Hate my internship: need advice
I am a summer MBA intern at a first time fund (3 people). The job is not at all as described. I am paid ~50% of a first year analyst base salary (mind you, I was in PE pre MBA and paid market, which is 5x this comp). I did this because I thought it would be a “cool experience” to see what starting a fund was like, and didn’t need the money.
The partners have the expectation that I am available at all times. Should I dial it in for the rest of the summer (5 more weeks)? How would you handle this?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's how you can approach your situation:
Evaluate Your Goals: Reflect on why you took this internship. If your primary goal was to gain insight into starting a fund, focus on extracting as much learning as possible in the remaining weeks. Even if the experience isn't ideal, there may still be valuable takeaways.
Set Boundaries: If the partners expect you to be available at all times, consider having a professional conversation to clarify expectations. Politely communicate your availability and ensure you're not overextending yourself unnecessarily.
Leverage the Experience: Use the remaining time to build relationships and gain exposure to unique aspects of fund creation. Even if the role isn't as described, you can still position this experience as a differentiator in future interviews.
Dialing It In: While it might be tempting to "dial it in," remember that your reputation matters. Future employers or colleagues may inquire about your performance. Instead, focus on completing your tasks efficiently and professionally, even if you're not going above and beyond.
Plan Your Next Steps: Start thinking about how this experience fits into your broader career narrative. If you're unhappy with the current role, use it as motivation to target opportunities that align better with your goals post-MBA.
Ultimately, while the situation may not be ideal, maintaining professionalism and extracting as much value as possible from the experience will serve you well in the long run.
Sources: Advice for summer Asset Management interns, How to get treated like an analyst/grinded over the summer at a firm with "good culture", My Four Year Plan, Please Advise: Never-Ending Job Hunt, The Do's and Don'ts for Summer Analyst
Wtf, no. You obviously don’t want to return to this firm post MBA. I’m not saying be completely irresponsible, but don’t waste your summer grinding away trying to impress people who won’t matter to you.
Definitely don’t want to return. So what would you do?
I respect the big balls u had to risk ur mba summer internship on a 3 person ultra emerging manager assuming u actually had offers from established GPs. If u didn’t, u don’t have a right to complain, but if u did, I applaud you
That said, youll just have to grind it out and def do not burn bridges. Hard to think of it this way but it shouldnt entirely be about the money at this stage
I didn’t try to recruit for “established GPs”, I deliberately wanted to try something different. But pretty sure I have a good shot at them, I have top BB/UMM experience.
Fair point on not burning bridges. That’s what I’m trying to avoid. Trying to figure out the best way to do that because it also seems rough to work PE hours for “free”
Def no concerns getting into an established GP post mba, this is more a matter of how to handle the current situation.
If u have a good relationship with the team, and u convey it well, it’s worth raising ur concern to them on hours/demands relative to ur pay. They’re clearly paying u extremely under market and seem to be taking advantage of u. Sometimes all it takes is asking for it in the right way
Thank, I appreciate the advice. How would you frame it?
I thought we had a good relationship at the start, but clearly don’t feel I can trust them anymore/don’t feel we have a great relationship because their asks can be unreasonable: eg last minute requests at 9pm to turn a few hours of work. As you say, I feel very taken advantage of. I was honestly trying to be nice and didn’t question the comp since they don’t have much to go around, etc.
I tried silently pushing back (eg not responding to things at 10pm), but could tell they got annoyed at it
They certainly have enough to pay an intern extra over 5 weeks, it’s a load of bs if that’s what they’re feeding you. If they run even just 50m, that’s 750k-1m in mgmt fees for 3 ppl, they can slip u an extra few Gs for 5 weeks.
I can’t share more advice cuz idk the dynamics, so the only thing I can say is find a way to convey ur concerns to them strategically, otherwise, you’ll just have to continue grinding and be miserable for another month
I would try to finish out the summer, PE is a small world and they will quickly forget about a mediocre intern, but won't forget about the one who didn't even finish the internship. I would probably not respond past like 10pm going forward though.
This is a good lesson to learn as an intern before you get stuck in this situation as a full-time without a clear exit path... these first time / very small funds can be a VERY mixed bag, and places that pay significantly below market often treat you like dogshit too. People who have enough money to start a fund can factor the market price of personnel into their business plan...
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