Mid-Summer Reviews

Well today I had my half-way point review. I came in and sat down with my staffer and a woman from HR. About a week ago I was asked to submit to HR a list of 5-6 people that I had worked most closely with. It was kind of hard because I've only been here for three weeks, but I just put down all the analysts and associates that I've worked for, and that was it.

So today the staffer went through five areas that I was rated on by each person. It turns out that everybody thinks I'm doing really well. I was pretty surprised at some of the comments. I knew that BYU prepared me well to be here, but the comments were things like, "top of the class in finance/accounting skills" and "very smart - picks up things quickly." It was all good news. Some of the things that they really liked about what I've done are things like not making the same mistake twice (the staffer said this one is HUGE), not asking too many questions, being proactive in seeking out work without being annoying, and having a passion for the work. I was surprised that the analysts saw all that in my work, but I definitely wasn't going to say it wasn't true!

As far as things to work on, the staffer said he didn't have anything for me to work on. He said, "You've set the bar for your second half really high, but I expect you to at least perform as well and hopefully much better than you did in the first half. You still don't really know anything compared to where you could be, so keep asking questions, seeking work, and we'll see you back here full-time!" He warned me not to get complacent just because I did well in the first half. He said, "You still have half the internship to prove yourself, so keep doing what you've been doing and you'll be just fine." I was pretty happy with how it went, and I'm determined to do better for the second half.

I'm feeling a little better after constantly downing Dayquil. I'm pretty sure the problem is lack of sleep, but can't help that much. Tonight I was working on a project and was wrapping things up at about 8:30 when another analyst that I work for a lot asked if I could help him with something. I hesitated, then thought about what the staffer said, and decided I would do it. It ended up being a good thing because he basically asked me to work through a deck on my own. He went to a meeting for three hours and I worked through it. He of course checked all my work when I got back, but it was cool that he trusted me to get the job done on my own. It wasn't anything too hard - just comps and a few charts, but I like the feeling of ownership over my work.

I left the office at about 1:15 and have to be back at 7:30 to finish up a book that the Creative Department is modifying for me tonight. Well, the internship is halfway over already and it's going really fast! I'm looking forward to seeing some of the interns from school and full-timers coming up in the next few weeks at other banks. Good luck everybody!