Spring Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the insight, it provided me with an in-depth view into a career in Equities, something that I am really looking to pursue after the week at Jefferies. I found the work shadowing opportunities were the most informative of the organised sessions throughout the week, as I shadowed members of the equities department from a range of divisions such as in cash US & Asia-Pacific sales/trading (my favourite division), European sales/trading, electronic sales/trading, convertibles, equity derivatives etc. I really enjoyed the networking opportunities with members of the firm too and also really got on well with fellow interns.

Very valued. The fact that senior members of the firm found the time to speak to me during shadowing or in one of the multiple networking lunches/drinks was something I found really unique to Jefferies, testament to their flat structure, which I really appreciated.

On day one we were given an afternoon of presentations on financial markets (eg. a session on how to read the Financial Times which I have found really useful to this day) and throughout the week we were given numerous exercises to help us improve our skills, such as how to present a stock pitch, which in turn really helped me with my public speaking, something I have very little experience in. Also, Kerry and Riann who organised the spring week provided useful tips throughout the week on spring week etiquette, interview tips, personal branding, how to make the most out of the week etc. which was very helpful.

I do not do a degree relating specifically to the field (politics and international relations), however the skills I learned in public speaking will undoubtedly be useful, as will the networking opportunities to help improve these skills beyond my degree.

Very well structured, despite the fact that there was an issue on one of the days with a member of the Equities department being out of the office so I was unable to shadow, his colleague in electronic sales/trading (Dipen) was more than happy to let me shadow him instead, which I really appreciated. We were given a timetable on the first day which was followed almost to a T throughout the week

Really enjoyable, I made good friends with my fellow spring interns which really helped the overall atmosphere. Although there were fewer interns for Equity sales and trading compared to Investment Banking, I really got on with fellow interns in my division but also really got on well with interns from Investment Banking. On the last day we went out as a group to Byron Burger which was a really nice end to the week.

As much as could have been achieved in one week, with skills workshops on personal branding, etiquette, the world of financial markets, public speaking, stock pitches etc.

Significantly, I had little insight into the role before the spring week and Jefferies definitely achieved this. As mentioned before, networking opportunities, work shadowing and workshops made this possible. What I really liked was on the first day, although I had chosen Equities as my division, the afternoon presentations on financial markets and investment banking gave me an insight into other divisions, such as IBD, which I appreciated.

Extremely helpful. I feel like I learnt a lot about Jefferies' unique culture. It is a growing firm, something which I really value as it differs from the fiercely competitive nature of some of the bulge-bracket banks (eg. some larger banks cutting the bottom 10% of their analyst classes year on year which would inevitably cause a culture of fear and rivalry amongst employees instead of teamwork), there was none of this at Jefferies and everyone I spoke to seem to genuinely really enjoy working there. Their flat culture is something I was exposed to on multiple occasions throughout the week, I was really impressed by the fact that the head of Equity Research made the time to talk with me after a client call so I could learn more about the call I had just sat in with an analyst. The exposure to senior levels of the firm so early on is something unique to Jefferies and very commendable.

Very valuable. As mentioned before, I was given presentations on the layout of the Equities department at Jefferies, banking as a whole, shadowing over a range of departments in the division etc.

There was a travel reimbursement scheme and breakfast and lunch were provided.

There was numerous networking opportunities throughout the week, such as two networking lunches and a networking drinks and canapés after work. This (and shadowing) were my parts of the week. The networking drinks on Thursday were with senior members of the firm and I really liked how they made the time to talk with me about their role/job motivations/career history etc.

As mentioned above, this was definitely a strength of the program. I also liked the activities on the morning of the first day to help me get to know my fellow interns. It was a really good way of breaking the ice.

We were given a tour of the office, which had a gym that was used by employees outside of work. I also learnt about the diversity programs that many employees were involved in, eg. jWIN (Jefferies Women's Initiative).

Yes, anyone looking for an insight into Jefferies as an organisation and banking as a whole should definitely consider applying. Beyond the content of the week I made friends that I will definitely keep in contact with!