Why is it so difficult for investment banking interns to become regular employees?

Be sure not to make the following 15 mistakes.

1. Say "I am also considering whether to go into consulting"

Investment banks are looking for people with clear goals and undivided attention. They are not interested in "explorers". As long as you are still working in an investment bank, that will be your first choice for a career. Likewise, don't let it be known that you view investment banking as a stepping stone into hedge funds or private equity.

2. Your chest is beating loudly, but you can’t complete the work

If you don’t know that working in an investment bank is tiring, then you know nothing about the banking industry. Maybe this summer you You should never come to an investment bank for an internship. You need to organize your workload well so that you can survive the 10-12 weeks of full-time work, especially if you have different projects at hand. “Don’t think that what takes someone else a day to do, you can do in a few hours,” said Thomas Viguier and Guillam Tardi-Juber, who previously worked in Coaching Assembly’s mergers and acquisitions group. Guillaume Tardy-Joubert said.

If you are given a lot of work (which may be rare), Mae Busch, former chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley Europe, recommends asking your superiors for advice. Whichever one you do first, do whichever one you do later. She advises all young bankers not to be afraid to say, "I'd love to do this, but I have three other projects. Which one do you want me to do first? It's not possible to do them all." . ”

3. Failure to build a good relationship with other interns

Despite the fact that you are in a competitive relationship with every other intern, you must not put it into perspective. Show this. Investment banks want “team players,” which means having good relationships with colleagues.

In a recent Google group chat sponsored by Goldman Sachs, former Goldman Sachs interns said that good relationships with other summer interns can bring great advantages: "If there is someone in your upcoming If you want to join an internship in the department, ask them what materials you should read and who you should communicate with."

4. There are no big mistakes, but small mistakes.

One person. A former intern at Deutsche Bank recently pointed out something helpful: investment banking interns almost always do boring work that requires a lot of attention to detail and is often prone to mistakes. But you can't make mistakes. “This is essentially a test for you,” the intern said.

5. Show off your wealth

You may think that because you are interning in an investment bank and investment banks are full of rich people, it is okay to wear expensive clothes to show off. Accepted. Don't think so. Don’t wear an Hermès tie. Don’t wear Gucci shoes. Don’t get fancy cufflinks

“Leave your Breitling watch at home,” one trader said. “Don’t show off that watch your mom gave you when you got into college. Unless you’re surrounded by hedge fund managers and you’re doing business with them, no one likes a spoiled junior analyst. ”

6. I really took a vacation during public holidays!

During the internship, the company will sometimes give you a holiday. You may be tempted to take this opportunity to completely relax, but this is setting yourself up as a target. “Interns are young, healthy, sunny and full of energy,” said the person in charge of recruiting fresh graduates at an investment bank. "The internship is an opportunity for them to prove themselves, not to relax on the weekend."

7. Arrive late and leave early

It is summer, and you may want to stay outdoors and lie down Rest, be leisurely or relax, but you are here for an internship, and it is an internship in an investment bank.

8. Blatantly doing nothing

Indeed, some interns are so stupid that they keep taking on work and are too busy, but some have no work to do and don’t know what to do. If you have nothing to do, quietly go find something to do. Try to find something you can do to help (such as organizing databases, integrating contact lists, writing relevant reports, etc.).

“Most interns can do nothing but answer the phone,” one stock salesperson told us. "You usually just throw them a bunch of work and make sure they don't get in the way. It can't be too important, but it has to make them feel like it's important work, and you have to motivate them to get it done."

9. Can’t Ask Questions

To make the most of your internship, you must be able to ask questions, but not ask too many irrelevant questions. Keep your questions simple and clear, relevant to the task at hand, and don’t ask questions just to show off your knowledge. At the same time, you also need to learn to watch people's words and make sure not to ask inappropriate questions at the inappropriate time. “Knowing the big picture is key,” said a former intern at Goldman Sachs.

10. Failure to record the answers

When asking questions, you must write down the answers and do not ask the same question repeatedly. Also, note down any interesting information and terminology in your answers. You should carry a notebook with you throughout your internship.

11. "Treat others as if they are nothing"

You have to get along well not just with other interns, but with everyone around you, every full-time analyst and manager, senior banker family, and colleagues from the human resources department. Everyone has to like you. They have to feel like you're a real person, not some super-workaholic trying to get a full-time offer.

“I always talk about work,” said Serrena, a former Goldman Sachs intern. "I'm sitting there trying to talk about markets and different asset classes, but my colleagues want to be with the person next to them for eight to 10 hours a day. They want to have a personal relationship with me."

An intern who was not hired in the end told us that this subtle relationship between people was where he suffered: "The interns in the 1990s are all very capable, so in the end it depends on whether you can Get along well with the team. Unless you are a super genius, the team won’t accept someone who doesn’t fit in.”

12. Failure to have a good rapport with your peers

It’s not just other interns. , not just analysts, managers, senior bankers and HR colleagues, but also build relationships with your partners. “Each intern is assigned a mentor, buddy, or sponsor—someone other than the hiring manager. Interns should take advantage of these resources. Ask questions, ask for advice, and ask for feedback,” says a senior recruiter at J.P. Morgan The manager said so.

13. Think investment banks are only interested in profits

The stories you have read and the rumors you have heard tell you that banks are only interested in one thing: money.

This is not the case. Banks are also interested in complying with rules and regulations so that they never have to suffer hefty regulatory fines. They're also interested in avoiding losses. "It's also important that banks are not just interested in whether you made money or lost money," says Hesketh. "Interns, graduates and junior traders lack a lot of information compared to their predecessors."

Instead, banks want to know how you handle losses. "Banks don't like arrogant people," says David Hesketh. A former trader at Merrill Lynch, he now runs a company that provides trader training software. “What the banks don’t want to see is you thinking you know best and the market is wrong. The banks don’t want to see you doing more losing trades than profitable trades and refusing to let go. Most importantly, the banks don’t want to see you Lose double the money.”

14. Ask for more interesting work

The work of an intern will be boring. You have to accept this fact and devote all your working time to these tasks. Don't make mistakes and don't complain. “These jobs are more or less boring than I expected,” said an intern in the investment banking department who keeps a diary every day. "I found that an analyst's job is basically to integrate data and information into project proposals, and occasionally assist leaders in managing projects. Banking work is not so glamorous, nor can it only be done by geniuses. You do not need to have unlimited energy. Or work late into the night. You need to be reliable, accurate, driven and mentally sharp.

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15. Joining a team that is not prepared to recruit people

This is a prominent problem for sales and transaction positions. "The wrong signal these companies give is that as long as you come to work and If you make no mistakes, you will get the offer. But that’s not the case — it all depends on whether a team is actually hiring. In a rotational internship, you have no say in where you are sent. Whether you can get into a team that really needs to recruit people depends purely on luck," an intern who was not hired reminded.