your integrity and do make people aware if you don't feel well, if you have an important event, dinner, family gathering coming up or whatever along those lines. People are more understanding than you think but it's important to think through how you present it if you haven't been around long enough to build up some goodwill. Don;t ask if it's ok that you have x; make them aware that you have x, that you would greatly appreciate if you could attend but -most importantly - present them with a solution instead of coming to them with a 'problem'. for example:
That you are aware you are busy but that you have liaised with the team, completed the analyses you were expected to help out with, that you would only be off for x time and back in the office in the morning, that you have left your phone number with your team and made arrangements so that you can go back to the office after [the ceremony] if needed, that you can be fully online again after x hours yada yada. We don't care where you are or how you do it but we do want to be assured that everything is under control so if you can make sure we don't have to doubt this we are all good. and, importantly, most of us (especially I) do not want you to miss out on important things. i can only talk for myself but as long as I am made aware i would do everything I could to ensure you wouldn't ever compromise things that really matter, even if that meant i would have to work flat out over the weekend formatting a ppt;
i surely have left out tons of things unintentionally but do reach out or ask if anything. please do remember that we are only people as well.
good luck