Congratulations to Saurav, who is currently undertaking a Master’s in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, for securing a Summer internship in the Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets division. He gives us some insight into what life is like at Macquarie and provides useful advice on the application process.
What initially attracted you to Macquarie?
I was initially attracted to Macquarie due to the large variety of work and the different divisions within the organisation. The range of divisions includes investment banking, principal investing, and quantitative funds, to name a few.
How was the application process overall? And what was your favourite part?
The overall process was quite similar to most places but when you go for an interview at Macquarie, it's much more personal because they genuinely want to get to know you and see if you’re the right fit.
How would you describe the culture at Macquarie?
The firm has a flat hierarchy, so you're not just the intern who is told what to do. You're someone who can bring ideas to the table, follow your own approach and ask anyone on the floor for help when you get stuck. I think this is the best part about Macquarie and is quite rare to find anywhere else.
What does an average day look like for you?
It varies a lot depending on the work at hand. I’m currently working on a large project and I can control the flow of what I want to do and when I want to do it. As long as everything gets done on time, there is a lot of flexibility.
What have been the highlights of your internship?
The intern project has definitely been the highlight. In the project, we were tasked with evaluating a company as a potential investment opportunity, with complexities such as regulation and structuring the breakdown and build-up of the company through divestments and mergers. It was challenging, but extremely interesting, and because we all did it together it was fun as well.
What top 3 tips would you give someone who wants to apply to Macquarie?
1. Figure out which division you want to apply to and why; I'd recommend Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets!
2. Once you start your internship, be open minded. From my experience, the task you get on day one isn't what you’ll be doing for your whole internship and you could be doing something very different the next week.
3. Be yourself and be friendly. Let people know what you’re interested in and you’ll find a network of people with similar interests.