eFinancialCareers

As this is my first entry, and therefore probably the most important in terms of what you actually want to read, I’ll try to write about the week on a day by day basis. Trust me, based on previous experience, things will get pretty repetitive by week three. I’ll also be dispensing advice like candy, but if you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them.

Day 1)

It began with 150 other interns, 40 of whom were from IBD, standing in a big, very well lit room dubbed the “Conference Centre,” all chatting amiably amongst ourselves and enjoying a fine selection of treats, nice strong coffee and a variety of gratifyingly cold smoothies. The questions always started off along the lines of: “What is your name, what do you study/where, which division are you in, what did you do for holiday?” but soon with the ice broken we were already making friendships that would last us the whole internship, and maybe even longer. If you’re going to be an intern, read up on a wide array of topics ranging from fine art to sport so that during these all important ice breaker sessions you could always talk join in, or start up any sort of conversations and you will soon become a focal point of many discussions.

We then went through a number of lectures and presentations about our company’s collegiate and friendly culture, all delivered by very senior executives.

I’ll spare you a digression into how I was so lucky and hardworking to become an intern, or what a wonderful opportunity it is to work with the best and brightest etc. etc. I’ll also avoid defending myself against accusations that investment banking is a heartless business and people are only in it for the money. Suffice to say that everyone on the internship has their reasons for being there, but frankly we all share ‘the same passion and drive to succeed in everything we do.’

Day 2)

On the second day of Christmas…I arrived just as one of the most senior traders, who is also a very good orator, was about to tell us a few anecdotes about the life in finance. This made everyone feel at easy and calmed a lot of nerves down, mine in particular.

Today we had a number of speakers talk to us about anything and everything that would help us convert our internship. Actually, the level of speakers we’ve had is very high and it’s clear why they (the speakers) rose to the top.

I also found out what team I’ll be in for the duration of this internship. “What, only now?” I hear you ask in surprise. Well, yes, you see, my bank didn’t give prospective interns a choice, most likely because that way they could assign interns to the teams with highest deal flow.

I will be in investment banking. At the time, I was very happy because we really do have a legendary team. But now I think it is something of a great opportunity, with the onus being on the commitment to excellence.

Day 3)

A whole day of induction lectures and presentations such as: working with respect, compliance, corporate finance training… 

This was followed by an intern networking session with some senior bankers and current analysts. The evening went by in a very orderly fashion with the senior bankers and traders giving us words of advice and generally highlighting that we are a very friendly company, and that is it the respect, the warmth of the people, and unyielding desire to succeed that makes us at ‘the top of our game’.

Day 4)

Excel, Excel, Excel. Loads of training on company specific topics and various systems I’ll be using throughout my internship. It was all very important and I’m actually quite surprised at how in-depth it was, which goes to show the lengths the company goes to to provide their interns with the best opportunity to succeed and get the best out of the internship.

Day 5)

Same as above, really. More lectures, more training. Did some hands on data/systems training which again was interesting as I’ve never done anything like this before. It felt a bit like being taught how to ride a bicycle.

An apology… I had expected to write more about days 3, 4 & 5 but either we did something proprietary in which case I can’t talk about it, or it was standard compliance, working with respect, business analysis, etc training which is pretty self-explanatory.

Next week I’ll start in my team so hopefully I’ll have enough time/energy to write about it, and the entry just might be day by day again – as it’ll be the first week of work.

We're still looking for a few other intern diarists. If you're interested, contact editor@efinancialcareers.com for more information.