15 Wall Street Internship Tips From Jefferies CEO Richard Handler

Celeb Gossip
  • Investment banking internships kick off across Wall Street this week.
  • Richard Handler, CEO of Jefferies, offers 15 tips for the 2023 summer class.
  •  Among his tips is a reminder that return offers are not guaranteed. 

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Richard Handler, CEO of investment bank Jefferies, has some tips for incoming interns, including a harsh reminder that working hard is no guarantee of a job. 

"There are many reasons why a match might not be made and it is a not a reflection on your career potential,"  Handler wrote in a series of tweets on Sunday. "If you decide you really don't like this summer job or if you decide you love it but circumstances result in not achieving a full-time offer, neither is the end of the world."

Richard Handler's advice to interns Twitter

"Have confidence in yourself that if things do not work out, it is probably our loss and not yours. Things happen for a reason," Handler said.   

Handler's comments come as investment banking internships kick off at a difficult time for Wall Street. During the M&A and IPO boom of the pandemic, upward of 90% of interns would get offers to return full-time after college. But things are expected to change this year thanks to a dealmaking drought that has led to layoffs from Goldman Sachs to Bank of America.  

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Jefferies this year has  370 summer analysts and associates representing 157 colleges, universities, and business schools, a spokesperson said. The US program started June 5, and the bank's European and Asian programs kick off June 19.

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Handler acknowledged that in some cases, interns aren't asked back for performance reasons.  In a slide on "maturity," he said: "There have been extremely rare and isolated incidents of interns not fully accepting this transition. They did not complete their internship. Such a shame, but only themselves to blame." 

Insider's Emmalyse Brownstein also posted tips on how to get a return offer this weekend, and her experts said that getting really drunk at a work event while under the legal drinking age can torpedo a return offer.  

Handler acknowledged that some interns decide that investment banking is not for them. "As long as you give it your all, it is OK to come to the conclusion that this isn't the right career path for you," he wrote. 

Insider's Reed Alexander spoke to an investment banking intern for a midsize bank who said he hated being chained to his desk and seeing junior bankers being reamed out in public. He got a return offer and turned it down, he said.  

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Click here for more on how to succeed at your investment banking internship, from how to dress to who to direct your questions to, and when it's ok to go to lunch and or otherwise leave the office. 

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