Typical Day As a Intern

Question

For all you 1st years interning, would you mind answering the following:

1. What field?
2. What location?
3. Rundown of a typical day?
4. What really helped you prepare for the job school-wise?
5. What will help you for full time (so classes you'll now take 2nd year)?
6. What do you read now other than the WSJ and Economist to stay up in the know for your biz?
7. Typical hours with breakdown (meetings, traveling, in front of the computer, etc.)

Really curious to see how is is all going with all of you...thanks!

jallenmorris · Answer

Think many of them will have time to come back here and give a debrief? I hope so...but I won't hold my breath. :oops:

(<-- too bad this guy didn't come in blue).

lepium · Answer

1.  What field?  Strategy (non MC). Strategic plan for company's entry into a new market (new geography, existing products). Plan includes HR, facilities, some basic legal, taxes, etc., so it's not only marketing.
2.  What location?  Boston, MA
3.  Rundown of a typical day?  Planned the project during 1st day at work, so typical day is doing what I'm supposed to be doing at that point. The schedule is adjusted regularly, but the main blocks stay the same. Research (competition, market, economic trends, industry news, etc.), summarize findings. I'm still gathering data for now, but I will start to transition into the strategic plan shortly. 
4.  What really helped you prepare for the job school-wise?  Every single course in the core has helped a bit. From accounting to finance through operations to marketing. And of course, strategy. A few conferences have been surprisingly helpful (i.e.: heard a competitor's CEO speak, got economic forecasts for the region from relevant economists, etc.). And, of course, meeting and talking with people from the region.
5.  What will help you for full time (so classes you'll now take 2nd year)?  Several courses. I'm looking into it as I write (need to pick soon!)
6.  What do you read now other than the WSJ and Economist to stay up in the know for your biz?  Target market is non US, so WSJ and Economist are mostly irrelevant. I read industry publications and local newspapers / magazines.
7.  Typical hours with breakdown (meetings, traveling, in front of the computer, etc.)  I'm either on phone or in front of the computer most the time. A few meetings a week (mostly with my supervisor, to update him on the project and ask for help if needed) and a few teleconferences with other people who are interested in subproducts from the project or who can give me information. Standard hours are 9 - 5, although I'm at work mostly from 8.30-ish to 6.30ish. If I'm behind schedule I stay later (a couple of days last week I stayed till 8.30pm), but overall pretty manageable.

L.

pelihu · Answer

1. Investment banking, bulge bracket.
2. Los Angeles, CA.
3. Build some models, create some pages for pitch books, participate in some conference calls.
4. Finance Club and preparing for interviews helped (we brought in someone from training the street for a couple of days). Also, don't underestimate how important accounting is. Sure, finance is what you do, but you'll get your @ss cooked if your accounting skills are sharp.
5. My 2nd year courses will help by allowing me to kick back and relax. I don't think there's anything that I  need  to learn in school that I won't pick up on the job. Valuation of different types of assets will probably be the most useful thing to learn in school.
6. I read pretty much everything I can including WSJ, Forbes, Fortune, FT, The Daily Deal, PE Week, Buyouts - the firm thinks these are important enough that they deliver them to everyone at their desks.
7. Hours...well I'm thinking about going home for the night (it's 12:47 ight now). I've worked every day since starting (including July 4 and all weekends), and I average about 12-15 hours a day, including weekends. I have noticed that not everyone is working this much. Given the current situation with banks, I think it's good that people want me on their deals. Credit crunch, housing crunch, there's definitely going to be a full-time offer crunch at the end of this summer. Given my preferences (west coast, bulge bracket, preferably financial sponsors and/or private equity) the number of jobs can probably be counted on two hands, so I'm going to do my best to hold onto this one if I can.

MGOBLUE2 · Answer

Wow. Shows how bad things are getting. Pelihu, has your confidence been lowered based on what others have told you during the internship about fewer full-time offers being extended? I sensed more optimism earlier in the year.

Also, is there anxiety among the FT Associates? I have to imagine some fear being laid-off.

navy01 · Answer

Thanks all. Really interesting to see what you guys are doing and what you are reading. I would probably do the same as you pelihu and work my butt off to get that full time offer in my pocket. kudos to you both!

pelihu · Answer

Haven't heard anything specific about fewer full-time offers, just my interpretation of what's going on right now. Virtually all of the banks have announced layoffs recently. This are much different now than earlier in the year. In the fall, we had some bad news but most of the banks said they would keep hiring at the same levels. In January, we learned that many firms would not be hiring at the same levels as in the past (Citi and Merrill cut summer associate hiring sharply, some others had fewer cuts and some held the line). In March we had Bear Stearns. Lately Lehman has been in the news every day and UBS can't stop tripping over itself. Even Goldman and JPMorgan (seemed to have weather problems the best) have laid of substantial numbers - including senior bankers. In fact, there's been a joke going around about Goldman's accelerated analyst program, where they ask them to leave after one year (two is the typical analyst program).

So, while nobody has directly said anything about it, I think it's almost certain that full-time offers will be tighter this year. The good news is that, if the past is any indication, people who survive and get offers will be perfectly positioned to reap the benefits of the next boom (it will always be a cycle). Banks always overdo it when the cut, and bid up salaries when things pick up. Banks were telling us in the fall that they learned the lesson last time, and that they wouldn't cut hiring this time around - not true - and if the past is any indication, they will pay out the nose for talent when the economy turns around. The good thing is, they can afford it.

As far as full-time associates (and VPs for that matter), people don't walk around talking about how they are afraid of losing their jobs. In fact, I think the worst thing you could do to most of them isn't to fire them, but to severly cut their bonus at the end of the year. People would be disappointed if they got fired, but they might go postal if they work all year and get paid a consultant-level bonus. I seem to recall reading an article about a BofA VP or something from this past year. They cut his bonus from about $1.5mm the prior year to $200k (just off the top of my head, don't remember exactly), and he was suing because he said they based his salary on future business prospects (the coming year) rather than what he produced last year. Don't know how that turned out, but a sharp cut in bonus would probably piss off a lot more bankers than layoffs.

navy01 · Answer

I've heard that's how banks usually manage their numbers too. They will give bottom performers a very low bonus compared to peers so they eventually just leave to jump for other places where they will be a better fit.

What's the deal with the Lehman mid-year bonus deal? I doubt anyone who earns stock will actually get a chance to cash it out. I think it'll be a moving cash out date with tons of loops to jump through.

3underscore · Answer

It was a good excuse to buy stock and try and hold it at $20. Didn't work. Lehman has the highest staff equity holding of all the banks post Bear, so I don't think the state of the new options will worry them too much as they already are heavily invested. Not sure so much if it was a bonus though, or an attempted handcuff of sorts.

navy01 · Answer

pay in options is always handcuffs in my opinion.

husband was going to throw some cash down at $20 but didn't and was glad when he saw them his $18.

MiamiMBA · Answer

Lepium - any good sources (websites, books or artilces) where I can learn more about the strategy field? I currently plan to focus on brand/product management, but want to keep my options open and strategy is one that I would like to learn more about. Thanks!

perfectexamscore · Answer

what do interns on an average make?

3underscore · Answer

coffee

pelihu · Answer

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solaris1 · Answer

I've seen $1300 - $1600 a week, average, on most employment reports.

pelihu · Answer

Actually, MBA interns generally get paid the same as full-time first years. For consulting, I think that's about $2500 a week or something. For banking, it's precisely $95k / 52 weeks which is $1830. Banks usually pay an end-of-summer bonus, last year $10k was typical, don't know about this year. There's more variation among other businesses.

OasisNYK · Answer

Haha try working for a REIT - $15/hr but they pay you with "experience"

sam77sam7 · Answer

Brilliant... had me laughing in my cubicle.

~Sam

pelihu · Answer

I thought I'd give an update on my experience as an intern at an investment bank. The first few weeks were definitely tough, as detailed above. It's absolutely true that in banking, you'll work late, work weekends, skip lunch, pull all-nighters, all that stuff. I coverd pretty much all the bases within the first three weeks.

Since then, it's been a lot better. I've been leaving between 9-10PM pretty regularly and I haven't worked the past two weekends. I think these are actually fairly typical work weeks, though things can definitely get busy at any point. From the bankers that I know (my firm here and elsewhere), I'd say that 60-70 hours per week is pretty normal for the associate level. Things can definitely differ quite a bit based on practice area, group, and the people you're working for. Having a good boss makes a huge difference. And of course, spikes to 100+ hours definitely happen from time-to-time.

IHateTheGMAT · Answer

Really? 60-70? I'm very surprised by that. I'd always heard more like 80-100. Do you think the hours in LA might be less then NYC?

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