Summer Analyst Review

I really enjoyed my internship - the rotational nature gave me a great insight into both sides (Financing and Classic M&A) of IBD, and my ten weeks with the firm allowed me to test-drive a job in an industry that I've grown an interest in over the past couple of years.

Every person that I worked with over the course of the internship was genuinely been really lovely and really appreciative of all of the work that I, and the other interns, did for them. We were always made to feel a part of the team, and always given positive feedback and thanks and as well constructive feedback and areas to work on.

My business managers and team supervisors were all great, but I think the majority of the guidance and support that I received was from the Analysts and Associates I worked with on both teams. They were always more than happy to take time out of what were pretty hectic days to help me understand not only how to do every task that I was set correctly and to a high standard, but also to explain the wider context that each task lay in, which helped us to see where our work fit into the bigger picture. Direct examples of this are an Associate staying an extra hour and a half one evening just to explain the details of a task to me and an Analyst walking me through the technical aspects of a project that I had just been staffed on despite the fact that I wouldn't really be working on those aspects. These instances really helped me deepen my understanding of the work and achievements of each team.

The work tended to come in bursts - there were days when I would have pretty much nothing to do, but then days when I'd be run off my feet.

We were given a fair amount of responsibility during our placement - working on materials to actually be used in client meetings, emailing updates to clients and seniors and even being lucky enough to attend client meetings in certain instances. The exposure was brilliant.

The skills I have developed will definitely help me in my degree studies and beyond - from specifically technical skills like working with financial models, writing market updates and refining skills in Excel, to general skills that are useful in every instance, skills in efficiency, organisation and communication in particular.

There were, understandably, moments of stress over the ten weeks, but all in all, the atmosphere was really amicable and not really tense at all. Everyone worked hard but fostered a social atmosphere in both teams, which made the experience a lot more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

Overall, it was well organised.

They really did invest in us a lot - we had a full week of training prior to actually hitting the desks, followed by training and team insight sessions at least three times a week for the following five weeks, and other, less frequent training sessions following that. We also had two reviews, one after each rotation, in which we were given genuinely helpful feedback and advice on how to work on areas that needed improvement.

The work was interesting and the people were amazing - both in terms of just how good they all are at their jobs, and how nice they are. The only point of consideration of, I'm sure, all of us is the hours - they're not completely terrible, but, especially in your first few years, it looks as though it would be pretty difficult to maintain a decent work-life balance.

We had a strong group of interns that socialised - whether this was over dinner in the evenings or during the weekend. I think we had a pretty great time together. By the end of the internship, we had a university class kind of feeling amongst the group.

London is obviously pretty expensive.

The hours meant that this was difficult. We had team drinks etc., and a day of charity work, but other than that it was pretty limited just because of a lack of time. That being said, we did get a better deal than a lot of other interns working in IBD at other banks - the firm introduced a midnight rule (interns were strictly not allowed to work past midnight) alongside its existing Saturday rule (juniors are not to work on Saturdays unless there are exceptional circumstances), which really really helped. The Saturday rule in particular was brilliant, because we knew for sure that we had that whole day to ourselves, so could make plans accordingly.