Summer Analyst Review

As a summer analyst you take part in both structured intern projects and ad hoc work with the team to which you are aligned.
A typical workday involved:
•Attending meetings to keep up to date with markets and economies
•Working on an internship-long intern project alongside a few other interns, which is presented at the end of the internship
•Assisting your team with their day to day work and projects
•Working on team-related projects of your own
•Meeting people from across the firm to discuss what they do to learn and to help you make decisions about what path you want your career to go down moving forwards

I was doing a lot of independent work, much of which will actually be used at the firm going forward, mostly internally (i.e. used to streamline processes within the firm but not being sent to clients, for example). So, I was given responsibility in the sense that I was personally responsible for several things which really matter (rather than e.g. fictional training projects) but it was never daunting because I would always be sending my work back to somebody more senior for feedback/review before it was used.

I learned a great deal about the area of finance that my team is working in. I also developed workplace skills and best practices and feel more prepared going into a full-time job now. Communication skills are worked on as it is an essential part of the day-to-day, and I built confidence in talking to new people and speaking with my team. My Microsoft office skills are also improved and I learned to use a new statistical software package for one of my programs which will be useful to know going forward.

I was allocated two buddies who were a part of my team, who were my first point of contact if I had any questions or anything I needed a second opinion on. I was also allocated a mentor, who was not directly a part of my team, who was there in case I had questions regarding the general culture at the firm, or anything I would prefer to talk about with somebody who I was not in contact with day-to-day. Even besides these ‘official’ contacts, my team were always willing to answer any questions I had and so I always felt like I had enough support and guidance.

The structure is very horizontal in the sense that people of all titles typically sit on the same floor and work in the same area, and ‘high-up’ people really only go to their office if they have to make an important call. It wasn’t unusual for me to sit next to MDs and even partners. The culture is also heavily focused on talking to and going for coffee with everyone, and meeting as many new people as possible is strongly encouraged by buddies/managers, which is good because it allows you to get a really good idea of what all of the different divisions and teams do. The general atmosphere is one of communication and most people are always happy to answer questions and chat.

The internship was an all-around great experience. The work was meaningful and engaging. Having a team that was happy to help makes everything so much easier and more relaxed. The culture of reaching out to anybody to chat for a bit makes it easy to learn the intricacies of your team and division and well as what the other teams and divisions do. The atmosphere between the interns was really supportive and friendly, not at all competitive.

Yes