Surefire Ways To Not Get a FT Return Offer

[AlexLielacher1]

There is a lot of information out there on how to turn your summer internship into a full time offer, but in this post I would like to share with you the 7 things you can do to mess up your chances of getting a full-time offer.

Be A Smart-a$$/Arrogant/Have an Ego

In my opinion this is the single worst thing you can do as intern. If you walk into a bank as an intern and you think you know it all or think you are so smart, because you are top of your class at school, you won’t get hired. If you have a bit of an ego because you have already interned at a top tier bank or for any other reason, make sure to drop it. As an intern you have to be humble, hungry and very engaged.

Don’t get me wrong. There will be instances where you meet people and think ‘I am 10 times better than this guy’ but never show that you feel that way.

Show Up Late

This is a really bad way to stand out. If you are late once it won’t affect your chances of getting hired, but if you come late more than once, you are already in trouble. Punctuality is important and coming late will make it seem like you don’t really care about being there.

Make sure you are one of the first on the desk each morning and one of the last to leave. As an intern, that is expected of you.

Mess Up The Coffee/Lunch Order

When you are asked to fetch coffee, breakfast or lunch make sure you don’t under any circumstances mess it up. The saying on the trading floor goes if he can’t handle a lunch order how will he handle a real order?

Write down what you have been told, double check what the other person wants and just don’t mess it up. I remember when I interned I wrote down every team member’s coffee of choice to make sure I could “execute the coffee order” without needing to write it down or mess it up. I suggest you to do the same.

Ask Questions Only To Make Yourself Sound Smart

This one I have encountered myself when I had summer interns sit with me. When an intern asks a question that they think make them sound smart, but don’t really care about the answer, it is going to piss the person off who you are asking this to as this is wasting their time. Ask as many questions as you can when you are doing your summer internships but make sure that they are genuine questions , that you want to know the answer to.

Not Become Part of The Gang

The most important factor when it comes to the hiring decision is whether your desk likes you or not. You don’t necessarily need to be the most educated or sharpest intern to get hired on your dream desk. If the team likes you, you demonstrate that you are keen and you complete the assigned tasks on schedule you should be getting hired.

However, if you don’t manage to become "part of the gang" then you are in trouble. What I mean by this is to be on the same wavelength with other team members in terms of humor, conversational topics, attitude, etc.

Be Unfair to Your Fellow Interns

It is important that you get along with the other interns. You are competitors in some respect, but don’t get too competitive to the extent where other interns start to talk badly about you (with reason). The graduate recruitment team or even the desk might hear about it and it will reflect badly on you. On a general note, always treat people well and with respect. The industry is small and you don’t want to make yourself any unnecessary enemies. This could hurt you further down the line in your career.

Be Unfriendly With HR

It’s important that you are friendly with HR. The graduate recruitment team has a say in your hire so make sure that you are on good terms with all the HR people involved in the internship program.

If you avoid all the above, you are on a good track to getting a full time offer after completing your internship.

 

[Daniel Plainview1]

Superb post, and I remember just how difficult it was to adjust to this type of thinking.

If you're a straight-A type student, then going form being on top of the academic world to being at the very bottom of the corporate ladder will be a huge shock. Nothing can prepare you for it, but just remember that you are there to learn. Abandoning that ego and all the other bs that gets in the way of you doing a good job is essential.

The 'being part of the gang' part is definitely something I can relate to. I was never much of a 'team sports' type before I joined the desk, which worked to my detriment initially. I had to work bloody hard to be considered part of the team and be on the same wavelength as everyone else. Again, you will probably have spent your school and uni life trying to carve out your own individual personality and stand out from the crowd. It means jack-all as an intern...don't try to be unnecessarily different and get on your team's wavelength asap!

 

[SmallCapPM1]

I can relate to this post. Particularly the part about the coffee order. It seems like a small thing but people judge you most on things like this as mentioned in the post. And the being part of the team is absolutely essential. It is one of those things where you are either in or you are out. Everyone knows how the lands lies even if they don't tell you directly. To be considered part of the gang you need to build your position slowly and listen to people. People will like you more if they see you are here to help them rather than compete with them, so be as helpful as possible...

 

[Martin1]

Spot on with this post- really enjoyed reading and very relevant for us all (many just work as life advice here!) I think your post sums up one key point: soft skills. Yes it's all well and good having the technical skills, but if you do not show that personality and engagement then who wants to work with you? You need to be personable and relate-able.

 

[finbyme1]

Another surefire way to not get a job offer is to make the interviewer look foolish, perhaps by being critical of their business plan or any of their work activities that they share with you. Even if you think they are not going about things in the best, most efficient manner then a tactful approach is called for. Perhaps saying something along the lines of,
"Have you considered doing this way, which would give you the advantage of ..."
Once when working for a softwarehouse on the end client's site I spotted 2 managers who were interviewing prospective hires sitting down at their desks after emerging from the interview room.
"Were they any good"? I asked.
"Any good? came the grumpy response.
"Any good? He was too flipping good. He made us look like a right pair of plonkers. We're not having him!"
He later wrote the rejection letter:
"Dear Mr x,
I regret to inform you that your application to join our team has not been successful. You LUCKY person"

 

[Trigger1]

Another surefire way to not get a job offer is to make the interviewer look foolish, perhaps by being critical of their business plan or any of their work activities that they share with you. Even if you think they are not going about things in the best, most efficient manner then a tactful approach is called for. Perhaps saying something along the lines of,
"Have you considered doing this way, which would give you the advantage of ..."
Once when working for a softwarehouse on the end client's site I spotted 2 managers who were interviewing prospective hires sitting down at their desks after emerging from the interview room.
"Were they any good"? I asked.
"Any good? came the grumpy response.
"Any good? He was too flipping good. He made us look like a right pair of plonkers. We're not having him!"
He later wrote the rejection letter:
"Dear Mr x,
I regret to inform you that your application to join our team has not been successful. You LUCKY person"

I believe that was quite unprofessional from their part. They could have wrote he is rejected and be diplomatic in the feedback (if they give one at all).