Reality check on M&A internship: Is it normal to mostly do sourcing, research, and pitch decks?
Hey everyone,
I’m currently about two weeks into my M&A internship (Corp Dev), and I just wanted to get a reality check from people who have been through similar internships.
For context: I'm a rising sophomore at a semi-target.
My day-to-day so far has mostly consisted of making pitch decks, sourcing, researching, and a fair amount of doomscrolling. I always keep seeing other kids in my network talking about getting "crazy deal reps" and massive hands-on deal experience right out of the gate, which always confused me.
Don't get me wrong, I’m still really glad to have this role. It's giving me insanely solid foundational experience, and I'm learning a lot on the small necessary skills for later interviews (attention to detail, how to properly format and send a good email, etc.).
I just want to make sure my "quality of work" here isn't lacking compared to what others are actually getting. I'm pretty sure this is the norm and I'm just tripping, but I'd love to hear some thoughts from this sub.
- A) Is this normal? Are most early internships like this, or am I missing out on heavier technical work?
- B) How can I maximize this role? What should I realistically try to get out of this experience so I can best leverage it for internships for M&A/IB interviews down the line?
- C) What were your internships actually like? I'd love to hear some honest perspectives on what your day-to-day was (actual hours worked, meaningful tasks vs. busywork) compared to the usual larp on linkedin