Hey Guys,
I will be starting as a SA at the end of May. I like to think I am pretty well verse in accounting and finance, but is there anything that any of you did/wish you would've done that helped? Some people I have talked to said there's no good way to prepare. Just wanted to get some thoughts!
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Excel Crash Course (Wall Street Prep) Powerpoint course (BIWS)
Here is my recommendation, you will be considerably faster after those courses, regardless of prior knowledge
Bump also interested.
There's no need to bump a thread when the last reply was only 40min ago.
Yeah fair, did not notice that.
Preparing for SA internship? (Originally Posted: 12/07/2016)
Hey all,
I am a junior right now. Next semester I will be studying abroad in South America at a school without relevant financial accounting/corporate finance coursework. I haven't taken financial accounting or corporate finance yet at my home college. I memorized accounting/corp finance for my interviews, but I have some gaps in my knowledge.
Do you all have any good resources to learn accounting/corp finance from the ground up in order to prepare me for this summer? I want to crush it at my group, and potentially be in a good spot to lateral to another group/firm. I know I will have to have my finance knowledge down walking into the FT interviews.
Thanks
bump
I finished my internship this past summer and I believe the biggest skill to come in with as an intern is being able to comfortably go through the different financial statements. A lot of the job is accounting-based and being able to look at the numbers and understand what's relevant for your model or pitchbook. That said, I think any of the training programs out there like Wall Street Prep or BIWS do a solid job. I use WSP, which has two different courses on accounting as well as reading the financial statements themselves. I'm sure you could find some free resources on YouTube or wherever as well.
Aside from that, the biggest takeaway I saw is that in order to crush it, you just need to be dependable and likable. Don't fuck up multiple times, don't deliver shitty work, and ask your analysts if you can help them out every once in a while. From there, your responsibilities will grow over the course of the summer and you should wind up with a good review. Have fun studying abroad.
What about excel and powerpoint? Any good ways to prep for that if someone is starting at ground zero?
Advice on preparing for internship? (Originally Posted: 01/05/2018)
Hi guys! I'm interning at CS in the IB department next summer. I'm really glad I got this opportunity, but I'm a little worried about converting the internship to a full-time offer. I go to a non-target, so I don't really know a lot about IB or the finance world in general- do you have any tips for how I can prepare for this internship so I don't seem like someone who knows nothing? I really want to do well! Thank you so much!
Enjoy college, you'll learn everything on your job/during training
Best Practices for SA Prep — Nontarget undergrad made offer to PE MF (Originally Posted: 01/15/2018)
Hey Monkeys,
I've been wandering these forums for too long. I'm a junior at one of the Ivy League schools—not known for placing students straight into PE and its status as an "IBD target" is controversial on these forums—and was fortunately made a summer analyst offer at one of the megafunds (~100bn in total AUM) after interviewing for banks and buyside firms (what a hell of a process recruiting is!)
We're a liberal arts school. I'm a double major in the humanities, and I learned the technicals necessary for my interviews by busting my arse and self-studying technicals during summer 2017 and the ensuing 4 months of recruiting season. Much of what I learned came from Rosenbaum's IB book and the WSO forums.
My study materials were: -Rosenbaum IB -M&I400 -Vault Guide to PE/HF -Breaking Into Wall St
They typically don't hire from schools like mine and historically have hired from schools like Wharton, Ivey, Michigan etc. I was their first offer to someone from my school and am super proud and fortunate about that, but this means I've got to grind over the coming months to learn what my non-technical education hasn't taught me and what the four or so interns with technical educations will have a more in-depth background on.
I've got to... a) become an excel wizard b) learn the ins and outs of banking/PE technicals c) and develop an investing mindset (I'm not as concerned with this one — investing books + my liberal arts education will help a lot IMO)
Can you monkeys point me toward the best resources? Does anyone have an all-encompassing knowledge-gaining process they found worked for them and might make sense in my case? Something tells me I'll need to learn more than what's just in Rosenbaum...but maybe I'm overplaying it.
If it matters, the fund specializes in special situations/distressed buyouts.
Happy to speak with anyone about my recruiting process too if hearing about it might be helpful to you personally.
Thanks Monkeys,
lbyo, bummer your thread hasn't had a response yet. Sometimes bots are smarter than humans anyways:
Or maybe the following users have something to say: Kai Yuan Wang brianpgray04 VeryPrivateBanker
You're welcome.
for investing mindset, start reading PE related news (PE Hub, term sheet, pitch book, etc.) to become familiar with current industry trends, deals, etc. for excel and modeling, either take one of the financial modeling courses or try to self-study by practicing building LBOs. if you search around the forum here and the internet there are templates out there and you can use any public company 10k to start. while building / practicing, try to not use your mouse in excel. print a copy of common shortcuts and for what you don't know, hit alt and navigate the menu bar with the keyboard until you find what you're looking for. excel is all about repetition and practice so as long as you practice without using your mouse, it'll become easier. congrats and good luck!
Seeking advice for Internship Preparation (Originally Posted: 02/22/2018)
Hi, I am an undergraduate student from Frankfurt/Germany. This summer I am approaching my first internship in IB or sth closely related. Therefore I started preparing soe time ago and have just finished the BIWS Excel and PowerPoint Courses and I feel like they will actually help me in the internships. Now I wanted to start the Financial Modeling Fundamentals Course, which leads to my actual question. What of the following would prepare me better for an internship:
Continuing to get faster in Excel and PowerPoint + working thoroughly through Rosenbaum and Pearls Investment Banking Book or Chosing the BIWS Financial Modeling Fundamentals (if not taking the price differences into consideration) or just getting the/an Investment Banking Interview Guide and learn all the questions that come along by heart?
Due to the time left I can probably only chose one of the above. I am a bit unsure, if a textbook will really help me gain applicable things. On the other hand I feel like the combination of Excel, PowerPoint and Rosenbaum could serve as a decent basis.
Would be grat if s/o could share his experiences. Thanks in advance!
Can't tell about its applicability, but I find Rosenbaum in general a very good book and I don't think you can do much wrong with working through its contents.
I'm also prepping for an internship, my plan is just to read anything and everything related to IB lol. I think the main thing you ought to focus is Excel, because it's a bit difficult to teach in a short period of time and it's a really great skill to have. As far as technical books go, Rosenbaum is the gold standard. Paul Pignataro's books came in handy for me as a form of revision, while the BIWS videos were a nice way to incorporate Excel into everything
I'm also reading a lot of history books on economics and finance (various crises etc), could come in handy too
Prepping for the Summer Analyst Gig (Originally Posted: 12/30/2016)
Hey everyone!
I received an offer to work as a Summer Analyst at a BB (think Citi/ CS/ BAML) in its M&A group. I just have a couple of questions as I prepare for the summer and hopefully put my best foot forward.
1) What kind of hours will I be expected to work? Obviously, I've heard the hours are brutal (~80-100). However, some of my colleagues have stated that Summer Analysts don't actually work that much and usually clock in around 70 - 80 maximum. I'm skeptical of that claim, and am inclined to believe that 80-100 hours a week is more realistic. Thoughts? I'm not too concerned about the hours - I've worked worse hours before for previous internships and jobs - I more just want to get a feel of what will be expected of me.
2) What is the compensation typically like for Summer Analysts at BBs? In my offer letter they've stated that I will be earning a prorated amount for 10 weeks from an $85k annual salary. This comes about to $1634. However, I'm somewhat unsure of what my actual compensation will be like because one sentence states that the "1634 is intended to compensate you for all hours worked in a workweek" while the next sentence states that I'm eligible for overtime. Clarification?
3) Anything you suggest I can do to best prepare for the summer? I'd obviously studied for the interview but I don't come from a crazy technical finance background, and I don't want to be behind the rest of the analyst class when it comes to modeling for M&A work. Are there any online courses/ educational kits you'd recommend for people who want to be brought up to speed quickly for IB summer internships?
Any sort of help would be amazing. Thank you so much!
Bump!
Congrats on the offer! 1) 100hrs, but always be willing to work more and help others if you want to get an offer 2) you will get 85k pro-rated, I am not familiar with NY laws regarding overtime but I doubt they will pay it 3) if you got offer I am sure you know your sh*t, so relax and start your gig as fresh as possible because it is gonna be tough. You can reach out to some analysts and associates in your BB to start making some connections and better understand the place you will work at.
Finance internship prep (Originally Posted: 03/13/2014)
Accpeted job offer
I just had my second round, have you heard back?
Target Intern Preparation (Originally Posted: 09/20/2014)
I go to a target school, and i recently thought of going into S&T. I am a junior, and I don't have much finance background. Is it too late to prepare for next summer's S&T internship? When does recruiting usually start?
Thanks!
Know how S&P, 10 year, EURUSD, and IG/HY spreads have been trending. Be able to talk macro or give a trade idea (usually doesn't have to be equities). Know what S&T actually is/what first-years frequently do (depends on desk). Know on which desks you might be interested in being placed. Have a well thought out story about why you're interested in trading/sales. Competence often gets you an offer if you're at a target.
Thank you for the response! Can you suggest me how to start learning about S&P, etc? I have no idea.. do you think i'll have enough time to learn all this before recruiting starts? Thank you once again!
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