Behind the Scenes at BNP 🏦

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On my very first day upon arriving at BNP, I found myself at lunch with 3 other students from ESSEC, 1 from EDHEC, and 1 from ESCP. I had also the same morning recognized a fellow ESSEC I had already had a class with on my floor.

That’s when it really clicked how powerful Business Schools are in the professional realm, especially in France where a lot of importance is attached to one’s path.

It also struck me how large these firms actually are. BNP counts around 200,000 employees around the world, with several offices at Opera, as well as massive office spaces in Nanterre - essentially a village of it’s own, with dedicated company buses and huge canteens.

It can be quite overwhelming as you arrive in this vast organisational machine, armed with your badge, computer, and low-tech headset, as you settle down on your 3-screen office for the day. Here are a few tips to survive your 1st week:

• Showcase proactivity: the beginning can be quite slow as you familiarize yourself with your new ecosystem; be hyper curious, and set time aside with your fellow intern or analyst to ask questions to make sure you build a strong grasp of your work environment (sharepoint drives, reporting, structuring certain documents such as Investment Committee notes, etc.)

• Make yourself seen: you will find yourself in front of Microsoft Teams and Outlook all day waiting for tasks if you do not manifest yourself to your analysts when no tasks are assigned to you. It can also be quite daunting to speak up in team settings or meetings; if you want to evolve, you will need to stand out - prepare thoughtful questions and ask them when the time feels right. This will separate you from the mass of interns to afraid to speak up. Of course do not overtake the conversation, but show you are present and not afraid to speak up intelligently and briefly when the time is right.

• Talk with your team: as an intern it can be quite tempting to only hang out with interns, especially when your team members are older (and have kids). Remember most of your learning will be through osmosis and being around your highly competent and seasoned team members. You can lightly manifest yourself when you are going for lunch, or go for quick breaks at similar time intervals as others. You will often find they are very friendly and open about talking their experiences with you, despite what it might seem like at first. Those are the discussions you will get the absolute most out of. You can learn about their experience in different roles, firms, internal politics at your firm, in a much more informal way than if you were to call someone up on Linkedin for a coffee chat.

• Trace your work: whenever you change a number or add information to any document, you should always be able to trace back where you found the information, and why you deemed appropriate to use it. The absolute worst is if your superior asks you where you got a certain figure from, and you are unable to disclose your source.

• Be diligent when asking questions: the worse thing you can do is frequently asking open ended questions to your superiors. Whenever asking a question, show you’ve done the work of looking for answers (ex sources once again), and be very precise with what it is you need to save as much time and get straight to the point.

I’d say the key words since my arrival have been discretion & efficiency. It’s all about finding the right balance: speaking up when you should, asking for help with parsimony, and always looking to help your team speedily and efficiently, as they will always be focused on 10 different things at once.

If your dream is to work in finance at a top firm, odds are you might need a Master or Business School to get there. We currently have 28 students in our batch. We have 2 spots left for R2 applications for ambitious students who are serious about developing a competitive edge. Is that you?

Charge ahead,

The MIM Prep Team