Leading Wall Sreet firms have now turned to virtual internships for thousands of students enrolling in the summer program.
Laura Noonan, a journalist from Financial Times reports that Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and JP Morgan Chase are among Wall Street top names that will induct students to the new normal of remote working due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Perennially, finance internships are known to be highly competitive with students learning technical skills and getting hands-on experience. However, the pandemic has led to redesigning of this traditional structure.
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Normally, the internship programs usually last for 10 weeks, but the latest working from home arrangement has seen the program halved into 5 weeks. During this period, students will undergo remote working techniques, crash courses on how to manage video calls in this new season.
Reshaping the internships
Banks like Goldman Sachs have taken things a notch higher by introducing picture cards with sartorial suggestions for the interns. Furthermore, interns joining the bank’s internship program will also take part in a virtual team-building exercise like wine tasting.
Goldman Sachs which will adopt 2,200 interns has a program where the students will have hourly schedules, like encounters with bankers virtual job shadowing sessions, which interns at the markets division will do several times a day.
In general, Goldman Sachs seeks to ensure all interns spent 60% of their time working with the remaining time dedicated to training.
On the other hand, Citigroup which is bringing on board 1,500 interns was pushed into totally reimagining the scheme during the pandemic. Under the new arrangement, the institution has arranged bonding sessions with peers. Furthermore, on the first day, the interns will take part in a panel discussion and performance by a group of actors from a Broadway show.
Handling confidential materials
Unlike Goldman Sachs, interns at Citigroup will spend less time working on real transactions than in typical years. The management has acknowledged it is difficult to handle confidential materials from home.
Overall, at the end of the internship, Citigroup seeks to ensure the interns go through the spirit approach where the students rotate through different desks and departments. This approach aims to ensure interns discover departments that suit them.
JP Morgan with a pool of 3000 interns globally has not disclosed how it intends to manage them during this pandemic period. Elsewhere, Bank of America with 2,000 has seen its internship program run into almost one month now. Interns have been focusing on careers in finance, professional development, and BofA’s culture.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley with 1,400 summer interns rolled out its virtual program in North America and Asia on June 30.
