Investment Banking Summer Analyst Review

I really enjoyed the virtual experience at RBC Capital Markets. Although our Summer Internship was supposed to be held physically, the team was very flexible in managing to shift the program entirely online despite the short notice. It is one of the only programs that managed not to cut the length of its internships and still succeeded in giving us interns a great opportunity to learn about the bank as a whole, then about our specific industry teams.

I felt really valued during my Summer internship in the Global Investment Banking division of RBC Capital Markets. From day one, our schedule was fully booked with team activities, one on one mentoring with various employees and industry presentations. The amount of time and resources invested in our various training session and IB simulation really made me feel valued, and most of all that all the skills and knowledge we developed were not just for our Internship, but for the longer term once we would get the opportunity to join Full-time.

We receive a lot of support during our virtual experience. We had access to all IT help desk and software support, the same way a full time employee would. The HR team was very adamant about taking the time to talk to us should we face any issue or had we got any questions. In addition to receiving our own laptop via mail, we were given the chance to purchase and being reimbursed by the bank for computer accessories and other desk amenities to improve our work from home set up and allow us to be fully able to perform our duties.

During the first month, we had access to a lot of training, whether these were on industry knowledge (modelling, corporate finance,...) or software (Bloomberg, ThomsoneOne, CapitalIQ, S&P). These were very useful for our daily tasks as part of our team, but will surely be very useful in the future, for either studies or when joining the bank full time. By giving us access to all these tools, and adapting to our level of knowledge on these, the bank really allowed each and every one of us to develop existing or new skills that will play a big part in our professioal careers.

The virtual experience was very well structured, we had full access to various video communications software from day 1. It was separated between a month of training, group activities and investment baking simulation, then another month of full immersion within our Industry or product groups. At no time did I feel I had nothing to do, the program was packed with fascinating training and presentations, as well as some team-building events during the first few weeks. Then the second part of the program was more focused on the professional side, and i felt very involved in the work of the team, having similar tasks and work as analysts would.

The general atmosphere was very good. It is never easy to enter a new organisation without being present, much less meeting coworkers and network around the bank. Despite that, many sessions were organised to made us interns feel involved in all non-core activities of the bank, from volunteering to diversity or sports. We had weekly virtual happy hours organised within our interns group and then got to meet our team at a local bar once quarantine rules eased. Overall everyone was very friendly and took the time to talk, both about professional and non-professional matters.

I would say the time and resources invested in personal training and development were significant. The company hired a full set of training consultants to develop our modelling and financial skills. From day one, we had access to several financial software (S&P, CapIQ, Bloomberg) and got to have training with representatives of these software companies. It did not feel like the company was just investing in us for the length of an internship only, it truly felt like we were part of the company's long-term plan.

Although a virtual experience is never the best way to find out about a job or a career, I felt very lucky to be at RBC Capital Markets for this one. Not only were we fully immersed in our team, and doing similar tasks as analysts were doing, but a lot of time was taken by juniors an seniors to talk to us about their jobs, whether on a daily basis or more big picture. This was a great representation as we got the chance to speak and ask questions which felt like we understood fully what these roles entailed.

Very much so, the bank has a very good reputation across the city when it comes to culture, but when I joined, I was able to notice by myself how open and collaborative the culture was. I was able to have one on one call with employees, from Managing directors to analysts, that would take some time during the day to talk to me of their jobs and responsibilities. The culture was very open and everyone always takes the time to help, no mater where you rank.

I knew I wanted a career in investment baking, but this experience was the cherry on top of the cake. I truly experienced a great culture, combined with a growing and aggressive bank. I felt immersed and very much supportive of the bank's progress and optimistic about the future in the industry. Investment banking is a career where hard work is required, but doing it in a firm like RBC Capital Markets is much more enjoyable and rewarding.

I was paid during my time at RBC Capital Markets, at the same rate of an analyst so the equivalent of £50k/year during 10 weeks. As part of my compensation, I obtained £1k as a signing bonus. Once I signed my full-time offer, I also obtained a £6k signing bonus. Finally, in addition to receiving a laptop, I was reimbursed for the purchase of a screen monitor, chair, keyboard, mouse and earphones by the bank.

There were many opportunities for networking and meeting other employees. These were organised through various presentations of industry or product groups, we were also encouraged and introduced to many employees outside or our groups. My staffer offered to introduce me to other senior employees working in different sides of the bank, so that I could expand my network and meet new people as well as understand how the different functions of the company work with each other.

The networking and social events were structured in different ways: first, we had informal and formal presentations of various industry and product groups where we could each ask questions and participate. But the most interesting were one on one calls with mentors and analysts. They took the time to answer our questions and talk to us about their experience at the bank, as well as giving us tips to succeed in this environment. It was very easy to reach out and everyone was always eager to talk to us about their experience.

Yes I did, we had several presentations organised by employees to introduce us to the various activities they were doing outside of work. We had presentations on the various sports teams, volunteering groups and events organised or the many diversity organisations. We also had a real hands-on experience working with a charity and saw the importance that RBC employees attached to volunteering and helping these organisations outside of their work hours. I was personally very interested in joining the many sports and running activities organised by the bank, especially the RBC Race for he Kids.

I would absolutely recommend this experience to a friend, the program was very well structured and gave me the opportunity to develop and expand a lot of my skills during the first month. During my immersion into my product group, I was able to work directly with senior managers at the bank and benefit from their knowledge and insights. Having worked at other banks, I can assure that none come close to RBC in terms of culture and environment.