Monkey to Millions | Grace (Session 17) - Citi Internship About to Begin - Jun 14, 2021
About
In this short session, Grace and I discuss her Citi internship this summer and I give her some advice on how to make sure she doesn't burn out with the long weeks.
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WSO Podcast (Episode 17) Transcript:
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:00:04] It. Hello and welcome. I'm Patrick Curtis, chief monkey of Wall Street Oasis, and this is monkey to millions. A show where you get a front row seat as I mentor young students and professionals to try and help them break into their dream jobs in the first cohort. You'll meet four students, all preparing for intense job interviews while trying to also balance personal life and schoolwork. The goal of this show is to shine a light on the struggles of trying to break into competitive positions with a non-traditional background and to give you a roadmap for your own success. My hope is that as you get to know these four impressive students, you're inspired to dream big. Remember, these are real people, and this is their true story. Let's get to it. In this short session, Grace and I discuss her city internship this summer, and I give her some advice on how to make sure she doesn't burn out with the long weeks. Enjoy. Ok, Grace, give us the latest.
Grace: [00:01:23] Yes, so I started training our first official day was last Monday. Week go today and then it's just been training this past week on boarding, especially because it is entirely virtual. A lot of just technology, things to go through to get everyone into the system and set up. But then I officially hit the desk with my first group this Wednesday, so I'm very excited about that.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:49] And I feel nervous
Grace: [00:01:51] A little bit, but
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:52] You can imagine you've done internships before, so you'll be OK. Awesome. And then any like so far, have you been doing any training or anything with them? A little bit. So it's interesting
Grace: [00:02:03] How it's set up with the sophomore program at Citi. It's there's only about 30 sophomore interns across the entire firm for the New York office, and that includes everything from banking, corporate banking, sales and trading like the private bank. So within investment banking, there's about 10 sophomore interns. So, yeah, it's really small. So because of that, or I don't know if it's partially because of the virtual format this summer, a lot of the trainings that we've had have just been with the sophomores because the way that it's structured for us is that we have two rotations. So I'll spend half my time in one coverage group and then another half of my time in another coverage group for the summer. Very cool. So yeah,
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:02:48] But can I? How can I be helpful? I mean, it sounds like this was like, I think we scheduled this just to chat and catch up right after you're starting. But like anyway, it can be helpful in terms of what you're thinking about. I mean, it's still kind of early to know for sure, but you have next summer tied up, right? Right. Anything else you're thinking of? I hope you had some time to relax before this.
Grace: [00:03:09] I did. It was nice to have a few weeks of no commitments to anything after I finished my last internship, I had been doing that for 18 months. So it was nice to have a few weeks when I, after my last day there before I started with city school, was finished. So I had just travelled a little bit and then I went to Denver and Seattle. Nice. Awesome. Awesome fun towns.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:35] Um, so you're kind of starting up now, and this goes for. Is it the full summer-like through August?
Grace: [00:03:41] It's a yeah, it's a ten-week program. Ok, so I'll finish mid-August and then I'll get about four weeks in each coverage group that I'll be rotating
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:03:50] The expectation is that they're going to give you an offer to come like junior year and you're going to have to be like, Sorry.
Grace: [00:03:55] Or do they? They actually already told all the sophomore interns that they're getting return offers as long as upon full completion of the program. Got it. And they're doing that because they don't want the uncertainty of getting a return off or not to push people to recruit at other places this summer during the regular recruiting cycle. So I think that was a big relief for a lot of people. And so I think that will work in keeping a lot of people from recruiting who may otherwise have been on the fence.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:27] Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah. And then for you, I mean, you already have a seat for junior summer and then what's the game plan, I guess, kind of going into junior year. So do you have one or you're just going to like, all right?
Grace: [00:04:41] So this fall, I'm actually it'll be my first time taking classes specific to my major because so far it's been all the business core classes. So I'm not going to be interning alongside school for the first time and really two years. This is so
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:56] Easy.
Grace: [00:04:57] Yeah, I'm looking forward to being able to just focus on classes, and I'm hoping I'm going to be involved in some leadership with some of the finance clubs on campus now. So I'm trying to start helping some underclassmen a little bit put a little more time into that and then I'm planning to study abroad next spring in London. Awesome. So that'll be a nice way to spend that semester before my junior summer starts.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:21] That's great. That's a great idea. Yeah, especially since you have a locked up. There's not like that risk of like you're going into spring semester to be like, I can't go like or I shouldn't be going. That's great. Anything I can do to help kind of in this transition period.
Grace: [00:05:38] I guess so. I can just kind of. I guess just to voice kind of what I've been thinking going into this summer based on where I am now and what my priorities are, I think I mean, of course, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can and get as much exposure because that can only help me and especially with the real estate group, because I'll be doing real estate next summer. I think that'll be really good exposure being on the banking side of it since I'll be doing investing real estate at Blackstone. So yeah, I think even now, like I've started to get access to some of the resources with just research reports and things like that. So I've been trying to. I know it'll be more difficult once I'm actually on the desk and a little more consumed with actual work. But I've been trying to take advantage of having those resources now just to like just to, you know, read a lot taken a lot. And yeah, it might be
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:35] Tough because as sophomores, when virtually I don't know how much real work they're going to really give you guys, you know, they
Grace: [00:06:41] I well, the good thing is I am both my rotations. I'm the only sophomore intern there during those times. So I've already spoken with the staffer in my first rotation and they know about the prior banking experience that I have. And so they know me individually. And because of that, they can really tailor what they give me to what they know about me and be careful what you ask for. Yeah, that's true.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:08] You're like, OK, I'm just kidding. I didn't want to work a hundred hours.
Grace: [00:07:10] That's true. I have no idea what to expect with that, but I think it sounds like it'll be a pretty rigorous. But then they also have told all the interns, at least within in banking and the capital markets that we're not supposed to be working from 10:00 p.m. on Fridays to 10 a.m. on Sundays. And I don't know how that's. I don't know how it's enforced. But it does seem like a very long window. So I'm I was surprised when I saw that
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:40] Goes to show you like, it's 10:00 on Friday, right? So just go to see what's it going to be expected, right? It's going to be a grind, right? I just hopefully you're learning a lot, so you don't mind it and it's like, you're working with good people,
Grace: [00:07:55] Right? All the people I've spoken with so far are very nice and my staff, the staff are my the tech group today, who I spoke with would be my first rotation. He said multiple times that he really emphasized making sure no one else is being mean to me or anything, that everyone's being very nice and respectful. And then also, I've had others tell me that they always love having sophomore interns in particular, so they always treat them really well.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:24] You don't want to scare them.
Grace: [00:08:26] Yeah, one also, I think I mean, I've also been told that with the sophomore interns, it's different because while we're younger, we also got there earlier. So sometimes I don't know if I want to say it's different amounts of drive there or motivation, but it's just a little different, I guess, because of having that slightly different avenue in. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:50] You get some pretty impressive people coming in sophomore year. This is awesome. I'm super excited for you, I think it's going to be it'd probably be a pretty grueling summer, so get your sleep before Wednesday. Yeah, tonight and tomorrow, like you just be ready, and then maybe we can touch base. You know, what is it? June, maybe end of July. See how you're hanging in there in mid-July, if you want to do. Quick check-in, even if it's just 10 minutes or 20 minutes. Just make sure your mental health is all good because it can be taxing, especially work from home because you're not getting the camaraderie. So hopefully you're able to kind of meet your other fellow interns, too.
Grace: [00:09:28] And we already have a few coffee chats set up since I am in the city anyway. So at least I have that.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:36] That's good.
Grace: [00:09:37] And I think at the end of the summer for the real estate group, they have an in-person dinner thing at some country club upstate for the entire real estate group. So there's things like that that I'll still be able to. Yeah, and you
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:50] Should build those connections, especially if you're going to be in real estate like you want those connections bank. So this is great. So anything else is, I guess, any expectations questions, I think kind of leading into it.
Grace: [00:10:01] I think so.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:10:02] I mean, the good thing is, you know, more than I do.
Grace: [00:10:06] I mean, I think a lot of the more fundamental soft skills and just things with how to communicate with people I have learned from my prior internship. So I'm really grateful for that. Coming into this, so I'm not, I would be a lot more nervous, I think if I hadn't had that prior experience. So I'm a little more sure of myself now when it comes to some of the soft skills. And yeah, and as a more general
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:10:31] Thing during the good news is if you don't understand what type of analysis or what they're even asking, you just ask. There's no expectations that you should if you just don't know and you're like, what are you even talking about? Like, do this run-up this analysis? You're like, what are you like? I have no clue where to start. Right? And sometimes people are running and they're so fast. They're so busy. They don't have even the time to thoroughly study, but they could potentially point you in five seconds to the right place to look maybe like five hours, just because you asked and said, Right, you're talking about. Yeah. And have that confidence to say that because I think the worst thing you can do is like, you just nod and you're like, Oh, Ok, like, and then you go away and you have. And then like, 10 hours later, they come back and like, where is it? Right? Like, I don't I didn't understand. So I just try to try to think. Think about having that confidence to really when you don't know something just to say it and to, it's OK, like there's no experience. You know, once you're an analyst or like six months in on the job or nine months and you can't be asking those questions, right? So like now?
Grace: [00:11:34] Right, exactly. Especially out of sophomore interns, they've
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:38] Made sure that they
Grace: [00:11:39] Don't expect us to know as much, even
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:42] Especially work from home. I mean, I don't know. It's good that they recognise you've had the banking, but like, I don't know if there could be having you run like a valuation, like doing it.
Grace: [00:11:49] I don't think so. Yeah.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:50] I mean, it might be a little bit here in there where you're just like helping put together stuff and a little bit of PowerPoint work and stuff like that.
Grace: [00:11:59] So that's what it sounds like.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:01] So let me know if you have questions as you go or you need any help with anything, just shoot me a note and we can hop on again. Anything else, I guess before?
Grace: [00:12:10] I think so. Ok?
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:11] And then, yeah, in terms of just like networking and all that stuff, I just try to. You do this anyway, but just being friendly to everybody you come across and trying to schedule those coffee chats and those informal meetings, you can't walk into people's offices or anything like that now. So it's tough. It's tough work from home. Are they thinking of going back kind of for full-time, like for analysts?
Grace: [00:12:37] I don't think that's even going to be until late August, so it's definitely after the summer internship
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:44] Ends, right? Maybe even after training and stuff. Ok, well, good luck. You have two days of sleep. Take advantage. Yes, and then. Yeah, and then the other thing, if you start working like. If you start having nights where it's like 2:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., 1:00 a.m., 2:00 a.m. and you're starting to like, really grind down, like just raise your hand, right? Just raise your hand, be like, I need some help on this like I need like I need a day to recoup. And that could be on the weekend where it's supposed to be protected, protected. That could be on that day should be like, I need to stay home because you protected me. Like, I know, but I have these deliverables. There's no way I'm going to finish this by Sunday, so I need help. You know, right? And so just knowing how to like, just raise your hand and say that it's not, it's not a bad thing. Besides, your offer is guaranteed. You already have something else for junior says. No need to like go crazy, right?
Grace: [00:13:41] Right. About finding a good balance you don't
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:13:42] Want to like. You don't want to blow work off it and push back and only work like 30 hours a week or something. But you also don't want to be pushing 90 hours consistently, like if you're in the, you know, 50 to 60 hours into, this should be enough.
Grace: [00:13:56] That's what my expectations are. Yeah, because last summer, too, the intern, the virtual interns could barely do anything. They didn't have access to any confidential information, whereas we do so. It's I think it's kind of a good middle ground because we still can't do quite as much as if we were in person. Exactly. Yeah. So just be just
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:15] Just be careful, just like not think that you're fine, you're fine, you're fine and you're a hard worker. So I'm just going to do it because you can get to into a spot where you're like, suddenly, like, have a breakdown, right? And you don't want to be there. And I've seen it happen just because, you know your hard work. You are a hard worker and you want to do well and you want to have to leave a good impression even though you have everything set up. But just remember that you don't need to work hard, but you don't need to, like, go crazy. You know, and I try to have some fun this summer, too.
Grace: [00:14:45] Yes, I think I yeah, it's all about the
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:48] Balance. Yes, the balance is key and there isn't a lot of balance in that industry. So just especially for the junior staff, so it's just about kind of recognizing what you already have in your pocket. And there's no pressure, right? Right. Mm hmm. Yeah. So awesome. Well, congrats on everything. Let's stay in touch and engage with stress and then the calendar for some time in July.
Grace: [00:15:09] Okay, great. Maybe I'll send something next week once I get a better sense of what my hours are looking like and then perfect. Okay, great. Thanks, Grace. We'll talk soon. Awesome. Have a
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:15:18] Good one. You too. Bye. And thanks to you, my listeners at Wall Street Oasis. If you have any suggestions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to send them my way. Patrick at Wall Street Oasis Dot. And till next time.
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