Truist Securities

Investment Banking Summer Analyst

May - August 2023 • Atlanta, GA

What I liked

Great environment, lots of young, smart people. Didn't have the "asshole" factor that I've heard other investment banks have. Pay was on par with a lot of investment banks, including 1.5x for overtime hours which you're basically guaranteed every week. There is a great speaker series every week that allows you to hear from senior executives within Truist Securities and ask them questions. Within my group (Industrials & Services), we had structured coffee chats, networking with usually about 2 or 3 senior bankers every week. I found the work extremely interesting and days went by VERY quickly, because I had stuff to do that was interesting and actually adding value to the team.

What I wish was different

Did not really get any modeling experience. When work flow was down, there was a lot of just sitting around and asking people if you could take something off their hands. On the flip side, when things were busy, I watched an analyst put in probably a 110 hour week. Even as an intern, I clocked a 77 hour week, working for probably about 15 hours on Saturday and Sunday combined. As intern getting paid hourly with 1.5x overtime, I was happy to work 77 hours. But for a full time salaried analyst, if you spread the hours they worked over their salary, they were making less than the interns on an hourly basis.

Advice

It's a great experience to get a start in investment banking and see if you like it. Unfortunately, investment banking is a very volatile industry, and if you end up recruiting or are expecting a promotion during a bad year, you probably will be disappointed. I did not get a return offer, and I am now glad that I didn't because I realized that I value much more than making lots of money. I realized I vale job security and having a life outside of work. If you grind, and you enjoy the grind, investment banking is probably the best and most lucrative career path possible.

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