Advice for Summer Associate Intern

I will be joining as Summer Associate Intern in IBD of a bulge bracket bank. I would appreciate any advice you may have based on your experience to be a successful intern. How to convert my internship into an offer? any advice...

 

There is an awesome thread on this. Do a search for Summer Analyst advice.

-------------------------------------------------------- "I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcom
 
Best Response

arrive first. leave last.

remember: last one to leave, first one to get the offer. obviously if you are a super slow worker and can't finish work on time this rule would not apply :)

have a positive attitude and DO NOT COMPLAIN even to associates. bear in mind that everybody you're working with has at one point been in your shoes. nobody is going to be sympathetic. be excited to be there, and casually/formally let them know you want the offer.

keep your mouth shut with regards to what you are working on. don't talk shit to your friends at the bar about some big deal you are involved with. we had a summer intern do this and was overhead by somebody at a different bank. he called the MD and told him that the intern was blabbing, and the client found out too. MD went fucking ballistic and the intern lost his job. remember, you are working with inside information and it is not a joke.

likewise, put all sensitive documents inside your desk drawers when you leave at night. clean desk policy will be in effect and there is punishment for people at my bank who disobey. again, insider trading/compliance issues are taken seriously.

be on time. be aware of your group's schedule and be diligent about driving work towards completion to meet deadlines.

take notes about everything so if your MD says "what happened on that call?" you can easily remind him.

double check work. attention to detail is probably the main criteria upon which you will be judged.

remember that every single person you interact with will have an impact on whether you get an offer. impress eople regardless of the department. the people at the bank who train you in excel, the people who organize events for your intern class, the recruiters, the ops people, the compliance guys, the admins.....follow up with everybody and make extra effort in front of everybody. this goes double for the analysts and associates in your group.

be on top of your game with all the silly stuff: make sure you have the correct documentation to get your security badge, know how to file an expense report, how to log into the various computer systems, write down passwords/user names, set up and use voicemail, learn how to get access to research reports, and who to talk to in the bank if you have questions.

imo your MD is going to be looking for someone that he can rely on and make his life easy. that means no-mistakes, positive attitude, and ability to work hard. even if it means figuring out how to use the color printer and/or some other stupid bs that your MD/VP/Associate doesn't have time for. do not wait for assignments, if you have free time approach your associates and see if they need assistance. be likable.

don't bug the shit out of people with thousands of questions. have a few important ones at once. don't lie or pretend to know something you don't know.

be confident but not cocky. have opinions, but defer decision making to superiors. look people in the eye. firm handshake. stand tall. smile. be respectful. they will wonder if you have what it takes to be trusted with client relationships.

be super responsive via chat, email, and phone. if someone emails me a request, i will send back a quick chat "i'm on it" and that gives them confidence that everything is under control.

eat lunch/get coffee with people. offer to order dinner, and get the order correct. be careful about how much you have to drink if you socialize. be fun, but don't get shitfaced.

read your Ks & Qs. familiarize yourself with your banks research on the companies in your sector. i recommend printing out the most recent K/Q and keeping it handy. Use little post-its to mark the IS, BS, SCF, etc for ultra quick reference. People will casually ask questions like "how much debt is on the BS" and it pays to be precise in your answer.

know how to use excel shortcuts. print them out and paste them on the wall of your cube.

your email will be monitored. don't ever send personal email from work. send personal email from your phone, discreetly. don't ever email models, pitch books, etc to your personal email

just some thoughts off the top of my head. i am sure there are better threads. congrats on your position.

FWIW i am a first year associate and had a successful internship. roughly 45% of my intern class received FT offers. it may be helpful to get an MD perspective on things, but i'm pretty sure all my advice will apply.

 

Hi I am summer Associate intern at a Bulge Bracket Bank. I am more than half way through my internship. I feel i was slow in the beginning since I was from a non finance background but I feel I picked up well. I feel mostly I did everything you have listed in your post…..showed enthusiasm and motivation, worked really late hours, volunteered on projects reached out to associates for feedback. I would say I made some small mistakes but I don’t think I made anything like a huge mistake. In my internship I worked mostly with analysts and associates and one MD. However I noticed that this week my manager would give most of the projects to the other Associate intern who initially for the first 3 -4 weeks would leave very early like 10 or 11 never came on weekends, did not volunteer for work (we are both from non finance background) I just happened to see the staffing list for projects on his desk (I am not sure how did he get it) and saw that he has been assigned on 3-4 projects whereas I have been assigned on just one small project and all the projects he has are with very very senior people where as mine are again mostly with associates. Also my review with my staffer was very dry and not much appreciation. Am I correct to infer that I would not be getting an offer. If so what do you think I did wrong. Please help as to what can I do now and do you think decisions have been made or are made at the end

Thanks

remember: last one to leave, first one to get the offer. obviously if you are a super slow worker and can't finish work on time this rule would not apply :)

have a positive attitude and DO NOT COMPLAIN even to associates. bear in mind that everybody you're working with has at one point been in your shoes. nobody is going to be sympathetic. be excited to be there, and casually/formally let them know you want the offer.

keep your mouth shut with regards to what you are working on. don't talk shit to your friends at the bar about some big deal you are involved with. we had a summer intern do this and was overhead by somebody at a different bank. he called the MD and told him that the intern was blabbing, and the client found out too. MD went fucking ballistic and the intern lost his job. remember, you are working with inside information and it is not a joke.

likewise, put all sensitive documents inside your desk drawers when you leave at night. clean desk policy will be in effect and there is punishment for people at my bank who disobey. again, insider trading/compliance issues are taken seriously.

be on time. be aware of your group's schedule and be diligent about driving work towards completion to meet deadlines.

take notes about everything so if your MD says "what happened on that call?" you can easily remind him.

double check work. attention to detail is probably the main criteria upon which you will be judged.

remember that every single person you interact with will have an impact on whether you get an offer. impress eople regardless of the department. the people at the bank who train you in excel, the people who organize events for your intern class, the recruiters, the ops people, the compliance guys, the admins.....follow up with everybody and make extra effort in front of everybody. this goes double for the analysts and associates in your group.

be on top of your game with all the silly stuff: make sure you have the correct documentation to get your security badge, know how to file an expense report, how to log into the various computer systems, write down passwords/user names, set up and use voicemail, learn how to get access to research reports, and who to talk to in the bank if you have questions.

imo your MD is going to be looking for someone that he can rely on and make his life easy. that means no-mistakes, positive attitude, and ability to work hard. even if it means figuring out how to use the color printer and/or some other stupid bs that your MD/VP/Associate doesn't have time for. do not wait for assignments, if you have free time approach your associates and see if they need assistance. be likable.

don't bug the shit out of people with thousands of questions. have a few important ones at once. don't lie or pretend to know something you don't know.

be confident but not cocky. have opinions, but defer decision making to superiors. look people in the eye. firm handshake. stand tall. smile. be respectful. they will wonder if you have what it takes to be trusted with client relationships.

be super responsive via chat, email, and phone. if someone emails me a request, i will send back a quick chat "i'm on it" and that gives them confidence that everything is under control.

eat lunch/get coffee with people. offer to order dinner, and get the order correct. be careful about how much you have to drink if you socialize. be fun, but don't get shitfaced.

read your Ks & Qs. familiarize yourself with your banks research on the companies in your sector. i recommend printing out the most recent K/Q and keeping it handy. Use little post-its to mark the IS, BS, SCF, etc for ultra quick reference. People will casually ask questions like "how much debt is on the BS" and it pays to be precise in your answer.

know how to use excel shortcuts. print them out and paste them on the wall of your cube.

your email will be monitored. don't ever send personal email from work. send personal email from your phone, discreetly. don't ever email models, pitch books, etc to your personal email

just some thoughts off the top of my head. i am sure there are better threads. congrats on your position.

FWIW i am a first year associate and had a successful internship. roughly 45% of my intern class received FT offers. it may be helpful to get an MD perspective on things, but i'm pretty sure all my advice will apply.[/quote]

 

Wow!

A monumental post...I think if you can be like that, well you are on the right track.

> I will add my personal favorite:

Even if you are still drunk from last night, go to work, eat some oatmeal, drink a couple of Redbull and pretend that you have a pollen allergy... And avoid close conversation...

 

Post of the week by Monument Man.

********************************* “The American father is never seen in London. He passes his life entirely in Wall Street and communicates with his family once a month by means of a telegram in cipher.” - Oscar Wilde
 

If I ask you to do x, please do x as best you can and let me know when it's done as soon as you're done. This may sound simple but it isn't:

If I ask you to do x and you do y, my work is compromised. If I ask you to do x and you do x in any other way than the way I asked you to do, my work is compromised. If I ask you to do x and you do it but never let me know, I assume x is not done and now my work is compromised.

Interns are there to do the simple tasks that kill the analysts/associates' day. We will give you massive amounts of menial work but it's important for us that it gets done. If you can do all this stuff and still keep a good attitude, I'm more than happy to go bat for you when FT offers come around.

 

Hi WestCoastChimp, thanks a lot for your advice! It's very important to be aware of those kind of "simple" rules! Do you work in sales, could you give me some expamples of tasks done by interns?

cheers!

 

Because I saw this post on the right side menu ("New Forum Topics") on the front page when I clicked and replied. Didn't realize it was specific to Trading until now.

I'm not in trading but we had an intern last summmer whom I handed massive amounts of work. The first couple of weeks he "free-styled" or added his twist to the work and I had to correct most of it. I sat him down and told him what I wrote above. He stuck to the script ever since and kept a good attitude about it. He got a FT offer earlier this year.

I know there are more than a few experienced members here that are in Trading so I'd defer to their specific experiences (I'm sure that "not screwing up the lunch order" is one of them).

 

And not just any cane, mind you, but a masterfully crafted and polished cane made of the finest ebony wood; not one of those rather droll plastic ones. White gloves and a Kashmir scarf are also "highly" recommended my dear good fellow.

I would also suggest a wrist watch unless you would like to be ridiculed. You need to exhibit some form of modernity, and pocket watches are so overly Victorian that you would be mocked for having one.

Now, back to my cup of Earl Grey.

 

Nothing - go enjoy your week of holidays. It is highly improbable you will be working on anything that requires a lot of such knowledge - and you will not learn much in a week anyway.

 

Do a thorough search and you can find more information.

The bottom line is simple: know your role (an intern). Humble yourself and don't act like you know everything. You got the position because they know you are competent, don't act like the job is identical to your finance classes (one intern I know told his analyst his comp "wasn't right", don't fucking do that). Your only job there is to not mess anything up. Double check everything. Stay later and arrive earlier, but don't brown nose. If you have nothing to do, they know it. Don't stick around to stick around. But if you have ANYTHING to do, do it and stick around before/past them. Good luck.

 

I am going into an internship this summer as well and I would like to be able to start off on the right foot. How should I prepare (practice with excel, etc.?)

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 
  1. Get along well with other analysts/associates. Do NOT isolate yourself from the rest of the office and just sit in your cube all day cranking in excel. If you build a bond with your coworkers you could suck and still get an offer. This means if someone walks by asking to go grab some coffee, you go.

  2. Better to ask too many questions at first then to not ask enough questions and get stuck doing something someone already explained to you.

  3. Act like you enjoy being there at all times.

  4. Do not let yourself get overly stressed and do not take little things too seriously. You will inevitably make minor mistakes along the way, just move on from them even if you get shit from associates. You are bottom of the todem pole and will get shit thrown your way.

  5. Realize what you are doing is not rocket science and try to enjoy it.

Good luck.

 

Although starting a bit later could be seen as a disadvantage, usey our second-mover position to network extensively with your peers and solicit specific advice about what desks they liked, who was the most helpful, and what they thought helped them on their rotations. Make no mention of the fact that you started later when traders question you - you'll seem defensive.

Since this is rotational, you should really focus on figuring out what you're interested in. The two main buckets I would consider are as follows:

1) Fixed Income or Equities - Are you more of a story (equities) guy, or more interested in the mathiness of bonds?
2) Rates or Credit - Do you like learning more about individual companies (credit), or prefer broad macro newsreel type analysis?

Think about these extensively when pursuing your rotations. The "sexy" desks today won't be the sexy desks next year, as everything is cyclical. Get as broad an experience as possible. Ask intelligent questions, work hard, and you should be well on your way to an offer. Enjoy London and your new job!

Best,

DeltaHedged www.deltahedged.com

"Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved." - Niccolo Machiavelli

DeltaHedged www.deltahedged.com "Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved." - Niccolo Machiavelli
 

Good advice, may i aslo add in the following

fast paced or slow paced liquid or illiquid

"Oh - the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion?"

"Oh the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion" - Frank Slaughtery 25th Hour.
 

if you are in the top 50% of your summer analyst class, you will likely receive a FT offer at the same bank. I think most of it is about your fit with the team, they take on summer analysts to determine who would make a good FT analyst, so the same criteria would be "required".

 

The offer rate at most banks - definitely all the BBs - is a lot higher tha 50%. BBs want to give analysts offers because they would rather fill the majority of their FT class with summers than people whose work they have never evaluated. This is just from my SA experience:

I think the most important thing is to make sure you turn in quality work. Whether you are asked to update comps, work on a pitch book, do a small model (I don't think summer analysts really work on any serious live deal modeling), ALWAYS tripple, quadruple check your work for error! Print everything out before turning it in. It is a lot easier to catch errors when you read it on paper than on a screen. The quality of your work is really the deciding factor as to whether or not you are competent for the job.

Whatever is asked of you, do it to the best of your ability! Don't think because its something small like making a PIB, its not a big deal. You are always being judged!

Learn as much as you can. If someone tells you something: Remember it! People don't like to answer questions twice, and once you have been taught, you should be able to have a good understanding. That is not to say you shouldn't ask questions. Definitely ask questions and make sure you are 1000% clear on everything you are asked to do. Don't "spin your wheels" and do something wrong because you were unclear about what you were assigned to do. That would not be okay.

Ask good questions. Don't ask dumb questions that you can find answers to on your own. People are too busy for that. Ask things that show that you are gaining more and more understanding as the summer goes on - you learn a lot during your summer, so whether or not you went to a target that introduced you to finance won't make a huge difference as long as you can pick things up quickly.

I think its very important to be sociable. Go with your group to lunch if they offer. At least once in the summer, probably closer to the end / offer day, ask the MD you have been working closest with out to lunch. Ask how you have been doing (seek feedback periodically from analysts, associates and VPs during the summer so this should not be the first time you are asking for feedback from someone!!) Ask why he/she went into banking, basically just have conversation that centers around them, things they like, and things they can talk about or teach you about. MDs Love that! That eat that ish up. It's hard for some people to adjust at first because they think "Oh this is a hot shot MD, he won't want to talk to me." But remember, you want to have that MD know you because you will need someone to go to bat for you when they are deciding offers. Even if your work has had a few question marks, if you have someone advocating for you, you are much more likely to get the offer than someone who may have done slightly better work, but didn't make any connections so no one remembers him or her. This is especially true in larger groups.

Before I started my summer, one of my mentors shared a key rule for interaction with anyone, whether its at social gatherings that are thrown for the summers, or at your desk. "Be cordial, be friendly, DO NOT be familial." Don't be the awkward kid, because you definitely won't get an offer. But don't be the guy who gets drunk at mixers, makes inappropriate jokes or speaks at inopportune moments. You will absolutely not get an offer either. These people are not your friends.

Lastly, respect the heirarchy of your group. If you have something that you are confused about and can't figure out on your own, always ask your analyst first. If he/she can't answer, then go to your associates. Between the three of you, you should be able to answer most things. Limit the amout of non-"big picture" questions that you ask to senior people. They will get annoyed.

I hope this helps. Good luck this summer!!!!

 
love.live.life:
The offer rate at most banks - definitely all the BBs - is a lot higher tha 50%. BBs want to give analysts offers because they would rather fill the majority of their FT class with summers than people whose work they have never evaluated. This is just from my SA experience:

I think the most important thing is to make sure you turn in quality work. Whether you are asked to update comps, work on a pitch book, do a small model (I don't think summer analysts really work on any serious live deal modeling), ALWAYS tripple, quadruple check your work for error! Print everything out before turning it in. It is a lot easier to catch errors when you read it on paper than on a screen. The quality of your work is really the deciding factor as to whether or not you are competent for the job.

This is exactly the information that I needed to know, definitely deserve my bananas points!

Whatever is asked of you, do it to the best of your ability! Don't think because its something small like making a PIB, its not a big deal. You are always being judged!

Learn as much as you can. If someone tells you something: Remember it! People don't like to answer questions twice, and once you have been taught, you should be able to have a good understanding. That is not to say you shouldn't ask questions. Definitely ask questions and make sure you are 1000% clear on everything you are asked to do. Don't "spin your wheels" and do something wrong because you were unclear about what you were assigned to do. That would not be okay.

Ask good questions. Don't ask dumb questions that you can find answers to on your own. People are too busy for that. Ask things that show that you are gaining more and more understanding as the summer goes on - you learn a lot during your summer, so whether or not you went to a target that introduced you to finance won't make a huge difference as long as you can pick things up quickly.

I think its very important to be sociable. Go with your group to lunch if they offer. At least once in the summer, probably closer to the end / offer day, ask the MD you have been working closest with out to lunch. Ask how you have been doing (seek feedback periodically from analysts, associates and VPs during the summer so this should not be the first time you are asking for feedback from someone!!) Ask why he/she went into banking, basically just have conversation that centers around them, things they like, and things they can talk about or teach you about. MDs Love that! That eat that ish up. It's hard for some people to adjust at first because they think "Oh this is a hot shot MD, he won't want to talk to me." But remember, you want to have that MD know you because you will need someone to go to bat for you when they are deciding offers. Even if your work has had a few question marks, if you have someone advocating for you, you are much more likely to get the offer than someone who may have done slightly better work, but didn't make any connections so no one remembers him or her. This is especially true in larger groups.

Before I started my summer, one of my mentors shared a key rule for interaction with anyone, whether its at social gatherings that are thrown for the summers, or at your desk. "Be cordial, be friendly, DO NOT be familial." Don't be the awkward kid, because you definitely won't get an offer. But don't be the guy who gets drunk at mixers, makes inappropriate jokes or speaks at inopportune moments. You will absolutely not get an offer either. These people are not your friends.

Lastly, respect the heirarchy of your group. If you have something that you are confused about and can't figure out on your own, always ask your analyst first. If he/she can't answer, then go to your associates. Between the three of you, you should be able to answer most things. Limit the amout of non-"big picture" questions that you ask to senior people. They will get annoyed.

I hope this helps. Good luck this summer!!!!

This is exactly what I wanted to know, definitely deserves a silver banana!

 
love.live.life:
The offer rate at most banks - definitely all the BBs - is a lot higher tha 50%. BBs want to give analysts offers because they would rather fill the majority of their FT class with summers than people whose work they have never evaluated. This is just from my SA experience:

I think the most important thing is to make sure you turn in quality work. Whether you are asked to update comps, work on a pitch book, do a small model (I don't think summer analysts really work on any serious live deal modeling), ALWAYS tripple, quadruple check your work for error! Print everything out before turning it in. It is a lot easier to catch errors when you read it on paper than on a screen. The quality of your work is really the deciding factor as to whether or not you are competent for the job.

Whatever is asked of you, do it to the best of your ability! Don't think because its something small like making a PIB, its not a big deal. You are always being judged!

Learn as much as you can. If someone tells you something: Remember it! People don't like to answer questions twice, and once you have been taught, you should be able to have a good understanding. That is not to say you shouldn't ask questions. Definitely ask questions and make sure you are 1000% clear on everything you are asked to do. Don't "spin your wheels" and do something wrong because you were unclear about what you were assigned to do. That would not be okay.

Ask good questions. Don't ask dumb questions that you can find answers to on your own. People are too busy for that. Ask things that show that you are gaining more and more understanding as the summer goes on - you learn a lot during your summer, so whether or not you went to a target that introduced you to finance won't make a huge difference as long as you can pick things up quickly.

I think its very important to be sociable. Go with your group to lunch if they offer. At least once in the summer, probably closer to the end / offer day, ask the MD you have been working closest with out to lunch. Ask how you have been doing (seek feedback periodically from analysts, associates and VPs during the summer so this should not be the first time you are asking for feedback from someone!!) Ask why he/she went into banking, basically just have conversation that centers around them, things they like, and things they can talk about or teach you about. MDs Love that! That eat that ish up. It's hard for some people to adjust at first because they think "Oh this is a hot shot MD, he won't want to talk to me." But remember, you want to have that MD know you because you will need someone to go to bat for you when they are deciding offers. Even if your work has had a few question marks, if you have someone advocating for you, you are much more likely to get the offer than someone who may have done slightly better work, but didn't make any connections so no one remembers him or her. This is especially true in larger groups.

Before I started my summer, one of my mentors shared a key rule for interaction with anyone, whether its at social gatherings that are thrown for the summers, or at your desk. "Be cordial, be friendly, DO NOT be familial." Don't be the awkward kid, because you definitely won't get an offer. But don't be the guy who gets drunk at mixers, makes inappropriate jokes or speaks at inopportune moments. You will absolutely not get an offer either. These people are not your friends.

Lastly, respect the heirarchy of your group. If you have something that you are confused about and can't figure out on your own, always ask your analyst first. If he/she can't answer, then go to your associates. Between the three of you, you should be able to answer most things. Limit the amout of non-"big picture" questions that you ask to senior people. They will get annoyed.

I hope this helps. Good luck this summer!!!!

great post man, thank you

 

From talking with a few friends in the industry, I understand that like you said FT recruiting is tough. They told me to start reaching out to people a little over halfway through the summer and that some banks have formal processes with recruitment events and others have more informal processes.

Never been through it though so thats all I got.

 

First off, congratulations on your SA offer. I have several friends who completely struck out everywhere. You definitely worked hard. Make sure to not let off the gas. SA to FT is not guaranteed.

That being said, take a deep breath. Ending up FT at a MM is not the end of the world, even if your goal is HBS or a MF. BBs have a very high attrition rate. There are constantly openings. If you cannot stand the MM you ended at or want to lateral to a BB, it is definitively possible to lateral. The key is networking. A lot of banks do post their openings on their career websites, but most positions are filled almost immediately through internal referrals.

Good luck!

 
Redroom:
What are some tips and recommendations to secure a FT offer?

Don't suck in social situations in or outside of the office. No one wants to hire the person who sucks

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