Balling like a cog

What's an MBA internship like?

It really depends how you got the internship - did you get it through a connection or did you apply for it? But then again, how you got it doesn't translate into a good internship, although the chances are if you got it through a connection, it can be a pretty lousy experience - especially if the firm you're joining isn't used to taking MBA interns.

By and large, if you're in a structured environment, you'll probably learn a lot of new things, and have people treat you better. If you join a firm that doesn't usually take MBA interns, then you're probably just going to be a small intern cog that doesn't learn much, do much or talk much. Google chat and MSN are your best friends.

Since I did get the internship through a connection, let me run you through what I do.

7.15am Wake up
8.45am Get into office
9.00am Make coffee
9.15am Start up googlechat with my fellow cogs in other firms
10.30am Still on googlechat, and MSN now
11.30am Decide on what to have for lunch (usually nobody goes with me - maybe it's because I'm anti social
2.00pm Come back from lunch
2.15pm Back on googlechat
5.00pm Say goodbye to my cog friend that goes back early
5.30pm Go back home, or dally around the shopping complex waiting for dinner partners.
Midnight Head to bed

It can be a mind numbing experience, aside from Googlechat, you might want to look into books on Scribd.com, pretty decent selection there.

Sometimes, you get thrown a project, but usually you're thrown the project because nobody else wants to do it. In short, you're not important at all.

I hear if you join finance and consulting, the internship experience is much better - I think it's because those firms recruit MBAs, and have a structured internship in which they try to determine whether you're worth hiring. Also, they pay more, much more.

Of course, I have a baller cog friend who parties until 5am (you know who you are) and goes to work at 8.30. Pretty impressive, I wonder whether that friend actually was able to walk back home after work....

-----

Sometimes, when you tell me your stories, I cry a little inside for you.

-----

Fuquavision - Damn it Feels Good to be a Banker

Probably the oldest and still the best song about being a banker...

Tell me why you want to be a trader

I want to work at Goldman Sachs

So you want to go to business school