This was my first hands-on exposure to investment banking, and it felt like I was genuinely stepping into the field. The tasks were practical and closely mirrored real analyst work — from building an M&A target profile to spreading comps and synthesizing an investor update into an executive summary. It gave me real confidence in what a career in IB actually looks like day to day.

The four tasks map onto a real deal workflow - profile, projections, comps, then synthesis - and each one hands over real filings rather than a pre-digested summary. Having to pull the enterprise value build out of an actual 10-Q, and then having to source the comps yourself, is much closer to the job than a fill-in-the-blanks exercise.

This program was an excellent opportunity to understand what an Investment Banker does and how a typical project is structured. It demonstrated how strategic analysis, problem-solving and communication skills come together in real-client scenarios. Although the files provided were already formed and ready to work on, they effectively reflected the day-to-day responsibilities of an analyst.