My boss does not give me work

Hi Guys,

I recently started an Off-Cycle M&A internship at a 2nd tier bank in London (Santander, Mizuho, Commerzbank, Mediobanca, Unicredit, Mitsubishi, ING Bank), I’ve been placed in a very small team (2 associates, 1 VP, and 1MD), covering a subsector in retail.

Since we WFH, our interactions are via Microsoft teams and outlook. The first two days I was busy since I had my induction and I had meetings with HR and compliance, but in my 3rd 4th and 5th days I have barely done a thing. I got a very simple task from time to time ( finish a slide, read a presentation, update some docs or pitch books) but I can be hours and hours doing absolutely nothing.

Obviously I have offered me to help in anything a couple of times, and I make sure I am available all time, I answer any chat or email immediately, but I don’t want to be asking for work all the time, since this may be annoying for them. I know I’ve only been here for 6 days, but I am starting to worry. As we do WFH, it feels like I am invisible to my team, and I am adding zero value to the bank.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did you guys do?

9 Comments
 

You have got to involve yourself as best you can. Best bet is to ask for longer term project. Ask whoever is in charge of your internship.

 
Most Helpful

What I have been told is be proactive in asking for more work/facetime if you want a return offer

 

Bosses don’t want to overload interns sometimes. You should specifically ask for more work and I’m sure your boss will come up with something for you to do.

Interested in code, market mechanics, and trading strategies!
 

I think it is too soon the get any conclusions. You’ve been on the job for just 6 days, and two of them were induction. Maybe your team is not having a good deal flow in the moment, or maybe the projects In which you are staffed are on hold.

In my opinion you are doing just fine, being available, replying emails quickly and offering yourself to give a hand.

Keep being proactive without being annoying, and wait a few days to see if the situation changes. If not, talk to superior or to the person in charge of interns, maybe you can be relocated to a busier group.

 

I’m also experiencing the same issue. I recently started at a new Company and everyone except for me seems super swamped... got staffed on a deal but the deal team has all been super busy and not a lot of real work is delegated to me as they know I’m still new and require a lot of learning and training, which the deal team just does not have capacity for atm. I’ve repeatedly offered to help but they usually just do the work themselves since the comments need to be turned quickly. 

 

Oh dude enjoy your first two weeks of peace because after that you will get pummeled with work with no time to help. I think it is normal to be free for the first two weeks and then get thrashed with work after as they recognize your existence. Just offer yourself up and enjoy your freedom until it ends.

Currently in an off cycle EB with a return offer.

Edit: A good way to spend time is work on 1. automating comps table so that you can just put in the ticker and it updates all the multiples (ask your analyst or associate for the template) 2. create a deck that has all the templates regarding your client's ppt like bullet points, charts, graphs etc. It makes it easier to craft something from a template 3. Navigate and familize yourself with the company database so you don't get lost / know where to find things. Good luck!

 

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