Finance recruits meet weekly to compare energy drink strategies
NEW YORK — A group of summer analysts at several major Wall Street firms has begun meeting informally each week, ostensibly for networking purposes but functionally, according to several participants, as a support group for surviving the extended hours that have become customary during the internship season.
The gatherings, which began quietly in a Financial District coffee shop before expanding to a rotating series of locations, involve a mixture of career advice, complaint sharing, and what one participant described as competitive comparison of caffeine consumption strategies.
How the Group Formed
Organizer Priya Nandakumar, a rising senior interning at a major investment bank, said the idea emerged after she realized she was having nearly identical conversations with interns at competing firms whenever their schedules happened to overlap during rare moments of free time.
“We would run into each other getting coffee at eleven at night,” Nandakumar said. “Everyone looked the same. Same exhaustion, same slightly manic energy from caffeine, same disbelief that this was actually the internship experience we had signed up for. I thought, why are we all having this exact conversation separately instead of just doing it together on purpose.”
What Happens at Meetings
Sessions typically run about ninety minutes and include a loose agenda covering topics such as which energy drink combinations produce the fewest side effects, how to appear alert during a 7 a.m. meeting after a 3 a.m. finish the previous night, and general strategies for managing expectations with senior staff.
“We do talk about actual career stuff too,” Nandakumar clarified. “But if I am honest, at least half of every meeting is just people venting about hours, and the other half is genuinely useful tips, like which conference rooms have the most comfortable chairs for a quick nap between tasks.”
Attendance has grown from an initial group of six to roughly forty interns representing more than a dozen different firms, according to Nandakumar’s own count.
Industry Context
Long working hours during finance internships and entry level analyst positions have been a persistent subject of public discussion in the industry for years, drawing periodic attention following incidents involving overworked junior staff at major banks that prompted some firms to publicly commit to workload reforms.
Several major banks have at various points introduced formal policies intended to cap weekly hours or mandate minimum rest periods for junior staff, though industry observers note that actual enforcement and cultural expectations around availability often diverge from official policy in practice.
Firm Reactions
Representatives from several firms whose interns participate in the informal group either declined to comment or noted generally that they take employee wellbeing seriously and have policies in place intended to support reasonable working conditions for junior staff.
One recruiting officer, speaking generally about internship culture rather than this specific group, said cross firm socializing among interns is common and not viewed negatively by employers, provided it does not interfere with actual work responsibilities.
“Interns talking to each other is normal,” the recruiting officer said. “If it helps them cope with a demanding summer, that seems like a reasonable thing for us to be supportive of, within reason.”
Participant Perspectives
Intern Marcus Reilly, who attends the weekly sessions after finishing shifts that have occasionally extended past midnight, said the meetings have become the primary thing keeping him motivated through the program.
“I do not think I would have made it to August without this group,” Reilly said. “Not because the work itself is unbearable exactly, but because doing it in complete isolation, thinking you are the only one struggling, is its own kind of exhausting. Knowing forty other people are going through the identical thing at the identical hour makes it feel almost normal instead of uniquely brutal.”
Looking Ahead
Nandakumar said several participants have discussed continuing some version of the group informally even after the summer program ends, potentially expanding it into a broader network for first year analysts navigating similarly demanding schedules once full time employment begins.
“The hours do not really improve once the internship ends,” she said. “If anything, some people say full time is worse in certain ways. So the plan is to keep some version of this going, quietly, as a resource for whoever needs it next. We are not trying to change the industry overnight. We are just trying to make sure nobody has to go through it feeling completely alone.”
The Unofficial Merchandise
The group has, without much planning, developed a small internal culture of its own, including a group chat where members share screenshots of particularly brutal calendar invites and, more recently, a design for an unofficial sticker reading survivor of the summer, which one member had printed at a local shop and distributed to roughly two dozen attendees. Nandakumar said the sticker was intended as a joke but has since appeared on several laptops around Financial District coffee shops, occasionally prompting curious questions from full time analysts who recognize the sentiment immediately even though they were never formally part of the group themselves.
Further Reading
More reporting on the informal support networks that emerge inside high pressure industries can be found at Bohiney Magazine, and a British perspective on similarly demanding City of London internships is available at The London Prat. Additional material is collected at NewsThump.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com