Investment Banking Summer Analyst Review

The only things that could have made the experience better were if the internship was in person (which wasn't in the bank's control) and if the experience could have been a little bit longer than 6 weeks. One of the key issues of not being in person was that technical issues often a long time to resolve, sometimes in key moments, which added to the stress of a first internship and trying to complete tasks within a deadline. Otherwise, the training was excellent and great learning for anyone trying to start a career in investment banking, and the case study project allowed interns to demonstrate a broad range of skills and apply this learning extensively. The project also provided a good opportunity to be independent but also learn from a designated team of an Analyst, Associate and VP, so interaction with the team wasn't lost due to the internship being virtual.

During our induction and training, interns were always encouraged to ask questions, so that helped in making me feel valued, as the firm invested time in our learning in a manner that made our quality of learning a key priority for them. Throughout the internship, members of my broader team that I was working in were really approachable and always set aside time to speak with me, irrespective of how busy they may have been - the 'buddy' and 'mentor' schemes also helped me easily build a rapport with members of the team and to feel part of it. The smaller team I had assigned to help me with my project also invested a considerable amount of time giving me advice and teaching me how to approach new problems, which again furthered my development and showed their commitment to investing in the interns.

I was always able to reach out to multiple people if I had a problem, and this was fully encouraged. Through my project, my sub-team explained to me new concepts and gave me guidance throughout to raise my work to as high a standard as possible, with the end goal being the delivery of a high-quality presentation to a panel of seniors at the bank. Networking was heavily encouraged and the team was easy to reach out to - on each and every one of my networking calls, I received advice on how best to utilise the internship and also more specific advice relating to my project as well.

Given that my degree is very academic in nature, the specific skills relating to Excel and PowerPoint, for example, won't be relevant for the remainder of my degree. However, the internship definitely developed some key soft skills that will be very useful in my degree and in my future work. These include: how to effectively manage my time, how to deal with stressful situations, how to work efficiently in a team and how to be effective in communicating thoughts/ideas/problems to other team members.

The structure itself was perfect in helping us produce a significant piece of work by the end of the 6 weeks. Knowing the culture of the firm is key to be able to work well within it, so the first week's induction was important to start with. Following this, the 2 weeks of technical training we received were vital in developing the skills required to be able to then produce a case study presentation by the end of Week 5. Week 6 then allowed us to actually present our findings to a panel and across Weeks 4 - 6, there was also time to be able to work on other side projects in our teams, which helped in developing time management skills and also allowed us to access a broader range of work that may be encountered by an Analyst.

Everyone at the firm wanted us to succeed, as did fellow interns - this was unwavering throughout. The atmosphere was always one of collaboration and learning.

I think that with only 3 weeks 'on the desk' as opposed to the usual 9, it was difficult to get a full gauge of what a full-time role would be like, as there was less time to 'settle in' and get into a groove with work. This was compounded by the fact the internship was virtual, so all the added considerations of a full-time role, such as the commute and working in the office face-to-face, were missed. That said, given our main project was a case study and not 'live', we had the chance to actually do a lot more modelling and be more creative with our ideas than what a usual intern would be able to, which would perhaps better reflect the work of an Analyst. Furthermore, given I also had side projects to be doing alongside the main project, I got a feel for the time management aspect of a full-time role and the importance of over-communication with regards to staffings and deadlines.

Whilst we couldn't meet the team face-to-face (the only real downside with regards to learning about the firm's culture), this actually meant that a lot more seniors, who would normally be travelling etc., were easier to access for a quick phone call chat. Their insights are quite unique and within any team, it is the seniors who drive the culture, so this made it a lot easier to find out what it was that the seniors of the team want to achieve for the team (their vision) and how they want to go about doing it. Regular conversations with juniors in the team also helped me understand on the ground level the kind of workload they face and what their hours are like, as well as how they fit within the team dynamic and the kind of social events that are run by the team to build camaraderie.

I found the work I did to be varied and interesting, and got a feeling for the big picture and therefore understood what impact my future work would have and how it would fit in with what the bank is trying to achieve. Given I enjoyed the experience and had enough of a taste of investment banking from the virtual experience, the content of the internship helped me decide that investment banking is where I see my future career path.

Right from day 1 of the internship, members of the team I'd be joining over the course of the 6 weeks set up calls with me to welcome me and also give me advice and insight to help me make the most of the experience. I managed to speak to every Analyst and Associate on the team (most of them twice and some of them 4 times or more), as well as most of the VPs on the team and also some Directors and Managing Directors, allowing me to gain a broad range of insights and connections at every level of the team.

Our team had an intern welcome drinks session, as well as weekly virtual drinks every Friday - this made us feel very much a part of the team and allowed us to speak with the team (including members from every level of the team) in a more relaxed setting, to be able to get to know them better. This added to all the networking we were doing and made building a rapport with members of the team straightforward, especially via the face-to-face interaction.

100% would recommend the internship to anyone interested in starting a career in finance or investment banking more specifically, for the following reasons: 1. Strong universal bank with a strong balance sheet - looking to expand and able to provide key services to its clients in all stages of the business cycle. 2. Great culture - friendly people, emphasis on investment in juniors, encouragement of collaboration and interaction with seniors 3. Skills development - extensive technical training (from scratch) and plenty of opportunities to apply it