The Gary Stevenson method of converting a banking internship

If you're wondering how to convert your banking internship into a full-time job this summer, you could heed the advice of Richard Handler, CEO of Jefferies or David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs. These CEOs are advising things like "build relationships" and "engage with purpose," which may not illuminate your way to an offer. 

Alternatively, you could heed the methods of Gary Stevenson, the former Citi STIRT trader turned social justice campaigner. In 2008, Stevenson got an offer after two week long internships at Citi. His techniques, which are described in his book, 'The Trading Game,' were less vague than those advocated by Handler and D-Sol, but they were highly effective.  

Be prepared for "the nothing" 

When you arrive at a banking internship, you may expect to be given something to do. It doesn't necessarily work like this, says Stevenson. 

You may be faced with "the nothing." 

You may be given nothing to do. "No work today. No clear instructions. No obvious job."

Stevenson was interning on the trading floor. “When you’re an intern the job doesn’t get given to you. It’s your job to make the job yours,” he says.

In the style of sales and trading interns at Goldman Sachs, who are still given stools and expected to position themselves near traders, Stevenson was also given no fixed seat and no desk. He found a chair and positioned it next to a filing cabinet, which became his makeshift desk.

Record everyone's name and what they do 

Sitting in his position next to the filing cabinet, Stevenson drew a map of the trading floor. On it, he wrote the names of all the traders, what they traded and where they sat. He made a copy and put it in his pocket. 

Work out who can help you

Handler advises befriending other interns, but Stevenson didn't waste time on juniors. He focused on the senior traders who could bestow an offer. 

Be who the senior people want you to be 

Stevenson established how the senior traders liked him to behave, and modelled that behaviour back to them.

“I looked at the graphs. I looked into the middle distance, and thought. Or at least, I narrowed my eyes to give the sense of thinking. I wondered if he could tell that I didn’t understand,” he said. "...My nodding was going down a storm.” 

Stevenson also observed that, "there was nothing Rupert liked more than me being wrong, but me being wrong and then full accepting the blame for it, apologizing unreservedly and devotedly, and then gathering my reserve and staring stoically into the mid-distance, absolutely committed to becoming a better man.” 

Get lunch 

Stevenson built his reputation when he helped a trader get lunch for the whole trading floor, costing the trader thousands of pounds. "Looking back on it, I think it might have been intended as some kind of humiliation, but honestly I didn't give a shit," says Stevenson. 

When he subsequently arrived for his full-time job, he said everyone knew who he was. "I was the kid who bought everyone a burger." 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Signal: sarahbutcher.22  Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libellous (in which case it won’t.)