The Thin Line Between Eager and Annoying
Hey monkeys! During a discussion I had with one MD I was trying to network with, he mentioned that one of the most important qualities for an intern is good situational awareness—that is, knowing when they should insert themselves and knowing when they should not.
Maybe for some people, this kind of situational awareness comes naturally. Unfortunately, this is not the case for me. During an internship, I'd like to show that I'm eager and that I take initiative. However, I worry that if I overdo it, I could just become a hindrance.
So, I guess my question is this: What is the fine line between being eager and annoying? Have you had any experiences where an intern (or another underling) was just too eager for their own good?
I think the fact you’re posting this shows you have some awareness. The kids that are annoying have zero awareness and think their eagerness is being perceived positively. Your goal as an intern is to learn and show that you’re useful. ‘You can’t learn if you aren’t listening, and you can’t listen if you’re talking.’ Ask questions and then shut up, let them talk. And if you want to show your eagerness in your work, you need to understand when it’s appropriate to ask someone for work/if they need help with something. They were doing their job before you got there, so it’s not like they’re always going have something for you to do. Find ways to keep yourself busy, understand when is a good time to approach someone (you’ll learn this as you understand the team dynamic), and when someone asks if you can do something focus on quality and speed. Not just one or the other.
Hey HotelMotel, thanks for responding! What would you suggest I try to do when there seems to be downtime? I was thinking maybe bringing in reading material (the news, maybe, or a book about finance) or something—or would that make it seem like I’m not engaged in the work? What is a good thing to do to convey that I’m making the most of my time, but that I’m also available to do stuff if needed?
I’m not sure what industry you’re interning in. I’m in real estate, but I’m sure what I did in general could apply to other industries. We have offering memorandums that are provided to potential buyers and outline the property entirely. I would get a bunch of those and read them, and take notes and wait for a good time to sit with an analyst for 30 min to ask my questions. There was also a model for valuing the properties, so after some guidance I was able to practice on my own with old property financials, and learned a lot that way. I’d also spend time researching/reading websites relevant to what I was doing. I would definitely not sit at your desk and read a book. I also had at least one lunch/coffee session per week with people from other teams in the office, and a couple of those lunches were with guys on the hotel team. Fast forward a few months and I reached out about an opening on the hotel team and interviewed with those same guys and was offered a FT spot in a different city. Model all of that in some fashion and you should do well.
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