Investment Bank Summer Internship: Do's and Don'ts!!

I didn't get the full-time offer at the end of my summer internship at an Investment Bank. Much of the error was in my approach.

I was so used to the framework of school where I’d been given a specific assignment and then taught the exact set of skills needed to accomplish it by an educator.

On Wall Street, YOU need to proactively identify gaps in your knowledge, build your own curriculum, seek out teachers, and ask them SMART QUESTIONS in order to learn what you need to know.

If you want a full time offer at the end of your internship, you will need to have built relationships with mentors and advocates who are going to fight tooth and nail to make sure you have a permanent seat. Don’t let feelings of intimidation stand in the way of you setting yourself up for success.

Follow these key rules:

DO: Operate from a standpoint of service. This is what the coffee represents. It might not actually BE *coffee*, but try to add some small value before asking people to do things for YOU.

DON'T: Assume everyone has prepared a 10 week long curriculum for you to learn from and be tested on regularly.

DO: Be entrepreneurial and go beyond the programming. Come up with projects if you aren't assigned them. Find opportunities to demonstrate what you are learning.

DON'T: Ask people for their time and not be prepared with specific questions.

DO: Write everything down throughout the day, consolidate into lists, research as much as you can, and strategically seek out help to fill in the gaps.

DON'T: Assume the person to whom you've been assigned will be your mentor and manager for the rest of your career.

DO: Seek out people across the firm in different roles who are willing to teach and have capacity to spend time with you.

Good luck this summer!!!