Global Markets Intern Review

Our roles depended on which rotation we were on. A lot of the time was spent networking, suggesting trade pitch ideas, presenting on various projects for our desks and consolidating our market knowledge. We also participated in daily trading games and weekly market discussions, and had multiple speaker session arranged for us virtually from global representatives from different divisions. We had the flexibility to make our days as busy as we liked them, which was a bonus.

I improved my market knowledge drastically - my ability to form my own conclusions based on market news, my ability to suggest trade pitch ideas, my ability to perform technical/fundamental analysis etc. It was nice because the teams understood that we all came from different backgrounds and therefore didn't expect us to have all knowledge/industry specific skills pre-learned. The focus was mainly on growth and giving tasks your best go. We also had 1 week of training, but that was very general.

Where responsibility could be given, it was. We were able to provide research summaries, commentary, data findings etc to our teams. It was slightly difficult due to the fact that we were hosted virtually. The nature of sales and trading means access to the trading floor and Bloomberg terminals is quite important to actually understand things in depth and provide value. However, the teams did their best to involve us and keep us busy enough.

We were given grad buddies and mentors who checked in with us, but we had to build the foundations ourselves and there wasn't much general signposting of any people/resources to go to when in need of help. Our managers on each desk were also really helpful with support, but sometimes our tasks and projects were communicated quite last moment and did not match up with the initial intern program. This made it harder to ask for guidance as the turn-around times were so quick.

It is quite hard to get a sense of company culture virtually. All teams had different cultures and dynamics, but overall everybody was incredibly friendly and willing to share their experience. I learned so much not only about the products and desks, but just about people's background, stories and career advice in general. We only had 2 intern socials and 1 was the day before our final presentations, which was probably not the best date to host it. We had a chance to volunteer with primary school kids too, which was a really nice touch. Overall, everybody was so approachable and down-to-earth.

I really enjoyed my internship. It was challenging and definitely pushed me beyond my comfort zone, but it gave me brilliant opportunities to grow and develop my understanding of both the industry and division. The people were so supportive and helpful to the point where I didn't feel like anything was 'a silly question'. It would have been nicer to have rotations longer than 2 weeks, but I still think it was enough time to envision ourselves as salespeople/traders.

Yes

Research the firm thoroughly & make sure you have a strong understanding of why you want to be at UBS as opposed to other firms. It's okay to not know the answers to everything, as long as you are keen to show willingness to learn and genuine drive. Reach out to members of the firm to understand their experience and help to confirm the role is right for you. If you're applying for global markets, be ready for an early morning start!