35 Comments
 

Particularly for me, I had an intern who kept asking me the same thing over and over again and I had repeat myself. I mean I don't mind helping you but just don't waste my time. It showed me that the individual doesn't pay attention and his mind wanders off. Always takes note, I actually had to remind this individual to take notes next time, so he doesn't ask me the same thing. Ridiculous.

Also, try to add 2 + 2 together. If I tell you something and you come back asking me a question that is kind of related. You're not thinking through. Don't look stupid answering your own question...

Last but not least, don't be cocky. I understand you want to be humorous to get on our good side, but chill out with the jokes. You're an intern... We had this one guy and he was interacting with us like we were his best friends and he was only with us for a month... I actually had to tell this guy on the side and say "You need to chill out with the jokes".

 
"mswoonc"

Particularly for me, I had an intern who kept asking me the same thing over and over again and I had repeat myself. I mean I don't mind helping you but just don't waste my time. It showed me that the individual doesn't pay attention and his mind wanders off. Always takes note, I actually had to remind this individual to take notes next time, so he doesn't ask me the same thing. Ridiculous.

Also, try to add 2 + 2 together. If I tell you something and you come back asking me a question that is kind of related. You're not thinking through. Don't look stupid answering your own question...

Last but not least, don't be cocky. I understand you want to be humorous to get on our good side, but chill out with the jokes. You're an intern... We had this one guy and he was interacting with us like we were his best friends and he was only with us for a month... I actually had to tell this guy on the side and say "You need to chill out with the jokes".

I think most of these unwritten rules apply to most internships, regardless of field. It's so exasperating repeating something to someone, simply because it shows you weren't paying attention.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

The value of taking notes cannot be understated. I had an analyst that would ask me the same simple questions over and over. It ended up being super annoying. For my first job I had a note book that was filled cover to cover, after a while I did not need it, but if something came up out of the blue I had a reference 99% of the time.

Only two sources I trust, Glenn Beck and singing woodland creatures.
 

Somewhat related to an earlier post...

Don't volunteer your opinions on professional subjects (express them, if you're asked to do so, but not otherwise). If you've expressed an opinion, don't, above all, try to argue to prove to everyone why you're right and they are wrong.

There is nothing more annoying than spending time explaining things to a stubborn intern, who has no understanding of the proper context to appreciate what they might be missing.

 
Best Response

My favorite one involved this guy who was a smart kid. Problem was he knew it and made sure everyone else did. I also suspect he took the whole Liar's Poker image a bit too much to heart.

He strolls into the office on a Tuesday sometime during his second month, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed and playing up to his usual persona of a BSD which most of use tended to ignore. Anyways he walks up to a female junior traders desk (a lady who is both visually and mentally strong) lest call her Trader K, puts his arm around her chair and apparently asks her if she is interested in drinks this evening. She said yes. She then proceeded to brief me over a sandwich at lunch and that I should arrive at the same bar as she had some fun and games planed.

Said guys acts like he is king of the world for the day. I leave the office at around 10pm or so and arrive at the bar where I see said intern pissed out of his mind and Trader K looking much more in control. I walk up to their table and order a round, apparently Trader K had the kid drinking at a rate of 3:1. By about midnight he was destroyed, no way was he going to be in at 6am so we continued to a club where both I and trader K went easy on the booze but the kid was still knocking it back like there was no tomorrow. His drunken flirting was priceless, so was the fact he insisted on buying every round at the club. At about 3am we put him in a cab and go to our respective homes.

I got into the office early the next day and found Trader K, who showed me a list of drunken texts she received (On her work bb!). She also rather kindly left a small bottle of whiskey on the kids desk who was nowhere to be seen. At about 11am he arrives in and she goes full physco on him, saying he got sick on her, spilled drinks etc. Destroyed the guy while the rest of us held back laughter. He sees the booze on his desk and breaks for the bathroom.

Returns about a half hour later when the desk is pretty busy and is still good for shit. He contributes nothing for the day and at about 6pm, Trader K comes over and asks him out for drinks again and opens the small bottle of whiskey on his desk so he can smell it. He proceeds to get sick in the bin and run for the bathroom once again while the desk erupts in laughter.

Morel of the story, please don't try and be a BSD when you can't hold your booze and go completely crazy on a work night! And don't chat up cp-workers, doesn't end well.

 
"TripleDown"

My favorite one involved this guy who was a smart kid. Problem was he knew it and made sure everyone else did. I also suspect he took the whole Liar's Poker image a bit too much to heart.

He strolls into the office on a Tuesday sometime during his second month, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed and playing up to his usual persona of a BSD which most of use tended to ignore. Anyways he walks up to a female junior traders desk (a lady who is both visually and mentally strong) lest call her Trader K, puts his arm around her chair and apparently asks her if she is interested in drinks this evening. She said yes. She then proceeded to brief me over a sandwich at lunch and that I should arrive at the same bar as she had some fun and games planed.

Said guys acts like he is king of the world for the day. I leave the office at around 10pm or so and arrive at the bar where I see said intern pissed out of his mind and Trader K looking much more in control. I walk up to their table and order a round, apparently Trader K had the kid drinking at a rate of 3:1. By about midnight he was destroyed, no way was he going to be in at 6am so we continued to a club where both I and trader K went easy on the booze but the kid was still knocking it back like there was no tomorrow. His drunken flirting was priceless, so was the fact he insisted on buying every round at the club. At about 3am we put him in a cab and go to our respective homes.

I got into the office early the next day and found Trader K, who showed me a list of drunken texts she received (On her work bb!). She also rather kindly left a small bottle of whiskey on the kids desk who was nowhere to be seen. At about 11am he arrives in and she goes full physco on him, saying he got sick on her, spilled drinks etc. Destroyed the guy while the rest of us held back laughter. He sees the booze on his desk and breaks for the bathroom.

Returns about a half hour later when the desk is pretty busy and is still good for shit. He contributes nothing for the day and at about 6pm, Trader K comes over and asks him out for drinks again and opens the small bottle of whiskey on his desk so he can smell it. He proceeds to get sick in the bin and run for the bathroom once again while the desk erupts in laughter.

Morel of the story, please don't try and be a BSD when you can't hold your booze and go completely crazy on a work night! And don't chat up cp-workers, doesn't end well.

That gave me a boner. Please send pics of Trader K topless. I know you fucked her.
 

Banking, not trading, but an easy one, although it happens every year, don't delete the comps file.

Even easier, don't delete the Clients folder (i.e.: the shared team folder where every book is saved for every client).

As much as you'd think the analysts would appreciate the hour off while they wait for IT to recover the files, they tend to get really pissed when they have to revert to an old comps file, or redo work that's been done.

 

While I genuinely appreciate curiosity, there was once an intern who would follow his "sure will do" with "what is the rationale behind this?". Every. Fucking. Time. Do not do this. It even got to the point where we were all getting drinks and he asked again about the rationale behind scrubbing comps or some dumb shit like that.

 

simply put... i hate the rich kid with connections intern. We had 2 interns at one point. One was doing legal work and was a very bright ambitious guy. The other's uncle knew the ceo and had traded at the pit with him. Dude acted like a total bro the whole time, would reference at lunch how he didn't really want this internship but it was stepping stone.... then went on to talk about all the other connections his family had and could get him with goldman/ a few top tier mid markets banks for m&a. Zero ambition, but was gonna be a big success anyway.

 

went back to school so he could study abroad, then probably got another internship in his Junior year. Basically made me realize i need to get rich or die trying.

 

I actually don't mind being asked the same thing twice. Assuming you aren't coming back 15 minutes after explaining it the first time.

But if you ask me a question day 2 on where to locate a file or how to do something, and on day 35 you come back and ask me again, I really don't feel annoyed.

My pet peeve is the person who tries to tell you they know something better than you. I don't care if you actually do know a million times more about XYZ, but nothing pisses me off more than being spoken down to by someone who is holier than thou.

...
 

Assumenda nostrum nostrum dicta similique. Laudantium et architecto et sapiente a ut ipsum.

Vitae nisi et laudantium blanditiis fuga. Ea in voluptates ut. Totam et ipsam atque cupiditate veritatis quisquam.

Enim corrupti quis provident. Corporis sit numquam eum aut esse. Consequatur qui exercitationem provident voluptatem suscipit. Consequuntur deserunt non minima soluta modi sint laborum. Fugiat molestias aliquam et reprehenderit totam odit est.

Corrupti expedita animi aut in laborum esse sit. Pariatur nemo sequi sunt est sit inventore saepe. Nemo velit at rerum non. Voluptas sequi eligendi qui et voluptates aut qui qui. Aliquam dolorum aut accusamus non fugit totam. Eum quia voluptatem nesciunt ex et minus.

 

Consequatur tenetur quibusdam est velit et praesentium. Libero ducimus cumque rerum laboriosam qui inventore. Quidem consequatur iste exercitationem nisi ullam a ratione. Repudiandae fugit rerum molestiae numquam omnis consequatur nihil occaecati.

Odit quaerat suscipit illum ratione dolor atque odio asperiores. Harum fuga itaque voluptatem enim. Et nam consequatur totam magni laboriosam qui expedita. Autem est unde dolor. Similique dolore quo architecto exercitationem voluptatem molestiae perferendis.

Hic delectus culpa quis quidem eos nesciunt eligendi. Repellendus est dolorum aliquam ex reiciendis ratione. Quam ipsum harum et nulla voluptatem. Voluptatibus rem placeat voluptatem voluptates.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”