Spring Intern Review

The insight provided a really good insight into J.P Morgan, and the financial services industry as a whole. Originally, the Spring Week was supposed to be in person, but due to COVID-19 it was moved onto a virtual platform. Despite this, I think I still managed to get a good insight into the firm as a whole. It was lovely to meet others who got onto the programme and learn more about what a career in investment banking actually entails.

I was a J.P Morgan Spring into Finance for Non-Finance participant. The insight consisted of a few talks from J.P Morgan Employees, as well as sessions by AMT Training during that week. The instructors at AMT training were extremely knowledgable and were more than happy to help and answer any questions we had. The fact that J.P Morgan gave us the option to have even more sessions by AMT Training after the spring week had actually concluded made me feel like they valued me as an intern.

The week in general was very clearly structured. I think the fact that it was done virtually made it difficult to feel like we were generally supported though. It was difficult to have more casual conversations/network with those working at J.P Morgan. Saying that, HR did phone up after the spring week had concluded to help with any potential summer internship applications. I got to have a lovely chat with HR to help give me more information on what the next steps would entail.

I study Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Therefore, the training via AMT training will somewhat help with my economic modules. Ideas such as valuation methods (DCF, comps, precedent transactions) all contain ideas used elsewhere in economics, and financial markets as a whole are a topic covered within my economics modules. In addition to that, I also had the opportunity to network with my fellow interns - this is definitely a skill that I will use in the future.

The insight was fairly structured, given the time constraints and unpredictability that COVID-19 presented. It was clear of what was expected of us each day, and we had a clear timetable indicating where we needed to be. After the official spring week actually concluded, we had more talks and training. These talks were things that we could have had time to cover within the spring week, but due to the time constraints faced with getting the spring week on a virtual platform, did not happen. I'm still very happy that I managed to receive these talks though.

The general atmosphere was as good as could be expected given the fact that this ended up being a virtual insight. I got to meet some of my other interns virtually during the training sessions, and also networking sessions that we organised afterwards. I think the atmosphere could be improved by incorporating a group project to allow us to work with our other interns. There could also have been some small networking groups incorporated into the week as well.

The firm invested with us via the training with AMT training, both during the official spring week, and afterwards during the additional sessions. The ability to have training sessions with these experience teachers in very small groups was something that I was very grateful for. As the insight was only a week long (hence the name, spring week), there was only so much that the firm could invest into its interns . . . .

We had a range of talks from employees from different departments, where we had the opportunity to ask questions live and receive a genuine answer. However, as the group sizes were pretty large during these sessions, and there were only a few speakers, it was sometimes difficult to get your specific question answered. In general though, these speakers gave a very good oversight into what the day to day entails, but it would be better if we could have spoken to them in person.

I think company culture is something that can only really be ascertained in person. It was difficult to gain a further insight of their company culture over a virtual platform. It didn't really provide much more information on the company culture than what you can find on the website. Saying that, we did have a few talks on the general culture of JP Morgan, as well as an insight into their philanthropy, which is something I didn't know the extent of before.

The entire week was extremely useful in helping me decide whether investment banking was for me. Before, I was really uncertain whether it would be a potential career for me. However, after the insight and meeting the people I did, it has affirmed my desire to go into the industry. In addition, talking to those in different sectors helped me to decide which sector would be more suitable for me, given the lifestyle and my strengths.

Because it was virtual, we did not get paid/reimbursed.

There were a few opportunities - but only in very large groups. In reality, the scope for effective networking was really hindered given the virtual platform. Furthermore, this insight took part in March when everything was very hectic, so many of the employees were rightfully preoccupied with other tasks. However, we did still get to meet some employees via the talks given, which gave an insight into the firm. But the ability to ask specific questions was not great during these sessions.

There were no social events!

Yes definitely. We learnt a lot more about J.P. Morgan's philanthropic efforts, and the amount of volunteering that the company as a whole does. This was a topic that I had no clue was so integral to the company culture of J.P. Morgan, so it was really interesting learning more about this. We didn't get told about any other activities that employees are involved with though, but it was at least a nice insight into some of the extracurricular things JP does.

Definitely, it's a great way to decide whether a career in finance is for you, and to meet other people interested in the industry. Furthermore, the other interns were all very accomplished and interesting people - it was lovely to get to meet and network with them during the week. Furthermore, it's a useful stepping stone into summer internship applications, which are notoriously competitive. As an intern, you get priority screening for summer applications. .