国际投行实习经历

My Intern Life in an Investment Bank

Sep 2005

I did my summer intern in a leading investment bank in Hong Kong. Just let me call this bank as XYZ in my Blog. After two rounds and interviewed by four directors, I received the intern offer. At that time I was extremely excited. Even I have never thought I am a strong and aggressive woman, I still expected the experience in a leading I-Bank. Now when I look back to the seven weeks I spent in there, I really cannot express my feeling by one word.

People there in the equity research department of XYZ are really diligent. The daily schedule of the research people in XYZ usually starts from 7:30am, when there is a regular morning meeting, and end at 9:00pm or later, depends on the work process of each one. I worked under their schedule every day. It does not mean I staying there doing nothing to wait they get off work. Only because I thought I could not hand in my report in time if I leave work so early. In fact, usually my boss did not set due time to me, and he always say: ok, no due time, it depends on you. But it added more pressure on me. I had to finish it as soon as possible then.

When I collected and analyzed information and structured my report, I really appreciated the knowledge and skill that polished during the MBA study in the past year. Facing with numerous information from the internet and hundreds pages materials given by my boss, I had to figure out what was useful for my

report, categorize them and decide the structure of my report in a short time. Since my work was mainly about some basic industry research, it did not require advanced finance knowledge, but the skill of analytical and critical thinking. I remember the tricky question their department head asked me in the interview: \"Please estimate how many chairs are produced per year around the world, give me an exact number.\" In fact, there was no right or wrong answer, they just wanted to test the way you analyze a problem.

During my intern there, I did about four projects independently, one of them was as small as only one chart and two sheets, some others of them were as big as reports from 15 pages to more than 30 pages. I believe my boss is satisfied with me in general. The last and biggest report was something about the utilization of solar power and the investment opportunities. The process of writing it was not as smooth as the former ones. When I do a report, my habit is to understand the whole thing, have a clear idea and then start to write. I am a freshman of solar power, so I concentrated on reading relevant materials in the first few days. My boss noticed that. He reminded me that I spent too much time on reading. He said that I could not become an expert in solar power in two weeks. What I should do was to have a general vision, put all the useful information in my report, and then keep revising the report until it become perfect. Though I was not used to it, I believe that it is an efficient way to write report. I followed his instruction and found it did work.

I could endure the tough work schedule if I enjoy the work. Writing report is the first step for every freshman of an investment bank. It also awarded me

knowledge about finance and some certain industries. But to tell the truth, the working environment there is really depressed, or dull. Everyone is involved in their paper work or business telephone the whole day. It is common that there may keep extremely quiet a whole morning or afternoon. Even in lunch time, they will go lunch individually instead of together. It seems the relationship among team members and colleagues is apathetic. To some extent, maybe they know that they are potential competitors, so they are not very open to each other. I could not feel strong team work spirit there. I doubt if it is the typical life of people under great pressure?

One event depressed me the most. Miss C is the assistant of my boss. She is a smart girl came from Shanghai. Usually she was very reluctant to give any help when I asked her questions about their database, the report of XYZ and etc., though I was quite sure that the information was open to all the interns. But one day she initiatively asked me if I knew a function of Bloomberg and told me how to use it. Then she wrote down a note to me. I kept the note and continued with my work. After two minutes, she asked me “why don’t you go to search on Bloomberg?” Then I realized the words she wrote on the note were the name of a company and her intention was that she wanted me to search the company’s information for her. I said: “I am confused. If you want me to search for you, you should ask me if I have time and if I can do you a favor first. You told me the Bloomberg function without any context; I just thought you were willing to help me.” I can never forget her response. She said: “If I don’t want you to search information for me, why do I need to tell you the Bloomberg function!” Suddenly I was shocked. In my vocabulary, utilitarianism and egoism will be the

last words. We did not speak to each other the whole day. Anyway, I like her straightforward style. I understand that it is tough for a girl from the mainland and without any strong backing to survive in the highly competitive environment.

Before I leave, my boss had a talk with me. He said that for a lifelong successful career, one should choose the job that he/she really like and can do much better than others. It impressed me because I have thought about the same question for a long time, even before I went to study MBA. But now I still haven't got a clear answer. I doubt if XYZ and I match with each other. When facing with the eyes of my boss, I didn't have the confidence to say that I was eager for a full time job there. It is from my true heart. I am not the kind of person who work only for the high reputation and high income of an I-Bank. I know I am so idealistic. To be realistic or not to be? It is a problem.