Summer Intern Review

I highly enjoyed my internship. Given the virtual environment, Jefferies made a commendable effort to ensure that our 5 weeks were intensely involved whilst also varied. I highly enjoyed my time in the UK Investment Banking team and especially appreciated the additional effort that my team made in scheduling regular catchups and making sure that I was able to ask any questions.

I was kept involved in a range of projects, from live deals to numerous company presentations. These tasks had great value for clients and so having this exposure was appreciated. I also realised what the Analyst experience was like given this exposure.

I had three main points of contact: my buddy, staffer and line manager. Over the programme, I had catch-ups with all three of these individuals. I was asked regularly if I was enjoying my time in the team and if I could be given any more specific types of tasks to get involved in. Communication was not an issue over the internship as there was an internal communication network, Zoom, as well as email which all provided means of contact.

My days were varied but there was always a set of task to do. Even if there wasn't any new work given, I would have to write a daily trading summary for a client as well as a market summary. As such, there were always tasks to complete daily. However, the intensity would vary such that some days I would be highly busy and some late evenings (commonly if working on deals) whereas on other days I was able to log off earlier.

I was given a lot of responsibility over the 5 weeks. There were some tasks where it would be just myself, another colleague, as well as a senior professional working on a deal presentation together owing to some employees being away. As a result, I was given a lot of responsibility when helping produce some of these slides with the guidance of colleagues. In other slides, I was able to offer suggestions on how to format the presentations which was well-appreciated.

I developed both technical and soft skills. In terms of technical skills, I initially took part in a one-week training programme with an external provider, which allowed me to understand valuation and the fundamentals of accounting. Over the internship, I understood how to construct various models and was given numerous tasks requiring excel spreadsheets. In terms of soft-skills, I took part in client calls which taught me how senior professionals communicate effectively. Working under pressure and to deadlines was another important skill I built.

This was a virtual internship and so there wasn't an office, but the atmosphere in my team was collegiate and light-hearted. As such, I enjoyed the relaxed culture of the team which was also very open and allowed me to ask for help whenever needed.

It was very well organised. The HR team sent every intern a personalised rota of the 5 weeks of activities. The UKIB team themselves also organised a variety of internal morning calls, deal team calls and other regular catch-ups. In the mornings, my buddy would often arrange catch-up calls with me which gave a sense of structure to my days.

There was a lot of personal development and training over the weeks. The first week's training by the external provider gave a detailed introduction to banking and finance wheres on the desk the analysts and associates gave teach-ins on a range of subjects. There was also a lot of on-the-desk training across the variety of tasks I was given, such as learning how to use PowerPoint and Excel more effectively.

Positive future prospects the firm is growing and is looking to hire talent in Europe.

Owing to a virtual setting, we did not have any social elements of the internship. However, HR arranged a couple of intern pop quizzes across Zoom which were great social elements to the internship.

I lived in a student accommodation for the duration of the internship for 7 weeks. This was at a standard rate in the range of £250 a week for the area in West London.

Virtual setting meant there was no opportunity to explore the nightlife in the local area.

The virtual setting meant there was no opportunity to learn about these, but from what I hear the team is sociable and has meetups in pubs and other places every so often.