Alright, so about a month ago I posted on tips on prepping for the S&T internship, with the promise of providing some additional tips on what to do during the internship to maximize your chances of an offer. These are some general tips I would consider the most important, and hopefully other users can chime in with any advice or things they were able to do to convert, because lets face it, as an intern your one and only goal is to get that FT offer.
- STEALTH
If you have followed my advice, chances are you know your shit when it comes to technicals. Now the most important part is not actually having the knowledge, but letting people know you have it without coming across as a complete tool. This is not as hard as it sounds, as you will get tons of opportunities to show yourself (ie. open outcry trading games where you can own noobs by arbing the shit out of them when their prices are out of whack, presentations you will have to do, trade ideas you generate, helping other interns, intern exams etc). The hardest part is waiting for opportunities and not forcing it. Keep in mind though that this isnt black and white, and heavily depends on the desk. On my first rotation the manager told me I should do stuff like send out a daily log of stuff I did each day to her, yet when I tried it on another rotation the manager hated it cuz he thought I was trying to show off, Adapt (see point 3).
Under stealth also falls the idea of being uber competitive. Dont be an asshole to other interns. Noone likes someone who is competitive with their own teammates, no matter how badly you want to show off your killer instinct.
- TALK TO PEOPLE - ALL OF THEM
The worst thing you can do is to sit at your desk all day working and only have contact with a couple people or just your desk. Its a big floor, get out there and meet people. These people know what they are talking about and I guarantee that you will learn more about the business by talking to people then sitting at your desk. If you have projects to do, rather stay later or come in on weekends to get it done, rather than sacrifice time networking. You want as many people to vouch for you as possible, because guess what, at the end all the big MDs sit down together and go through the interns one by one and if noone knows you, then you are probably not getting an offer.
Talking to people is also a great way to see whats happening in the market. One of the biggest hinderances for interns is if they get a Bloomberg, because they get attached and it becomes too easy to follow the markets on the screen, instead of talking to people. This also connects with point number 1, the more people you talk to, the more opportunities you will get.
One piece of advice on going up to people. Chances are they will be busy most of the time. The best strategy I found was to plan a day ahead of time. Therefore on Monday I would go to four different people, and each one I would say if there is any time they are least busy and I could come sit with them for a bit, then you agree upon a specific time. This way you have almost like appointments for each day and its much more specific foir the people as well. It also shows you are considering their workload.
- READ THE SITUATION
This relates to point number 1, but needs to be talked about in a general sense. This is rule number 1 of survival as an intern. Make sure to read the situation before you act. Not all people are the same, and not all desks are the same. Just because you didnt have to go get lunch for one desk, doesnt mean you arent responsible for food on another desk.
4.BECOME A GO TO GUY
I dont mean just for the desk you are working on, but for other interns. If you are really good at VBA or Excel, then you will find that if you open up yourself other interns will come to you for help. Having other interns come to your desk asking for your help/opinion gets noticed, adn sends a strong message. I remember at one point one intern was the VBA guru and anotehr manager actually sent their interns to go ask this intern for help. Thats the kind of recognition you want.
- DO NOT MESS UP LUNCH ORDERS
Trust me. Mess up one and it will set you back a huge amount of progress.
- IF YOU WANT IT, GO GET IT
If you think you would enjopy a particular desk, go up to them and try to get a rotation with them, simple as that. Authentic initiative is always aprreciated.
I probably missed out tons of stuff so if any of you guys have tips or tricks make sure to add them on.
