Confronting your Boss
So here's the deal. I'm working as a summer analyst at a boutique bank right now and was basically told throughout the interview process that what I would be doing during the summer is performing a first year analyst role. Further, they said that being at a small bank would allow me to learn more than I would at some of the BB's because I have more access to senior members of the team and would be given more personalized training by the people in the office.
Now, it's been 2 weeks and I haven't been given any training and am stuck doing a lot of research tasks unrelated (mostly) to banking (researching an industry that the bank wants to expand into and making a list of relevant companies they could target). I haven't even gotten to work on a pitchbook or run simple comparables in excel yet. Meanwhile, the full time analysts are working on all the deals while I sit around all day screening transactions and companies in CapIQ.
I'm worried that the the rest of my summer is going to be like this and I'll have a hard time getting a full time offer fromt a different bank next year due to the fact that I never got live deal experience. Do you guys think I should confront the associate who's "in charge" of my internship program? I was going to sit down with him, tell him exactly how I feel, and ask for a guarantee that I'd work on at least one deal before my internship is over. I'm worried that he might take it as complaining (even though I'm willing to do all the grunt work on top of the deal work) and I'll be worse off since I won't get very good references.
There mere fact that you have an IB internship on your resume is half the battle. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if you were never given any responsibility. However, if things don't speed up soon I would raise my voice. Of course, you really need to be tactical. Mention how you feel as though you've mastered your current tasks and would like to take on something additional as well. When I worked at a boutique, I had to do this several times until finally I was thrown a bone and given some real work. End the end, it is hard for them to justify being mad at you for asking for more work.
Go for it. My two cents though: make sure the work you've done so far is near-perfect.
As a manager (not in banking industry) I hated it when the people who whined about not getting responsibility or promotions were mediocre producers in the tasks they were assigned in the first place.
I would listen more if that person were doing fantastic work, was highly productive, produced better quality work than expected, and faster than expected. If that person raised their hand, I would take notice.
Dude you still have research experience on your resume, which is fine as you are playing a support role.
Also, you'll just come off as wanting more work and wanting to add more value to the process - this is a good thing, Good luck!
Thanks for all the help guys! I already talked to him last week after finishing my work early and he said he'd give me more to do...but it just hasn't happened. If I finish the summer having done nothing then would it hurt me to exaggerate my experience a little on my resume to get interviews? For example, they'll be putting me through a financial modeling seminar and I was just going to put on my resume that I built financial models and leave out that it wasn't related to any deal. If they ask about it in an interview I can probably say it was for one of the deals the company worked on right?
You are in a good position to get a full time offer. I worked at a boutique for my first year and given the smaller group size, analysts are required to do a lot of different types of work including CapIQ screens and researching new industries. In fact I would say that continues at the BB level to a certain degree.
Look at it this way you have a banking internship unlike a lot of other people, you're gaining experience with CapIQ (a common database), researching new industries, developing marketing materials, all of which can be discussed in your interviews.
I suggest just soaking it all in, talk to the other junior bankers and get a general feel for what they're doing, ask them to show you some of the comp, M&A, DCF models. Maybe offer to put some slides together for a pitch book etc. I think it's most important to get a general understanding of the deal process, from marketing, pitch, execution, close. No one expects you to be an expert at modeling coming out of undergrad. Most importantly build strong relationships within your group, they'll be very helpful in giving you resume/interviwing/job advice when you're looking for a full time spot.
Curious about this too. How much room for "exaggeration" is there in a resume? Not outright lying of course but just embellishing. Is there any real way for an employer to fact check work experience except by having someone call your previous boss?
I'm having this issue right now, but in a full-time capacity.
I feel like I was materially misled, to tell the truth. I'm going to give it like 2-3 months and see if the situation improves, but to say the least, I can sympathize.
I've been there. Better to learn this lesson early though, take solace in that.
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