Investment Banking Summer Analyst Review

The internship was an incredibly enjoyable experience, with a lot of fun activities and a lot of things learnt during the process. The team was incredibly good to be around, a fun but yet hard working culture making it easy to get out of bed in the morning. Work colleagues were supportive of development and explained concepts in an easy to understand way. There were no stupid questions, so you could really learn as much as you set yourself out to do with ease.

Colleagues have been extremely welcoming and supportive throughout the duration of the internship. Colleagues have always been eager to help and made time to bring us to high level discussions and walk us through an in-depth overview of why we do what we do, and any business cases to aid in our understanding of what the role entails.

Guidance has always been handed when needed. It has been very easy to approach analysts/associates in asking for questions with tasks, making the whole process run smoothly and efficient as possible. It is in the managers best interest that we are guided correctly to ensure we produce the best quality to work so surprisingly a lot of time has been spent guiding us through concepts to ensure the most robust understanding.

There was mostly always multiple deadlines to meet in any given day with the learning curve generally being quite steep. So whilst the business made it a more pressurized environment, the amount you learnt and satisfaction felt at the end of the day far outweighs the feeling of being overwhelmed. The days there was some downtime, there was always material to learn from and things that we clear to know to aid in advancing the skills we have learnt.

Surprisingly, a lot of responsibility was handed down right from the very beginning. Since the first day, we were thrown straight in the deep end, encouraging us to learn right from the get go and build an understanding of what the division does, and why. This made me appreciate the work a lot more, and think of ways I could be of value to the team outside the scope of work that was just set.

Given I study a finance degree, the technical aspects of the role will aid in my understanding of financial concepts especially valuation. The other tools on the job were excel/power-point proficiency allowing me to make use of this in a much wider context, which can help me in any walk of life. The transferable skills the bank and division provides have been second to none.

The atmosphere in the office was generally quite relaxed, again making it a fun working environment to be in. The floor had regular socials and team bonding events, for instance the analysts would sometimes make use of the tables as a table tennis arena and battle it out during lunches in tournaments. There were regular team drinks, which made socialising with others quite easy.

The work placement was quite structured, it had training sessions at the beginning guided with ongoing class-room sessions which allowed me to explore other areas of the bank. Continuous support was available to us by use of Bloomberg Help, FactSet support etc... Given I was working for a team, I would be allocated to help with certain tasks, and given I made clear my level of capacity to take on more work I was able to manage expectations and keep well organised and sufficiently busy throughout the internship process.

The company very much invested in us. Initially our training was very good, with sufficient material to help guide us through the logic of the technical material that we would need to understand on the desk. Throughout the internship both our line manager and other analysts sat me down and guided me through modeling and other things that would be of use to me in the role.

Future employment prospects look very appealing, given the working culture of the organisations and the clear scope to continue learning a lot and being a value added member of the team. The ability to work on exciting deals and get into the core of businesses make the prospects even better.

Yes, people made time to go out for drinks and set up events such as a cycle around London on the weekend, or a picnic in Hyde Park allowing the interns and colleagues to bond and gel well together. Was a good place to socialise and get to know fellow work colleagues on a more personal basis.

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Most weekends went to play some sports including Table Tennis and Golf in a nearby range, so there were many things to do around the City. The only limitations was someones willingness to make time for them.