Why Am I So Damn Slow?
Hi all,
I’m three weeks into my first IB internship at a solid UK bank. It’s my first actual internship and I’m finding myself painfully slow at doing anything really .
Even basic stuff like updating logos or labels end up taking way longer than expected. I’ll think, “10 minutes max” and like 45 minutes later I’m still fiddling there. And the worst part is, even after all that time, the quality still isn’t there. My analyst has been patient, but I can feel the frustration building up.
I’m triple-checking everything because I’m scared of sending something sloppy but I'm already going at max speed so I find myself both slow and not confident in the product.
What’s making it worse is that I don’t sit near my analyst on the floor, so even quick questions turn into awkward messages or pings, which I hate doing too often.
Would appreciate any advice. I want to get better but right now I just feel behind.
Thanks in advance for any insight!
TL;DR: 3 weeks into my first IB internship, and I’m moving painfully slow. Even basic tasks take way too long, and the quality isn’t there. Analyst seems frustrated, I’m stressed..
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s how you can address your concerns and improve your performance:
1. Time Management and Prioritization
2. Improve Efficiency
3. Communication
4. Build Confidence in Your Work
5. Leverage Your Analyst
6. Mindset and Stress Management
7. Practical Tools
By implementing these strategies, you’ll gradually improve your speed, quality, and confidence. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint—focus on consistent progress!
Sources: How to kill it as an intern, Starting my first IB internship in October: What advice can you give me?, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/extremely-nervous-advice-for-intern?customgpt=1, Incoming intern stress, The Best IBD SA OCR, Interviews and FT Offer Conversion Posts on WSO
Adderall
The thought genuinely crossed my mind lol. Is it any good?
Do NOT use that shit.
Well, what should I do then?
Coke
If you need substances then this industry is not for you. This isn't the damn TV or the movies, it is a normal office job.
In all honesty its fantastic, but be careful, if you're doing it do it sparingly. I would stick with traditional stuff, ex; zyn, nic patches, caffine, etc.
Where is your bottleneck? While this isn't an exhaustive list, it might be a good starting point to help you get faster.
FWIW, I am 4 years into the job and and 90% of the time, things will always take longer than what a superior expects. Prioritize quality over speed - I would rather something come back to me thats right, but has taken slightly longer. To your point around constantly pinging your analyst - complete the task as best you can and ask all of your questions at once - will save you the back and forth. Don't stress, we all go through it!
Yep, this guy gets it. Solid advice
As someone else asked, where exactly are you falling down? You've asked this Q but the fact you've not really tried to communicate to us what you think the problem is tells me that you have no idea.
You need to take an almost third person viewpoint of your workflow and identify why your perception of a tasks time is so much longer than it's actual time. Where exactly are you wasting time?
Again as someone said, most tasks take longer than you expect them to. At uni I used a rule of thumb when planning my day: all tasks will take 1.5x as long as I expect them to. So when I timetabled, I assigned 1.5 hours to all tasks I "thought" would take 1 hour.
Nonetheless 10 mins task to 1 hour is a big disparity.
Don't worry - it's natural especially during your first internship. Personally I feel analysts giving you tasks should be at the very least part empathetic to allow you to learn, but it's important to not overly-bombard them. Always try look / ChatGPT something up before asking them is commonplace advice. But the nature of the job is that it's volume-heavy, you'll improve by doing the same standard decks over and over again. Personally, I'm a bog standard template recyler, don't care if it's not the most beautiful or creative, but if it replicates recent templates made by myself / other team members and is fine, i'll maximise them as much as i can.
go slower to go faster
Your analyst is a dud if he’s getting mad. You’re an intern you probably don’t know how to use a keyboard. But that’s the industry people work in I guess
Someone else mentioned this but I'll echo it. Quality>>>>speed, it's better to spend time and get something right the first time rather than send something to a superior and have to revisit it and waste more time. Once people can except quality work consistently, even if it takes some time, you'll be more trusted and hopefully land a return offer.
Wish you the best.
do you think you were skilled enough when recruiting or were you a you know what hire
I am basically your tipical patagucci euro target npc if that helps, guess i checked the boxes?
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