INTERN DIARY: Crunch time over lunchtime
After 11 weeks of early wake-ups and late nights, coupled with a necessity to act as keen as humanly possible at every moment, my internship is finally over. I don't know whether to rejoice or cry!
I knew the routine endured during the summer was one I'd have to get used to if I wanted to work in investment banking after university, but I really needed a break and good long sleep.
Most of my friends at other banks had finished by now, and surprisingly, I only knew a handful that had received offers. Last year, the rumour was that almost everyone had got an offer, but out of about 15 people I knew who had interned in front office in 2010, only a small percentage secured graduate jobs.
The key issue seemed to be headcount, regardless of how good their mid-point and final reviews were, if the desks they were rotating on were not hiring, all there effort was in vain. With that in mind, I began making subtle enquiries as to whether any of the desks I had rotated on were expanding. As it happened, the only desk which was hiring was the one I was currently rotating on, so I decided to go for one last push.
Being unusually chirpy and friendly seemed to turn a few heads on my desk, but generally nobody really seemed to give a damn at my new enthusiasm. Well, at least not the point where they were able to source any kind of work to help me make a good impression. In fact, I ended up getting sent on a coffee run because the traders got tired of hearing my voice.
Eventually, though, I managed to persuade the MD to let me shadow him for the week so I could learn "how value was really added", as he put it.
This ended up being one of the most interesting and useful things I did throughout my internship. I learned that a strong entrepreneurial spirit and business sense were key to making serious money in sales. Understanding the markets and financial products goes without saying, but when there are hundreds of other sales guys at scores of other banks selling the same products, you need an edge for clients to come to you.
The managing director, it turned out, was a non-sleazy version of Del Boy and he made deals left, right and centre with clients all around the world.
Luckily for me, making money through deals was one of my strong points, and something I had mastered quite well from numerous money making schemes carried out at school, so I was able to keep up with the MD and asked a lot of intelligent questions (and also attempted to suggest various trade ideas, none of which he bought).
By the time Friday morning arrived, I was dying for my review to be done and dusted, simply so I could find out my fate, whether it would be at this bank or two months of applications to grad roles elsewhere.
My wish was granted and it was all over surprisingly quickly. In a nutshell, I was told that, although the desk I rotated on was impressed by me, due to headcount restrictions they would not be able to offer me a place, but I was welcome to apply to the bank's graduate programme!
Feeling pretty devastated, I went out for lunch in the afternoon with the MD, which he suggested just to say farewell. By this time, I was pretty annoyed about everything, but thought I might as well make a futile last ditch effort to suck up to the manager and convince him I was worth hiring.
So we spent the next hour and a half talking about new ways the bank could make money in the future and disparaging rival firms (which seemed to go down particularly well). I came back from lunch and scuttled into a toilet cubicle, and considered just nodding off. The thunderous bowel movements of someone in the box next to me pushed the idea out of my head very quickly.
I got back to my desk and, more or less immediately, the HR lady asked me to follow her into her office. She explained she had just sat down with my MD, and he was so impressed with me at lunch he wanted to offer me a graduate position! At this point I pinched myself to check I wasn't in limbo like the movie Inception. Who would have thought after all the effort of throughout my internship, the decision would ultimately boil down to one hell of a lunch with the MD?
Well, the whole experience has been a complete rollercoaster ride, with many ups and downs, and I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed it entirely.
It was definitely an eye-opening experience, and I will certainly be cherishing my last year at university before the real world beckons. I'm pretty sure I'm going to accept the bank's offer, but it would be stupid not to make a few phone calls around to other banks and try and use my offer as leverage for a fast-track graduate interview to try and land a place at a better bank. Best of luck to all of you!
