Getting hazed at my internship VIA menial tasks
I don't know what it is, but the menial tasks kill me in my internship. Today, I ended screwing up something as simple as putting labels on envelopes (I put them on upside down, and had to redo them all). I forgot to mail out the envelopes on the way out too. Although I was pretty tired today, screwing up on the menial tasks assigned is a regular occurrence... It doesn't help that the woman assigning these tasks to me has a rough accent.
Guys got any tips on how to tough it out through this menial task hazing?
Get the menial tasks right the first time, and then your responsibilities will increase. If they're not confident you can put labels on an envelope, why would they let you make an operating model/write a section of a memo/etc.?
You seem retarded.
Just do it
OP that's nothing, when I was doing my PWM internship freshman year I was supposed to send out birthday cards on a weekly basis. Not till the second to last week of the summer did I realize I was using an outdated list...I had been sending hand written birthday cards to the spouses of dead people.
Left that one off the resume.
Hahaha! Jeff, I would love to know if your manager approached you about it and told you before you realized it was outdated.
Yeah, I'm the only intern at this Asset Management firm. I mean, they do give me some better, more constructive tasks to do and frequently pull me from my menial tasks to show me parts of their job. I'm not stupid, I'm just trying to get the job done fast to impress them because I really want to work at this firm. I understand that doing it right and doing it fast are two different things though... I'll make it a point to double-check my work in the future.
And to the other poster, I am the only intern at this firm so this is not work that is just given to me because they think I'm incapable of handling more complex tasks - they really need the job to be done to continue on.
Example: Printing 150+ 1099's, copying them, and sending them to right address while sending some to different CPA's and some to the client sounds easy enough, but when your only working two days a week it's easy to lose track and momentum. Couple that with multiple projects.
I'm just being a bitch, wahh wahh.
Had to do the birthday card thing thing at my PWM internship too.
You're gonna do menial tasks as an intern.
You're gonna do menial tasks as an employee.
I'm not sure how that constitutes getting hazed... But, I'd definitely say this is a bad sign. Getting assigned menial tasks (unless you're the only intern there) generally means that you have screwed up too much and that they no longer trust you. From the sounds of it, you're only reinforcing their belief that you are incompetent.
Menial tasks suck ... I remember scanning entire binders and organizing them into .pdf formats by tab for one of my managers last summer. After I did a couple of those right I asked for more challenging work and got it.
If you don't have a blindfold on and are still wearing your pants then they have not started hazing you yet.
During my first ER internship, one of the associates told me that he needed the gross retail square footage of the entire universe of companies they followed, broken out by quarter, going back ten years. Looking through QE's got about 70%, and some companies had to be broken out pre and post merger. Apparently, I had pissed someone off, and this was their way of saying 'fuck you'....
you should have asked what it was for and exposed him for wasting time/resources.
Karma's a bitch and I'm here to fuck her in the ass.
All the above shit happens in real life jobs too... the people you work for are key they will determine your staffing and experience i.e. exit opportunities.. not the logo on your business card
LOL you think this is hazing?! What the fuck have you done in life other than this that makes you think putting labels on envelopes is having?
That is not hazing, that is demonstrating incompetence. If you can't crack the egg, why should you be able to cook it?
I agree that this isnt hazing. This is work. Do it right. I worked at a full-time job 2 years out of college where one of my jobs was to order and coordinate delivery of lunch everyday for the desk. First day I made some joke about the job and my boss told me "listen, if you cant get lunch right, then how could I ever possibly trust you to trade?". From that day on I dont think anyone has ever worked harder on making sure a lunch order was handled smoothly...in fact by the end of stint there my lunch ordering procedure was legendary. When I passed the lunch ordering job on to a younger kid they hired some time later I told him the same story and he approached it with the same seriousness. The same thing applies to you...if you cant put a label on a freaking envelope then how do you expect to ever do anything other then menial jobs...you cant even get those right? Focus on this job like it is equivalent to some deal that is going to be on the front-page of the wall st journal. That is how you show people that you are somebody who takes his work seriously and this is how you leave these menial jobs behind and move onto more interesting stuff.
This. SB.
chill out menial tasks aren't so bad, they teach you to respect and discipline. My first internship was in a construction company. I really screed up things there but I understood that every job, no matter how unqualified the people who do it look, is still a valuable job and is harder than it looks. Do these tasks, do them well and understand it's easy to screw up and just focus a bit more. Life is not about making nobel prize theories everyday. i bet Einstein had to clean some bathrooms too ...
Do your job, don't whine.
Tips for SA grunt work? (Originally Posted: 05/08/2010)
It seems like the concensus is that summers don't do anything very stimulating that would require advanced knowledge like financial modeling and that we'll do our best by having a good attitude, working hard, and obsessively checking over everything we do for mistakes.
However, I was wondering if anyone had any tips on some of the more mindless things we do like formatting powerpoints and spreading comps. There's gotta be a few tricks people have picked up on these that make them more efficient or stumbling points they know to check for.
Learn keyboard shortcuts and use them. Set up a keyword search shortcut in Firefox for SEC EDGAR (go to EDGAR search page, right click in search field, add keyword search) Make friends with PowerPoint Group and Align commands (invaluable for slides with lots of tombstones, etc.)
Otherwise, you'll learn the Excel and PowerPoint tricks specific to your bank (they've got their own add-ons on top of the base app) and from the analysts.
By the way, spreading comps can get not-so-mindless in certain situations if you have to do them from filings and research (versus CapIQ or FactSet)...
Thanks. I know excel pretty well, but am lacking on PowerPoint. Any good websites? Can you go into more detail on how spreading comps gets tricky from filings and research?
SLIGHTLY RELATED
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/zoom-out-be-grateful#comment-2568…
Ha, spreading comps is never really difficult. It's pretty much plugging numbers into templates your bank has. Guess it can be a pain if you spread the income statement, but the most you'd spread is LTM/last calendar year and the only thing you really have to do is make adjustments for non-recurring items (you can generally get this directly from the research report you're using to spread projections). I've spread so many freaking comps that just the thought of them makes me sick -- though it's one of the few things I don't mind for Friday evening work, because I can generally shut my mind off, turn on the TV and drink a beer or two while spreading them.
keyboard shortcuts are so so helpful.
However, make sure you don't cut corners in your excel sheet, and keep the formatting nice. This will help you a lot later when (inevitably) something goes wrong and you have to check, updated, change, fix, etc.. your work.
Never get lazy.
Also, before you send anything out to anyone, check it thoroughly several times. There is nothing more shameful than sending something to your team and then having them point out obvious mistakes 5 minutes later.
You get paid a lot of money to double-check.
i have a pdf of excel 2007 keyboard shortcuts...it came with a fin modeling book i bought
PM me if you want a copy of it.
Don't forget that asking questions and being interested is also key to an SA's success.
Summer Analyst at a boutique - the right experience? (Originally Posted: 07/23/2012)
I'm a rising senior at a target interning at a tiny boutique investment bank in NYC. A couple of my projects included checking over a few large model for mistakes but I have not been tasked with building one of my own. I did one set of public comps and one set of M&A comps. Other than that, it's been a lot of bitch work.
Examples of what I do every day:
Updating a spreadsheet with PE/Strategic buyer responses/emails and sending it out in periodic updates to the client.
Doing research and due diligence for potential and live deals
Doing screens on CapIQ for PE/Strategic buyers that match certain criteria and then checking the list manually to see if they actually fit our client.
Making vCards for the senior bankers when they get a new contact
Researching random obscure things for ad hoc projects.
Adding charts and graphics to powerpoints
Sending out road show meeting calendar invites
Sending NDAs
Summarizing and explaining sets of documents to senior bankers
Nagging MDs every few days via email to get in touch with their contacts at PE funds so they can move to the next stages of the process with them.
Listening in on phone calls with the client and potential investors
Again, I have done no modeling. Is that normal for an IB internship? Am I going to be at a huge disadvantage in comparison to my BB friends when recruiting starts up given that I haven't built a model or done anything really quantitative?
Also, the firm sources all of its deals through relationships so there has been no pitching at all. It has all been live deals. I feel like I'm missing out on that side of it.
Any thoughts? How much actual modeling experience do BB SAs typically get?
honestly, there isn't much you can do at this point. you can ask your superiors to give you some modeling work, but you can't really do anything to make your situation better at the moment. You can always try to find another internship for the fall, i guarantee their are some investment banks in need of some interns.
your fine. The work you did sounds legit. Especially if the DD you do is interesting. If you describe what you did as DD, i can tell you if it is true DD or just banker BS.
Don't worry about the modeling. Working on live deals and developing the professionalism to support your MDs throughout the process is great experience. Obviously don't expect to work at Blackstone or wtv, but tons of bankers don't do any modeling for a few months as analysts.
sorry, what is wtv? whatever? or?
sounds right -- coming from the perspective of an FT analyst -- I can tell you that most important thing is to do what you are asked to do well and keep a positive attitude. After you finish your summer you can go from there. Good luck!
Most interns won't do any modelling. It's annoying enough checking an intern's profiles for spelling errors; auditing their model would be ridiculous. Your experience is completely typical, and you should be fine for recruiting.
ironically, those are the stuff you will be doing when you are doing FT anyways. no modeling will be a disadvantage but you can always just bs something - not like we check you on the spot over excel. make sure you learn how to actually model by doing a couple repetitions and learn your technical interview questions and you are good to go
Mind numbing work (Originally Posted: 04/16/2012)
4/29/12 Update: ( So I wanted to update everyone and see your thoughts. After much networking, I was able to land an internship for a VC firm that focuses on industries in which I am highly interested in. The problem is my co-op doesn't end until June, and the VC firm would like an intern ASAP. I do not want to burn any bridges. Any ideas on how I should go about this. Thank you so much for the help guys and gals. )
Previous post:
A little about myself to keep this topic in context. Originally wanted to get into IBD or consulting so I can get a good and broad experience in different industries, but did not get any full-time offers in those fields so I decided to take a semester off to do a finance co-op with a well-respected F100.
Unfortunately, I found out about the business line I was placed in during my first day of work and it is not of my interest. Decided to stay motivated and rock my internship so I can get a full-time offer and to challenge myself.
Three months in and I am super tired and bored of my internship. 3/4 of my time at work consists of data pulling, cleaning up the data, or correcting mistakes the analysts make. I rarely do any analysis and find my work mind-numbing. Fortunately, networking within the firm is greatly encouraged and that is my favorite part of my work. On the side, I am helping a boutique advisory firm do some valuation and putting together marketing material which is a lot more interesting but unfortunately this is only part time because I found this after starting with my co-op.
I probably should not be complaining because I see so many people beg to work for my company and maybe this is what all entry level/internships with any big company will be like? I have already mentioned to my supervisor on the type of work I would prefer, creating proformas, analyzing business cases, etc. But I suppose my supervisor is too busy and forgot or simply do not have that need.
Should I ask my supervisor again and stress that I am not enjoying my internship? Should I just quit my co-op. Or should I just stick it out, get an offer and leverage that to better things. Thank you for any advice or pointers.
Thanks guys. Wasn't sure if I should just quit and do the advisory thing full-time to gain more exposure to modeling. Also can any comment on their experiences in IBD in which they got placed in a group they had initially had no interest in.
Did you just grind it out for two years and make the most of out the situation? Just wanted to hear some first-hand experiences. Thanks!
Welcome to the world of entry-level jobs!
If it were fun, they wouldn't pay you to do it.
GIT-R-DONE!!!
you know what you should do?
Probably just stick it out
Thanks for the all the help.
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