Daily Times

Buzzing trading floors, classrooms and networking drinks have been replaced by online projects, ‘hackathons’ and fitness sessions for the class of 2020 investment banking interns. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays , JP Morgan, UBS, RBC and Citi have all held internships virtually this year as they adapt to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Schmoozing with executives and fellow interns has been via virtual coffees and quizzes, while Goldman Sachs laid on Zoom networking lunches, hackathons and fitness and cooking classes. “We couldn’t have big parties or anything like that but we did work with a music start-up – there was a battle of the bands competition where the interns could vote,” Helena Sharpe, JP Morgan’s head of campus recruiting for EMEA, said.

Although many of the highly sought after schemes were cut to 5 weeks from the usual 8 or 10, most interns lucky enough to secure a place still received full pay while working from home. Investment bank interns in London are usually paid around 10,000 pounds ($13,034) for a 10-week programme, financial careers website efinancialcareers.co.uk estimates. Such internships offer the potential to kick start lucrative banking careers, but have come under scrutiny in the past for the long hours some students work in their effort to impress.