Summer Intern Review

I enjoyed this internship more than I could have ever imagined. Even though the workload is significant and the effort required is challenging, the people and the overall culture are second to none. From my experience I can confortably give a score of 10 without a doubt.

Part of the culture at GS is to be inclusive and help others. As a summer intern you are treated no less than any analyst. This is shown everyday in the effort the people put in training and helping new hires in succeeding. One of the things I noticed first is that if you're not afraid to ask, everyone will take the time to listen to you; and if you demonstrate to possess a certain skill, people will come to you asking for help and giving you as much responsibility as you can sustain. I definitely felt that I gave a contribution and that the people valued me.

At GS there is a big focus on training and giudance. No day goes by where you don't have several training sessions, meetings with mentors and supervisors, or divisional overviews. I found the people very supportive and willing to help in any way you may need guidance with, but keep in mind you decide how much you want to be helped. GS is a challenging place and people have lots to do, so don't expect them to come to you out of the blue; but if you ask for giudance anyone will be more than happy to take the time to discuss your situation and help in any possible way.

GS is a challenging place, and if you're not ready to put yourself out there and work more than what people expect you to then it's not the right place for you. As a summer intern you get to work on a mix of some of the day to day, and some long term (bigger) projects. With regards to the day to day, some of the easier tasks are given to you, and if you demonstrate interest and willingness to do they'll be more than happy to delegate much more to you. With regards to long term projects, a couple of small projects are given to you, and then it is up to you to take the chance to get into anything you like or want to work on. I found that I was mostly responsible for my schedule (hence busyness) depending on the involvement I had in projects.

There is no limit on responsibility at a place like GS, as long as you demonstrate that you're capable and willing to handle it. By the end of the internship I found myself leading a project and handling several critical functions in the day to day because I demonstrated my manager I could do it. The key to it is always to do your job (whatever it may be) better than everyone expects you to, if so you'll find yourself quickly heaping with work, and if not it will be given to you as soon as you ask.

I personally found that GS prefers to train their employees rather than hiring people that can already to something. You get loads of training, and the depth you acheve is much greater than what you study in school. I think that after the internship I gained much more understainding of how an investment bank works, and developed several soft skills that will be useful in school, career, and life.

The atmosphere is generally very professional, but at the same time very friendly and fun. There are moments of the day it is very busy and everyone is on their desk focused, while there are times where it's not so much and people will have friendly conversations and fun. At the end of the day GS is not a 9-to-5 workplace, so you get to spend a lot of time with your colleagues. Everyone knows that and tries to be more of a friend than a boss/colleague.

Very well organised and structured in a way to give interns a good grasp of the firm culture/values, and at the same time an undestanding of what each division does in practice. Very satisfied with the organisation, period.

Again, training and development is a key part of the internship program, and continues on from the analysts to the highest ranks in GS. There is always some skill you can improve or work on, and the firm does really well in tailoring the training sessions. As an intern you get more training than you could ever imagine, both on the overall firm and on the specific desk you are on. The investment in terms of time, commitment, and training to make interns succeed was much higher than I expected.

In my opinion the best job offer you can get in the financial sector.

The number of social events with fellow interns is countless, and the big push from the firm in making the environment friendly rather than competitive make it a very social experience. In short it is about yourself, rather than about your peers, so you take away the competitive aspect that usually ruins social events. Everyone from interns to colleagues is very friendly and always up to a drink after work.

London is expensive, everyone knows that, and where GS offices are is no exception. Living expenses depend on where you decide to stay (central or outside), so can't comment of that. In terms of socializing, offices are in central London, and there are heaps of bars and cafes you can get to within walking distance to socialize. Prices are generally in line with the average for central London.

You could potentially go out every night of the week, as the offices are surrounded by several bars, pubs and clubs open everyday. Of course it is not like Shoreditch, but there are lots of opportunities to socialize and have fun within 5-10 min walking distance.

A pretty good amount of team drinks and interns get-togethers will make your internship a very social and more than fun experience!