The Booth Experience: Diary of an Investment Banking Intern in the Big Apple

While some students come to Booth to transition into finance, others use their MBAs as a platform to take their finance skills and careers to another level. One such Booth student, Yvanna Pérez Morel, worked in M&A advisory in the Dominican Republic, her home country, before business school. This summer, she interned both at BofA Merrill Lynch (Investment Banking, Consumer & Retail) in New York and at Mesoamerica (Private Equity, Food & Beverage Portfolio) in Colombia. This coming year, Yvanna will participate in the exchange program with London Business School as part of the International MBA that she is pursuing at Chicago Booth. During her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, playing squash, and horseback riding in the mountains.

Below, Yvanna recounts her whirlwind summer internship in banking in New York, and how Booth equipped her with the skills to succeed.

--Matt Richman

After ten weeks as an investment banking intern in the Big Apple, I can fully understand why people say that New York never sleeps – I didn’t! Here’s a quick summary of my busy days (and nights) since my last day at Booth – searching for knowledge in finance and a full-time offer.

As an investment banking intern my life revolved around the blinking red light on my corporate Blackberry, but in my experience, every minute was a new opportunity to learn on assignments including Hudson Bay’s acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue, a high yield debt issuance for Carter’s, and a not-yet-public IPO. I honed technical skills such as modeling, got deeply immersed in industry-specific dynamics and strategies as a Consumer & Retail coverage banker, and observed the way senior bankers managed their client relationships.

Those interested in pursuing an investment banking track will find that Booth provides all that is needed for a successful summer:

1) Academic courses: Booth’s unique flexible curriculum allows students to choose courses such as Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis I & II (“Footnote Accounting” and “M&A Accounting”), Cases in Financial Management, and Cases in Corporate Governance, that prepare them for a great summer and a successful career in the financial services industry. YOU chart your learning path. While I had some experience in finance prior to Booth, taking advanced finance and accounting classes in my first year made me confident I could tackle anything technical that came up during the internship.

2) Career Services: This team works day and night to manage the relationships with the different banks and to make sure everyone is well-prepared for interviews through events such as weekend modeling courses by Training the Street (TTS) and “wInterview,” and facilitated some great sessions to give us the tools to be successful during the summer, once we landed the internship offer.

3) Investment Banking Group (IBG): A student-run group which works closely with Career Services, the IBG coordinates different initiatives for first year students to learn from second years’ experiences, from the industry-wide and bank-specific cultures to the dos and don’ts of getting a job in banking. I spent countless hours chatting with second years to get prepared for any challenges which might arise during the summer.

The summer was intense but also fun. Corporate events such as attending a Yankees baseball game with clients, having breakfast or lunch with senior bankers, playing kickball in Central Park with the team, and watching a Cirque du Soleil performance with other interns were a lot of fun and offered an opportunity for the firm to evaluate interns on interpersonal skills. Taking Professor Wortmann’s workshop on networking with senior executives showed me the implicit rules of the game, and allowed me to focus on having fun and asking the questions that I was genuinely interested in.

Of course, after an 18 hour a day, 7 day a week marathon, going out for a night was a must. Meeting Boothies working at other firms who understood my schedule (and probably had the same one) was just amazing! It was great to see some familiar faces and relax for a bit!

By the end of the summer, I got exactly what I wanted: I learned a lot, had fun, and, in case you were wondering, was fortunate enough to be extended an offer to return next year for a full-time job after graduating! Whether it was working, attending corporate events, or meeting friends for drinks in the Big Apple, the term “24/7” showed its true colors this summer. Here are some pictures of my personal experiences: