Spring Intern Review

I found the spring programme educative, challenging and fun, and I met a lot of amazing people. I thought there was a good balance between learning and doing, and the line-up of speakers was awesome. Overall, I enjoyed the insight programme a lot and would definitely recommend it to other students interested in learning about GS and IBD.

The buddy system was great for being welcomed into the firm, and analysts were very open for catching up over coffee, which fmade me feel valued. That being said, the fact that the spring week was an assessment process for the summer itnernship limited the extent to which I felt 'part of' the firm.

There was great support from the HCM representatives when I had any questions or were unsure about things regarding the internship and what I should be doing to do well. The support regarding the case studies could have been more comprehensive, as analysts came in at very different times and had limited time. The spring captains were not present during the 'spring captain' catcup on Thursday, which limited the amount of support we got from them.

The technical skills of accounting and valuation were very interesting and will help me in my career, whether it be in banking or commercial law. The overall insight into how an investment bank operates is a nice addition to my overall understanding of commerce and the world. The networking skills I developed will of course be valuable later in my life as well.

A good balance between learning and doing. Sometimes the free time was very short and seemed as if it was only 'fill-in' where there was nothing else planned. More of the introduction to the bank (specifically EFG) could have been introduced earlier on. It was good to end off the day with the daily debate, which was more 'macro' in scope. A clear schedule made it easy to keep control of what was happening.

The general atmosphere was one of curiosity, learning and excitement. It was not competitive, which was very good and made it possible to focus better on the task at hand while getting to know the other interns on a more personal level. The HCM representatives were able to create this safe atmosphere, while still encouraging us to put in our best.

I really felt that the external vendor training was a great opportunity to learn and it felt as if the firm really put an effort into thhe spring interns understanding the basiic technical skills. After this, however, much of my technical learning was self-driven, although prompted by the case studies. The line-up of speakers definitely felt like a great investment into my personal development and I really did learn a lot from those sessions.

This question is difficult to answer as I have never had a full time role with the firm, but I will try to answer it based on what I assume it is like to work at the firm. The Chinese Wall hindered any work-shadowing of the IBD analysts, but the opportunity to grab a coffee with almost any employee at the firm was great for asking detailed questions about the full time role. I feel as if I have a better than average undertanding of the day-to-day work of an analyst, and much better than before.

The word 'teamwork' was repeated many a time from all the employees and senior speakers and so that is one of the main take-aways for me personally. Some of the senior speakers were very honest in their approach to the question of 'firm culture' and this made me trust them when they talked about teamwork and a culture of excellence. My interactions with employees at the firm was an opportunity to 'peel back' some of the rhetoric in the recruitment flyers, which was great.

The content of the spring week was balanced between doing and learning, and thus gave me a deep understanding of what IBD is all about. There were some limitations on the exposure to day-to-day work, but all in all the overall volume of information gave a broad and nuanced basis on which to decide my future career path.

I was paid adequately and my travel expenses were reimbursed. This helped me go in plus and was great as I did not have to think about money during the internship. It also enabled interns from all kinds of soci-economic backgrounds to attend the internship, resulting in a great diversity within the group. This diverse group of amazing people really was one of the highlights of the programme.

There was plenty of opportunities to network, organised by HCM and by ourselves. This opportunity to meet employees from all different levels of seniority within the firm helped me build an understanding of who the people at GS are and this was a great part of the spring week. The amount of opportunities was appropriate.

The networking/social event opportunities organised by HCM were well-structured. Some were in the format of 'speed dating' which made it possible to talk to many different people and be quite efficient, while others (buddy lunch) were more loosely organised, which gave flexibility and an opportunity to get to know the employees better. The self-organised catch-ups with employees over coffee were very relaxed and open and gave a great insight.

There was an entire session dedicated to 'beyond the desk' which was great for giving information about what employees at the firm get up to when they don't work. The LGBT network sent out an email to the spring interns and offered me the opportunity to ask one of heir members about the network. My conversation with him gave a good insight into one of the GS Networks.

I wuould absolutely recommend it to a friend as it taught me about incestment banking more generally while also providing indepth knowledge of the firm. It was challenging and fun and I made friends that I will stay in touch with regardless of whether my journey at GS will continue. I enjoyed the spring week a lot!