Investment Banking Summer Analyst
Department: Investment Banking
My experience
Overview
Corporate derivatives - pricing derivatives (mostly IR swaps and options) using Quote Tool and Boltweb. A ton of market research and reading the news, presenting market updates. Project Finance - not very quantitative, I got to do basic debt sizing practice models but real models are far too complicated to learn within 4 weeks. Mostly I edited powerpoints to make them look pretty and consolidated information in word. I had to do online research to edit the powerpoints (researching past projects and contractors, looking up financial metrics on CapIQ and Reuters).
The internship itself was very fun -- we had several outings a week to get to know the teams and explore NYC. Not sure if this is a pro or a con but each group had intern projects. These were a lot of extra work and people stayed late on weekends just to do them. They were not based on live projects so didn't actually help any clients. But it was nice to practice modeling and create our own presentations.
Pros
GS is very supportive of internal mobility. I was unhappy in my first group and they supported me moving to any group on the floor and I was able to find a group I loved. One GS - big component of their culture -- you get to work with and interact with people in different groups. Overall, people are very smart and intellectual. A lot of senior exposure -- if you email MDs to chat, they are happy to sit down and talk to you. Analysts and associates are very supportive of interns and help explain things to you and help you learn if you show you are passionate and curious. Banana bread overnight oats Kombucha on tap
Cons
Culture is highly group dependent. In my first group, I felt uncomfortable asking questions and they were insistent on face time. My second group was very welcoming, fun, and friendly. Sophomores - you don't get to choose your group, you are just assigned a group so it may not fit your preferences at all
Impact of work
Time spent working
Interview advice
How did you find the job / apply?
Interview Rounds
Interview type
Interview questions
HireVue - 6 questions with no opportunity to redo. Several were random situations, very hard, had to think on the spot. Need to be able to make something up and present it calmly and confidently. All behavioral but had to talk about an interesting transaction. Sophomore summer interview was mostly behavioral: Tell me about yourself, why GS, why this group (pretty standard) Talk about past experience Had to talk about deals I was interested in I interviewed for AFG so there were some capital markets questions - deciding to raise debt v equity; if looking at debt, what would you think about in deciding fixed vs floating, short vs long term, which country to raise in
Advice on how to prepare
I didn't get any referrals and talking to current employees didn't help me get an interview, but it was useful to get to know the firm and learn from their opinions and experiences. If you're looking to go into IB, you should definitely reach out to as many people as possible to learn about the job.
More questions? Send the reviewer a message!