What to expect/how to excel in a SA IB internship

Hello WSO, I want to reach out with 4 questions:

First I want to ask the forum about what to expect/what role summer analysts have in deal teams and other functions of IB? From what I have heard you are often treated like a first year analyst, with a little less responsibility, but wanted to get some more insight as to what others did on this website to make the most of their opportunity over the course of their SA stint.

Second, what things should I be learning about to aside from general finance, accounting, economic/market knowledge to be an strong SA.

Third, what are some important Excel and PowerPoint functions/shortcuts that will make you more efficient/helped you be successful as a summer analyst? I have familiarity with Excel and PowerPoint and I have decent experience with formatting things, but I am still trying to improve the way I set up Excel spreadsheets to be able to better utilize lookup, vlookup, hlookup, match, sumif and other functions.

Lastly, just any general tips and advice to performing well and learning as much as possible over the summer would be great.

FYI I will be working in M&A over the summer.

Any insight would be much appreciated, thank you.

8 Comments
 

Get to the point where the analyst can 100% trust your work without even looking. You're going to be doing boring mundane tasks, make sure it's 100% accurate. Every team page or phone number or comma. And always have a smile on your face, don't complain about anything because literally everyone on the floor has a shittier life than you and has been through much worse

 

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