Typical Day As a Intern

Yeah, associates can definitely have a little bit more time to themselves than analysts. Associates can leave an hour or two earlier on average, work fewer weekends and have fewer super late nights. Unless they are working on something specific, associates here always leave before 10. We are a small enough office that you hear about what most everyone else is working on. I'm positive they are not trying to BS us for the summer, based on contacts with people at the associate level as well as more senior people. Trust me, I found out the real deal the first three weeks I was on the job. Things slowed down because a couple of deals died or were postponed, but nobody is trying to fool us here, I'm absolutely certain.

I have read Monkey Business, though I don't remember many specifics about the book. All the books about trading and banking tend to run together. My general thought is that the book is funny, and is an interesting way to talk about banking, but its more bits and pieces of the truth, rather than the real thing. I think maybe it's like the movie Goodfellas - definitely lots of true elements and real events based on real people, but do you really believe that it accurately portrayed the day-to-day lives of people in the mob?

It's a little hazy, but I recall the road-show story from Monkey Business. I could imagine an associate going through something like that, but it would be a once-in-a-career type of thing for perhaps one person in a department. As in, "I once heard of a guy...". The compensation part was probably pretty accurate - especially for that time period. Banks used to have a reputation of being really secretive about pay, and how much they compensated various performance levels. The thing is, I don't think that's possible any more now that all the big banks are public (most of them made the transition in the mid 90s). Also, most banks are trying to publicize bigger differences between top performers and low performers. Regarding peeing in a bottle at the Christmas Party, that reminds me more of fraternity life in college than working at a bank. I recall a road trip where the bathroom in the Winnebago broke, and quite a few bottles were filled until we made it to a stop. That was fraternity, not banking. I don't really remember anything other specifics from the book, however I'd say that many of the stories are (more accurately were) actually true, but you always have to ask, was this a one time deal, or was it a daily occurance? I mean, it shouldn't be a surprise that young bankers are looking to score with young banking assistants (we don't have any of those around here, all the assistants have been with the firm for 20+ years), but I'll bet that's just as true with young consultants and young CPAs and I know it's true with young lawyers. Do bankers like to hang out a strip clubs? Probably not any more than people of the same age with comparable incomes.