Is this what an internship should look like?
Doing an IB internship at a boutique, a lot of my work so far has just been ad hoc work for the analysts, basically just pulling numbers for them or making PowerPoint slides. I don’t really get a larger picture of what the project is and I’m mostly just a warm body to do the busy work.
It’s mostly work on pitches instead of execution.
Is this normal or am I being screwed? Are you guys doing interesting work?
How can I make the most of the ~ 2 months I have left? Should I be asking my staffer for specific types of work?
Thank you, A lost intern
Yes, it is fairly normal as the intern stage is typically when everything is new and you are starting to learn and gain experience. Don't be too disheartened by doing ad-hoc work and basic research or ppt slides. My advice would be to show that you are committed to learning by being enthusiastic about any task that you are given, try to take extra time outside of your internship to learn more about the deal process and modelling, and just be proactive as you progress through your internship. Be alert and absorb any new information that you can gain about the projects and industry. Eventually, you will reach a stage where you are given more responsibility and the juniors trust you to do heavier, more important work.
To be perfectly honest, you have to think about it from the Analysts/Associates' perspective. They are ridiculously busy on a lot of projects and a lot of the times on tight deadlines. It is much easier and quicker for them to do the work themselves than explain the work, write instructions, and give you a chunk of work that would take them 15 min for you to complete in an hour or two.
Investment banking is an 'experience-based' career and there is a reason the career progression has a structured process of 2-3 years in each rank. You need time (experience) to build the industry/product knowledge and modelling/content-writing skills to be polished enough for more responsibility.
However, I would say in terms of just doing pitches, that is not a great situation to be in. It is important to gain live deal experience, so I recommend you really try to push to be given at least some menial tasks and an explanation on a live deal. Best way to do this is by showing enthusiasm and being friendly, but at the end of the day, it is just down to whether they have work to give or if the Analyst/Associate is nice enough to take time to teach you the ropes.
I hope this answer gives you more perspective. Good luck on the rest of your internship.
Thank you. I'll try and network with the VPs in the teams with a lot of dealflow to see if I can get staffed on a deal. I'm at an MM tech group so the current market is pretty bad
Et expedita est voluptatem velit adipisci pariatur. Facere atque nihil officia ut. Corporis quo aut tempore voluptatem quo et. Aspernatur provident minima ipsum blanditiis ex et ducimus.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...