Banking on future success

One-hundred-hour work weeks aren't as fun as they might seem. I know: I spent last summer in the office, working for Morgan Stanley in its investment banking division. It was actually nice — New York had one of its hottest summers on record, and heat stroke was picking off the elderly like a sharpshooter in an arcade. I, however, was tucked in a high-rise building in Times Square with the air conditioning blazing. All day. All night. Every day. Every night.

I don't want anyone feeling sorry for my self-imposed servitude; I knew what I was getting into when I signed on. As an operations research major, I thought I might be happier in banking even though most of my friends were going into consulting. Consultants suggest things while bankers actually do them. While a consultant's training is specific to the firm, investment banking gives a comprehensive finance background, which I can use in whichever career I eventually choose. The testosterone factor that accompanies the banking lifestyle just adds a bonus to the career — most of my banking friends share a secret love affair with Gordon Gecko. "The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for a lack of a better term, is good. Greed is right. Greed works."

I was quite disappointed when I was assigned to the metals and mining group — just slap a hard hat on my head, and give me a pick and shovel. But I think that the small group gave me a better experience because I was entrusted with more responsibility than the other interns in larger groups. While the others always had someone looking over their shoulders, metals and mining did not have the personnel to do this.

Though I answered directly to the two analysts in the group, I met regularly with the vice president and principle. They assigned me to three 3-way mergers and flew me to Cleveland, Ohio, to attend a board meeting for a large company. Near the end of the summer, they called me into the office to pick up the pieces from another analyst who did not do his job. What's more, I got to know the two senior bankers on a personal level, which is always nice at the end of the summer when they are checking their lists, judging who was naughty and who was nice. They even took me to Scores. These guys were awesome.

I ended up getting the sought-after offer, but at a price. During my last five weeks, I averaged 90- to 100-hour weeks. I did not sleep my final three days with the firm. I had two days off the entire summer. One of them was July 4. The other was a Sunday.

The offer was tremendously helpful during my fall-term job search. It not only took the pressure off me, but it made it much easier to get interviews with other firms. In the end, I jumped the Morgan Stanley ship for Goldman Sachs.

While I learned a great deal this summer and I am extremely grateful to my vice president and principle for their guidance, I was offered the financial institutions group (FIG) at Goldman. Not only does a group with an acronym sound cooler, but banks and insurance companies are a great deal more interesting than copper smelters and molybdenum mines. Furthermore, I was impressed by Goldman's recruiting team. The FIG analysts called me so often I began to treat them like the tele-marketers — no, I do not want a GTE Visa.

I don't believe banking is for everyone — there were certainly interns this summer who would have preferred to swallow a gallon of turpentine than work as glorified spreadsheet jockeys. But for those who are interested in finance — and in making a great deal of money on the side — a summer internship with an investment bank is the best way to decide whether it's the right industry for you.