Preparing for an IB internship
Now that many of us are in the position of awaiting our first investment banking internship this summer, I wanted to know if the experienced users have any concrete advice on how to prepare so we can outperform other summer analysts and secure a return offer.
My personal goal is to nail down my modeling skills so that they're on the level of a 1st year analyst. Are there any good free or cheap solutions for this? TTS is too expensive...
Additionally, I will be in an industry (healthcare) group. Obviously, knowing the industry well is a plus. Does anyone have suggestions on blogs/reports/journals/etc. specific to healthcare that would be helpful for an incoming banker to read?
Bump
lmao good luck bro
Interested as well.
As a former analyst, I don't think it's realistic to think that you can teach yourself modeling before the summer, and frankly it probably wouldn't be very useful to you anyway since you'll do very little (if any) modeling in your internship. I would suggest using your time to practice PowerPoint and Excel and learn the most common shortcuts so you don't end up wasting time this summer. Being efficient will mean you can spend your time checking (and double-checking) your work instead to make sure it is error-free, and that's ultimately what will set you apart as a summer analyst.
Familiarize yourself with Excel and have a good attitude (if you're asking this question you probably already have that down). In all honesty there really isn't any worthwhile way to prepare. Every bank and group is going to be different with their systems and how they operate + you have no idea what kind of work you'll be doing.
And get some rest.
Preparation for upcoming IB Off-cycle Internship (Originally Posted: 11/07/2017)
I have scored myself an off-cycle internship this upcoming January at a well-respected boutique with very strong top management. Its imperative for me that I come out of this with a full-time offer.
I have about two months until it begins and want to prepare as much as possible to be successful in this pursuit. Please let me know any books/programs/etc you would recommend I should go through. I really want to strengthen my excel(i.e. macro) / PowerPoint skills as I understand that is a key part of an Analysts job, so if you have any suggestions in regards to how I can do that, it would be highly appreciated as well. Lastly, do you guys think its worth it to invest in something like TTS Modules(or a better option if you know of one), or do you think its an overkill? Thanks for all your help. You all have been very helpful throughout this whole journey.
You don't need macros, just know your shortcuts
I’ve heard that macros are often very helpful to automate repetitive tasks and wanted to ask people in the industry(not prospective candidates) about if it was worthwhile investing time into learning more or if that time could be better spent preparing in other ways. Thanks
Honestly the biggest thing for securing a FT offer is to work hard and have a good attitude. That being said, it's definitely helpful to come in with decent knowledge of excel/ppt so you aren't wasting a ton of time trying to figure out how to format things, etc. To that end, shortcuts are generally much more useful to learn first than macros.
There are some cases when macros are obviously helpful, but shortcuts/generally knowing how do do things is far more important, especially as an intern. Plus, its possible that the FT analysts already have macros they can share with you if there is a really manual task that is often requested.
In short, focus your preparation on understanding concepts and familiarizing yourself with excel/ppt
I am pretty good with excel shortcuts in general but I was wondering if there was a resource you would recommend that would allow me to learn the majority of important excel and ppt shortcuts I need to be successful? If you or anyone else is able to send me any material, I would really really appreciate that! Thanks a lot.
How did you go about looking for off-cycle internships? (assuming you don't go to Dartmouth)
Honestly had to get super aggressive. I’m from a non-target so I reached out and called a list of boutiques in my areas, talking to anyone that would give me a few minutes. Would always ask for their email, ask them if they would pass my resume on to someone who may be able to help, and end off by requesting a coffee chat. You’d be surprised how helpful people can be if they see you’re genuinely interested and have done everything in your control to prepare yourself for this. I think unless you’re from a target, atleast for me, cold-emailing was a waste of time for the most part, but that’s my opinion and I’m sure it’s worked for many people. Through cold calling, I was able to develop a personal connection, give them the satisfaction that I wasn’t just some fob that looked good on paper, and my resume started circulating around. I also had coffees with many bankers each week as a result of it, and if they see you’re a cool guy then you’ve already won half the battle(assuming your resume is solid), also I would recommend that treat every call/coffee chat as an interview and be over-prepared for all possible technicals/behaviourals they may throw at you. Also, ALWAYS know about the macro conditions, recent economic events, recent deals, and stuff of that nature, it’s one of the best ways to sound like a superstar. Well I think if you do that, you should be able to break in. At the end of the day, no matter your unique situation, it comes down to how badly you want to break in, if you really want to break in, your actions will speak louder then your words, and YOU WILL BREAK IN! I hope this helps and good luck.
Also, what level banker did you call? MDs/VPs/Associate? What was your opening line? Did you email them first and call if you never heard back or go straight for the cold call?
Does anyone else have any advice. Thanks a lot.
Investment Banking Internship - Prep Advice (Originally Posted: 05/01/2017)
Hey guys,
I'm starting my internship in a little over a month within IBD at BB, and I need some advice.
Thanks in advance!
How on earth did you get an internship not having this kind of thing figured out?
One for every day of the week, plus an extra for when you spill coffee. Yes I'm aware you don't necessarily need to wash them every time.
Powder blue and white
Up to you. 3-5 should do it. ONLY wear Red, Blue, or Yellow. No stripes. To some people other colors are considered to be too bold ( "you haven't earned that yet", actual quote) and stripes make you look "green" because stripes are traditionally associated with school colors. Plain colors or conservative patterns only.
Go to Men's Wearhouse and get the deal for 3 suits. All that matters is that they fit well and don't look like you bought them at the dollar store. Wearing an expensive suit as an intern will probably be viewed as pretentious.
Charcoal and Navy only.
Ask someone. You'll start on Monday which gives you plenty of time to settle in and figure it out. Odds are this will be covered in the packet you get on your first day.
Thanks!
You wash ties?
Great, very helpful!
IBD SA Preparation (Originally Posted: 05/16/2017)
Hi all,
New to the WSO community so I will begin by introducing myself. I am a penultimate year student, studying a non-finance related degree at a non-target school and am due to begin a 10-week summer internship at a US BB investment bank in Leveraged Finance - this will be my first internship. How I ended up in Leveraged Finance is totally random, I told them I was interested in all the teams I networked with and would be happy in any.
Which brings me to my question, as I come from a non-finance background, my knowledge of Leveraged Finance is fairly weak, they assured me during my interviews that I will be taught everything over the course of the internship, but I really do want to do everything I can to prepare and shine from day one. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to best prepare for an internship in Leveraged Finance, are there any specifics I need to know about the division itself, accounting/modelling, debt markets/how debt works/the types of debt/bonds/loan structures or if there are any terms that I should research and know about beforehand.
Thanks in advance.
Bump
IB Off-Cycle Internship Preparation (Originally Posted: 12/24/2016)
I am about to start an IB off cycle Internship in c. 1 month. Do you guys have suggestions on how I should prepare given that I have enough time?
I read the Rosenbaum and other IB related books in preparation for the interviews and I practiced many financial models with some free video tutorial online. I know that I won't build a model during my internship, but in case I'll be ready ! Do you think spending $ on some Financial Modeling Training is worth to improve my skills? Or would you focus on other stuff?
Open to suggestions and tips!
Thanks
You just said that you know you won't be building a model in your internship, yet you're asking whether or not you should spend money on modeling classes? After you said you learned it for free?
Go enjoy your winter break, you'll be fine with whatever you've done so far.
So we got hired for SA in IBD. How to best prepare in the coming months? (Originally Posted: 02/07/2013)
Obviously we are going to go through training right before we start. However, do you guys have any suggestions for incoming SAs in banking seeking to get up to speed?
I understand that you learn on the job. But if you have skills going into the job, you will get placed on more complex projects.
Do you guys know of any notable resources as to getting up to speed with certain industries (such as gaming/leisure) or certain product groups (M&A/Restructuring) or certain types of financial models?
enjoy the rest of the year...no need to prepare!!
I wouldn't bother too much with industry reserach unless you are in a very specific industry, where you can reasonably identify the companies you would be covering. Knowing the basics of the industry and reading a primer or two should be plenty of background. Unless you are in a restructuring group, you wouldn't be expected to know much around transaction structures.
Working in PowerPoint in Excel is usually the best way to prepare.
Also interested on this topic. If anyone has insight on whether being more prepared for the SA stint and having the skills that allow you to be on more complex projects early makes you more likely to be given a FT offer, that'd be great.
Couple of pieces of advice: 1. As an SA start small and work your way up. Hard to prep for how bankers want things on the job, so crush the really small tasks first (finding these numbers, adding logos to those charts), and then work your way up. Under promise and over deliver. The worst thing you can do as an SA is come to me, tell me you want to build a model we have to do for me, and then you make a bunch of mistakes and me have to go through and fix it. A better way to go about things is to appear to be curious -- to ask me if you can sit while I model this out if you are free, and then I can explain things along the way, and you can figure out that you grow PP&E on the balance sheet using the formula change in PP&E = CapEx - Depreciation, rather than doing the model by yourself, keeping PP&E constant and wondering why your balance sheet doesn't balance. In banking, perception often becomes reality. You have the opportunity to shape your reality into a positive one by being positive, understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and going from there. Bankers often use analysis they develop to support their recommendations to clients. Use the right decisions to make the case to the people you're working with that you're going to be a great FT analyst if they hire you. I may be saying the same thing over again but every year there are people who ignore this and suffer as a result, so hopefully I'm providing a useful public service announcement.
You should spend your time enjoying yourself in college in these months. Obviously if you feel really really rusty with the stuff you studied in interviews it can't hurt to read some valuation books etc or maybe read a sheet of excel shortcuts if you know what version of Office your bank uses, but other than that you shouldn't really prepare.
Attitude, work ethic, good communication, and asking the right questions when you are confused or wrong are all keys to getting FT offers from summers. Why?
a) If you do these things, generally your work will be better. Banking is not rocket science -- once you do things enough you'll get a feel for it. If your work is better, then people will think you are more competent.
b) Even if you were a star summer and did 2 previous summers at top-of-the-line banking groups or something, demonstrating to senior bankers that you have the right attitude to enjoy the business, communicate effectively with CEOs of clients and senior bankers and last for at least two years will a key piece of getting a full time offer. If you have a bad attitude about the business, that's the best way to adversely impact your chances of getting a FT offer, even if you're excellent technically. The FT stint is a marathon, and senior bankers want to find analysts that have the stomach to be in it for the long haul. The best way to tell if you can last for 104 weeks and stay positive through it is to see if you can make it 10 weeks and stay positive through that.
One other thing that I would add is that you want to do the best you can on the projects you've been given, not to get on the best projects possible. It's always better to do a great job on a mediocre deal than to do a mediocre job on a great deal (at least as an intern. I can think of a couple reasons why someone could argue for the opposite position for a full time analyst).
Great stuff above. I found the most important thing is attention to detail!
Here is what I would suggest:
Don't worry about the excel / PPT. Chances are, your bank will have some Macro that you've never heard of and will be starting from ground zero anyways.
Network HARD with the groups you want in for your SA. Network with other banks. Send e-mails to contacts that helped you along the way (and to those that did not help you) and to let them know what you are going to be doing.
Good luck to your summer stint!
I'm not sure that networking with other banks is the best way to go into your SA stint, unless you are just set on changing banks after the summer.
Have you even been placed into a group yet? I know at this point I hadn't even found my group for sure yet.
drink excessively every chance you get now to make up for the lack of going out / fun during your internship
Solid idea...this way you can toughen up your liver and go in drunk during the summer...your team won't even notice
also because if you are blacked out 24/7 you will have more friends - factual statement
How to Prep for an internship at Boutique/MM IB firm? (Originally Posted: 07/04/2016)
I'm a rising junior at a non-target. I've got one week before I start a 5-week internship at a boutique/MM investment bank in a southern city think (ATL, MIA, Houston). What should I do in the next week to prepare? I've been reading WSJ, Bloomberg, and following cnbc each day, but I was curious to see if anyone else had any other suggestions.
sharkmonkey, I think what you're doing is fine unless the bank told you to prep some other way. Will there be a training program? If so, that will cover virtually everything that you need to know.
Unfortunately, the bank doesn't have a training program and they didn't suggest preparing in any particular fashion. I'm speaking with an associate at the firm later this week and I might ask his advice.
Thank you for the reassurance though, I really appreciate it.
I'm an intern right now. Just read the news and make sure you're up-to-date. Going over some basic accounting will help too. The work's not that hard but it's very process-specific and therefore, unique to each bank and group. Most of the learning curve is just adapting to what each group likes to do, how it likes to do it, etc. Hopefully that makes sense.
Good luck!
You'll be asked to do rather basic things first and once you've gained their trust, then they'll give you more meaningful work and help you through the process of completing it. Because there is no training program, there is not much that they expect you to know.
What financial models/finance/accounting/quantitative stuff do you recommend I know before starting my IB internship? (Originally Posted: 12/07/2017)
I want to impress my co-workers and employer from day one. I want to do my best. In your opinion what should I know and be prepared to use?
I’d suggest browsing Macabacus template models (operational, DCF, etc). Have a look at the website’s explanations, and also try to recreate them. It’s really useful for learning excel — including their shortcuts — as well as the theory behind them.
Thanks, I am checking it out. I hear some BB are looking for people to use Java and python as well. Is this true? I thought Excel is the main tool for IB.
The stuff you were supposed to know when going through the interview process.
Review before ibanking internship (Originally Posted: 04/28/2013)
What would you say is the most important technical information to review before starting a 9-week ibanking internship? I got lucky in that my interview was mainly character-based and less technical information.
What's your beta?
Learn the technical stuff that you know you already dont know. You will likely get taught alot of what is needed during your training period but brush up on concepts, excel etc.
key word being excel
Valuation and modeling plus a lot of Excel.
Upcoming Intern BB IBD 2017: Advice Wanted (Originally Posted: 03/20/2017)
Hi,
I'm a new member. I'm a junior at a target school. I was never one of the "finance" kids, but I went through recruiting this spring, and I was lucky enough to secure an offer... I will be summer analyst at one of the BB banks in IBD (coverage). I am excited, but also nervous. I don't have a strong finance background unlike some of my peers, and I'm not sure what entirely to expect.
What can I do to prepare before this summer? What can I do to increase my chances of securing the offer? Basically, what are the major do's and don'ts you saw / experienced?
Would really appreciate your advice. Thanks!
Don't worry on the finance front. Plenty of people enter banking without strong finance backgrounds (myself included). The big banks all know this and are good at ramping you up slowly. Most of the intern work starts off pretty menial anyways.
Some basic dos and donts:
Thanks for the tips!
Anyone else...?
Sil Anything to add?
I see why they select non-finance students. You're a solid writer, as well as the above self-proclaimed non-finance poster above. Congrats, dude.
juni0rm1stmaker, babymonkey357's list is pretty good. Read the Succeeding on the Job thread in the WSO Hall of Fame for the IB forum. Now, read them again. Basically, if you act like a decent human being and never make the same mistake twice while showing some level of competency, you should get a return offer.
One important thing to note is to never make the same mistake twice. Notice how I did not say "do not make mistakes". You are expected to make mistakes, which is why an analyst will be watching you like a hawk and checking your work. But, never make the same mistake twice. If you do, it will be perceived as incompetence and that you don't care enough to fix it. Something that helped me (and something that I still do) is keeping a notebook where I list every single mistake that I make (e.g. not proofreading emails, using the wrong color blue, not opening up attached documents before hitting send, etc.). Then, set yourself a calendar reminder once a week to review all the mistakes you made during that week and come up with a solution to never making that mistake again (hint: F7 and printing everything out to proofread will be your most listed solutions).
If you have some free time before starting your internship, I suggest doing some reading (don't waste time on modeling classes or anything....your bank will put you through that on their time and dime). One book that I would highly suggest is The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (your school library probably has it, as will most public libraries). I would also suggest checking out ESPN daily (especially if you're not into sports), as well as Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast. You will most likely never be asked for your opinion on anything, but try to have one so that if asked, you don't sound uneducated.
Sil great additions. I used to do the same thing regarding the mistake journal. That is a best practice for sure.
And good call regarding reading. Summers should read the following every day: - wall St breakfast (per above) - dealbook (not that many new articles daily)
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