Diary of a markets intern: Week six

A fresh start on a new desk for our markets intern, with a bigger team and longer hours.

We're afraid the markets diarist has gone AWOL. We're trying to track them down, but until (and if) we do, this post won't be updated. Please bear with us... the eFinancialCareers editorial team.

The first half of the internship has affected us all; we've all grown in confidence and it's now not always completely obvious who the interns are (well - it might be to the full-timers but I often can't tell!).

Starting my second rotation has given me the chance to begin afresh, this time trying to assert myself more within the group and make a (good) impression. It's also meant I've had less work to do. With tying up my last rotation and being introduced to my next group, I've had a lot of time away from my desk and had the chance to do more interesting things - such as sit in on meetings and go to training events.

My new group is so different from my first one: my desk is organised by business line and not job type, so our group has traders, sales, structuring and marketing all working together. It's a lot bigger, too (perhaps 30 to 40 people) so it's almost like a self-contained small business. I'm also working a lot closer with the other interns on my desk than in my last rotation.

Because there so many different functions within our group we get exposure to them all; I can be working with sales in the morning and trading in the afternoon, for example. The pace is also a lot slower here: my team are putting together deals that can take months to complete, which means it can be quite hard to keep up with what's going on as we can come in at a really late point in a deal.

The work I'm doing, though, is standard intern stuff. I've spent a long time researching different countries and industries and I'm regularly given more sales pitches and presentations to work on. Being part of a larger group has definitely increased the pressure on us. I have work from several different sources with different deadlines - I'm left to work out how to do it and what to prioritise. The other big change has been the hours; I worked really regular hours before (being linked to the markets), whereas now it seems people just stay until the work is done - which means some pretty late nights.

As we get close to the end, everyone is starting to think about job offers and where they would like to work. Lots of interns changed desks if they didn't like where they were, or didn't think they would be offered a job there, which means that some desks have far fewer interns than others. I'm surprised how easy it has been to change where you work - basically, if you can find a desk looking for an intern or just willing to have you, you can move. Everything seems to be about confidence here - if you can talk to different people and spend time with them without annoying them, you can make some really helpful contacts.

Week five

This week is my last with my current desk; next week I'll be starting my second rotation somewhere else in markets.

As this was my last week I spent most of my time finishing off the work I'd been doing. My main project has been working on a tool for calculating data not in our main system. Whenever anyone needs to do any calculations (such as pricing swaps or options or finding moving averages and historical trends), all the numbers you need can be recalled from a central database. This is great as you don't have to find all the quantities you need yourself, and the system automatically updates things as they change. The problem is that this database doesn't have all the information for all securities, which is where my tool comes in! Now using Excel we can (roughly) fill in all the information we don't automatically have. I'm quite pleased with what I have done, it's not great but given the time I've had and my poor knowledge of Excel and programming when I started, I think it will do.

Something else really interesting has happened this week. For the first time so far I've had a chance to see how events in the world and markets affect the trading floor and the people. The recent corrections/volatility in world equity markets and credit problems are really showing amongst the traders. The mood has really changed and tempers are getting very short. Before, we were always warned not to get in the way at important times (news, markets opening/closing) but the traders all took that in their stride; some happy to talk to interns while they dealt with what seemed like very important business. Now, however, when things are going badly, a lot of traders don't have any interest in talking to interns after they have finished for the day and people who are seen as getting in the way are getting shouted at (though to be honest after losing a load of money I wouldn't want to talk to some student!). Some desks seem to be good places to work no matter what happens, though some can be great one week and hell the next!

I'm really looking forward to moving next week. It's not that there's anything wrong with where I am - it's that I think I need a chance to start again. I've learnt a lot of the basics and also that I need to be more confident and assertive, I think starting again will give me the chance to put all this into practice!

Week four

This week more than ever I have felt like I am getting somewhere. For three weeks I felt like I was learning and learning but not making any progress; I'd understand something only to realise I didn't know how to apply it or I never got the chance to use what I'd learnt. Now I feel the hard work is paying off.

The main project I've been working on, I now understand as well as anyone in my group. I realise this is because no one else has spent more than an evening on it and I've spent two weeks, but it makes me feel good anyway when people ask my opinion on something!

I also did my first proper client-focused work this week: a client emailed quite a simple request to my group and I was given responsibility for it. I started working on it and then checked with one of the others before sending a reply- I'd made a huge mistake! I felt so silly as I knew exactly what I did wrong as soon as one of my colleagues started checking my work. I was really nervous sending it off, I had this vision it would all still be wrong and the client would get angry and I'd lose my manager an important client. So far, so good though. In fact, the client got back to us the next day with some questions and wanted to talk to me!

I'm amazed at how much more I know now than a few weeks ago. Even if I don't end up working for the bank I'm at now, I feel I know a lot more about what goes on in markets. Before I came here, I thought that the position of analyst was a training position you did for a few years while you learnt the basics. However there are some analysts here who are just amazing, who know so much and are so sharp, and they have only been here a few months! I think a week in an investment bank is like two weeks in any other industry.

The hours are starting to get to me a little now. I know it's not nearly as bad as the investment banking guys, but I'm starting to struggle to get out of bed in the mornings! I think I can probably keep up the enthusiasm until the end (it is an interview I keeping remembering!) but getting into work and knowing I'll be doing spreadsheets for five or six hours before lunch doesn't fill me with joy. I'm finding good ways to distract myself though, wandering around the trading floor looking busy till you bump into someone you know is a good one, and senior staff are always keen on 'grabbing a coffee' and giving advice about what they do. I think next week I'll see if I can spend some more time with the volatility traders: they give off this aura of intelligence, confidence and precision, something I'd love to learn!

Week three

This week started pretty much the same as last week ended: we have lost all contact with the graduate recruitment team and spend all our time with our desks. This is good in that I always have something to do, but the days can be quite long and dull - those training and networking events really broke the day up!

Much of my first two weeks was spent learning how things worked, but I am now starting to get down to some real work. This has really helped my confidence; I can now (almost) justify my place on the desk, although I still don't have masses of work to do. I have a few long-term projects to work on, but not much else and I'm not sure what I should do about this. I know I should be proactive and take responsibility for my own time and learning, but it can get to a point when I feel like I'm pestering people for work or for them to show me how to do something.

All the interns are having such different experiences. A lot of them are being given a good deal of work by their desk heads and the full-time analysts and associates are giving them the work they don't want to do. Others are given weekly tasks, such as making a sales pitch, recommending a stock or devising a trading strategy and without things like this I'm finding it quite hard to prove myself.

One thing has changed for the better, though: I'm starting to get far more exposure to other areas of the bank and different people and I now have loads of contacts across the different roles in markets.

The bank is very keen on mentoring and keeping an eye on interns' development. I have two mentors: one junior and one senior - it seems as if the bank has thought about it and assigned people they think would be appropriate. I have plenty in common with both of them and I would certainly consider going into one of their areas if I don't get in where I am at the moment.

I'm also starting to get a better idea of the bank's view of internships: they really aren't expecting us to do anything useful or to add any value; it is just a ten week interview. I thought the ten weeks would seem like ages, but with training and such we are only going to be at each desk for a few weeks.

It feels like the emphasis is on getting to know people and interacting with your desks and I think attitude is key. When we started, we were all worried that we wouldn't have the hard skills and technical knowledge. At the moment though, I'm far more likely not to get a job for not fitting in with the culture rather than not being smart enough or not working hard enough.

Week two

The second week began much like the first week; an early start followed by a lot of waiting around.

We all met at the office and were split into groups depending on where we were to be working. Everyone was pretty excited but a bit nervous. We were looking forward to starting for real but at the same time nervous of what it would be like. Would our managers have really high expectations of us? Would we be able to keep up with the pace?

Luckily, we were all in the same position so we were happy to comfort and support each other. It's early days, but I think my favourite thing so far about the internship has been the other interns - they are all so nice. Of course there are always people you don't get on with - and one or two can be a bit too arrogant, competitive or rude - but the vast majority I really like.

Someone eventually came to collect our team and we were led to the trading floor. It wasn't anything like I'd expected - namely: noise, commotion, traders shouting to each other and at their screens, salespeople talking on two phones at once and everyone working frantically elbow to elbow. In fact, the whole place was really quiet, quieter than many offices I have worked in before!

And so I was taken to meet my group. Everyone there was very friendly but also really quiet and surreally calm; two other interns were placed on the row next to mine so at least I knew a couple of people near me. There weren't any free desks so I pulled up a chair next to one of the guys in my group and watched what he was doing. Everyone was busy, so they weren't able to spend much time with us, but they all made an effort. After a few days I hadn't actually done anything but I was beginning to get a feel for what my group did. None of the other interns had much to do either, so we tried to learn what we could and look interested.

Over the next few days things started to get better. I found a computer I could use and I was given a few projects to get started on. By now, everyone had been given something to do - mostly updating spreadsheets or doing research. Common themes seemed to be using research to make stock recommendations and using computational models to track the effects of volatility or correlations on derivative prices.

There is not really any structure for us to follow or any set work to do; we have to be quite proactive to get work. All of the permanent staff have a lot to do and are really involved in their work - they are clearly not sitting around all day thinking up interesting and useful tasks for the interns! If we go to them they are very helpful and willing to teach us about what they do, but the onus is really on us to take the first steps.

Week one

My first week began with a seven o'clock start. I wasn't the only one: most of the other interns seemed to have arrived early and were trying to occupy themselves outside the office until it was time to go in. We were lead into a large function room where we were given a name badge and security card; the room had been fitted out with a stage at the front and a few hundred chairs facing it. I ended up spending most of the first day sitting around here talking to the other interns. Breakfast was provided so I went to get some food and began to meet my new colleagues. Checking our timetables, we realised there wasn't anything to do for the next two hours and we decided they just wanted to make sure we could get into the office on time! The IBD and technology guys came in a bit later.

The morning was spent listening to presentations on safety, security and general admin stuff. It started to get really dull - but we were being fed and it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other. All the interns seemed to be making an effort to come across as friendly but professional. Everyone had such a different background and people seemed to have come from all over the world. Of the UK interns, most were penultimate-year students at the banks' first choice universities (Oxbridge, LSE, Warwick etc.) but it seemed you could find someone from every university.

After lunch, we had a few talks from senior managers at the bank; this was slightly more interesting than the earlier talks, but we got a good dose of company rhetoric and reminders about how lucky we all were to be here.

The first evening we had a welcome party and the chance to meet our managers. Again this ended up being a lot of waiting around - mine didn't even show up! But as usual we were being fed (and paid) so I was more than happy to stand around and make small talk.

Much of the rest of the week was spent training. We were split into classes of about 30 and went over some basic finance. The training was a mix of lectures and trading games. The lectures involved watching hours of PowerPoint slides, although participation was encouraged and it was all done in a very informal atmosphere. There was a huge range of abilities in the class; some people had done internships before and knew everything, whereas some people had come from arts backgrounds and really didn't seem to know anything about finance - I'll be really interested to see how important this will be and who will succeed.

The trading games, however, were far more exciting. All our computers were networked together and we could buy and sell securities from each other. We all leant a lot about what traders actually did from this; everyone got really into it and at the end we were all standing up shouting orders to each other.

By the end of the first week the interns all seemed to know each other quite well. We had had a lot of free time, so started to become good at filling the gaps in the day. I found out we would be assigned to our desks at the beginning of next week, that'll be the first time we go on to the trading floors and I guess the pace will really pick up then.