Investment bank intern, found dead in his London flat

This article is from the Daily Mail. My prayers to the intern and his family. My previous work involved long hours either at the office or off-site, and I've had enough of that already.

Investment bank intern, 21, on £45,000 worked 'until 6am for three nights in a row' before he was found dead in his London flat

• Moritz Erhardt had been interning with investment bank Merrill Lynch
• Erhardt, from Germany, was found dead in his East London flat last week
• 21-year-old had 'pulled all-nighters' during his summer internship
• Summer interns are paid £45,000 a year pro rata for their work

By Christian Gysin, Claire Ellicott and Martin Robinson
PUBLISHED: 16:29 EST, 19 August 2013 | UPDATED: 05:19 EST, 20 August 2013

'All-nighter': Moritz Erhardt, 21, had been working gruelling hours as an intern at an investment bank

A young student has died in mysterious circumstances while employed as an intern at a top investment bank – amid claims he was asked to work punishingly long hours.

The body of Moritz Erhardt was discovered on Thursday evening as he neared the end of a seven-week internship with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s investment bank division.

The 21-year-old – understood to be from Germany – had joined  Merrill Lynch earlier in the summer hoping to forge a career with the firm.

Paid interns at the bank normally earn £45,000 a year pro rata - around £2,700 a month.

Yesterday it was claimed Mr Erhardt may have suffered a fit or seizure. However internet forum users said he may have been working ‘all-nighters’ during his stay with the company.

Many banks are known to encourage their young students to work late into the night and in the past there have been claims those keen to impress have put in long hours with very little sleep.

On one site, called wallstreetoasis.com, many posters insisted Mr Erhardt regularly worked long hours and added: ‘One of the best interns at BAML – three all-nighters, didn’t turn up, colleagues went to find him.’

Mr Erhardt had been living in the Claredale House student accommodation flats in Bethnal Green, East London. The apartments are rented out to hundreds of interns during the summer months.

Another poster on the wallstreetoasis.com site added: ‘It is absolutely true – he was found dead in the shower by his flatmate. Intern at BAML who went home at 6am three days in a row.’
 
On Friday staff at the Claredale complex issued a statement to residents, part of which read: ‘Some of you might be aware that the emergency services were called to Claredale yesterday evening.

‘The reason for this is that we were made aware of an incident involving one of our residents. Sadly the resident concerned had passed away.

‘To avoid any rumours or misinformation, we would like to inform you all that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.’

In recent years interns have told of working long hours at investment banks.

One 20-year-old told London’s Evening Standard in 2011 that ‘you work whatever hours you’re  asked to’.

He added: ‘Every intern’s worst nightmare is what’s called “the Magic Roundabout” – which is when you get a taxi to drive you home at 7am and then it waits for you while you shower and change and then takes you back to the office.’

Another 24-year-old told the same newspaper: ‘About 100 hours a week was the minimum and the average was probably 110. I worked six-and-a-half days a week.’

A source at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said Mr Erhardt had completed previous internships at other investment banks but could not confirm or deny claims he had worked exceptionally long hours.

However he insisted staff are given both ‘mentors’ and ‘buddies’ when they join the firm and are monitored by staff from the human resources department.

The source added Mr Erhardt was very well-liked by members of staff and there will now be a post mortem examination and inquest into his death.

A statement from BAML said: ‘We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt’s death. 

'He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future.

‘Our first thoughts are with his family and we send our condolences to them at this difficult time.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2397527/Bank-America-Merrill-Lynch-intern-Moritz-Erhardt-dead-working-long-hours.html#ixzz2cYwhc4Xw

Back on campus, with a full-time offer!

Even with all the unpacking that I need to do, I can't help but be on a high as I ended my internship with an offer for a full-time job. It's really amazing how God sorts everything out.

The day before my last day in the office, my boss called me to her desk. She was really excited when she handed me the offer letter. See, there was this presentation* made to the CIO and IT directors (I worked in the IT department) by each of the MBA interns, and everyone was really impressed with mine. (I practiced a lot, and I have to say that my efforts really paid off. It also helps to make them laugh -- but in a good way.) The other interns had left the previous week, and the CIO wanted me to have my offer before I left.

My boss was so excited that she went through all the details of the offer, then asked me what I thought about it. I asked her, "What's the role going to be?" Hilarious. Anyway, the position was that of a business analyst, reporting directly to her. Since my boss is an IT director reporting to the CIO, I would be on the same level in the reporting structure as other managers reporting to my boss. I wasn't a manager, of course, which was fine by me. I don't think I'm ready to manage Americans.

The terms of the offer were, again, beyond my expectations. Beyond my wildest dreams!

High salary? Check. Sign-on bonus? Check. Fully-paid relocation expenses? Check. Bonus rent-free apartment for three months? Check. Area with relatively low cost of living? Check!

Okay. So I guess I can say that if I take the offer, I won't be living in sunny California or chic New York, but just look at that trade-off. Let's go to company specifics.

Multi-national? Check. Flexible times? Check! Great work/life balance? Check!

My previous work was highly stressful so being able to leave before 5 PM, or as I needed to, was very important. Also, it's great that there's no chance of being called on the weekend by a stressed manager. Sorry, Amazon, but working regularly until 8 PM (with a possibility of going all the way to 3 AM) isn't a job that I'd love.

Business casual office environment? Check. Good career advancement? Check!

With this company, MBAs usually rotate to another job after three years. MBAs are also given a wider scope of work, on the understanding that they are expected to perform better and be able to handle more. Women MBAs are given more attention, because of diversity needs. Sorry, guys.

Assistance with green card application? Check. Possible foreign assignment? Check!

Another thing I like about this company is that they can assign you to a role in one of their offices abroad. They take your needs into consideration too. So if I get homesick for Asia, I might just be given an opportunity to serve the company in Singapore. Maybe even Manila. Wouldn't that be nice...

Lest you think that I'm working for the ideal company of all time, let me say here that the position offered to me isn't that exciting of a role. I mean, how exciting can a business analyst position be? (As exciting as you make it, says my inner voice.) It's not that challenging or hair-raising as a product manager or consultant position, but at least it gives me time to have me time. Personal time. I like having personal time to do whatever I want. Who knows what amazing scheme I could come up with when I have enough time on my hands?

My career coach told me that it would be a good idea to compare offers first, before making a decision. So as great as this offer is, I haven't signed anything yet, and will be going back to the hunt. I'm just happy and grateful and thankful that I have one great offer in hand.



*Internship presentation - Typically, MBA interns present the results/recommendations of their summer projects, and answer the questions thrown at them by the executives, managers, peers who attend the presentation. Think you'll just be staring at the laptop screen during internship? Well, actually, that still happens.

**Note: I hope you don't think that I got the offer just because of my outstanding presentation. According to my boss, she (and the rest of the team) really liked how I was able to step up to the job and contribute immediately. I wouldn't have been able to "contribute immediately" if I didn't have the work experience that I have had. So to those who are asking, yes, it's really important to have that work experience component down before applying to your dream school. Really helps with landing an internship and getting through the internship.

Useful advice for Pinoy students in the US, Part 2

Useful advice if you're a Pinoy student going to the US, Part 1

Here are some more tips that I think would be useful for other students who have just arrived in the land of the free (check out the above link for numbers 1-5):

6. When it comes to buying textbooks, check out the sell-it-back price on Amazon first. It may be cheaper to buy a book and sell it back when your class is done. You will really benefit from this when it comes to newly released books -- for instance, there's this Accounting book (released last January) that I'll be needing later this year. It now costs $170, but I can sell it back to Amazon for $152. End result? I'll be able to use the book for only $18.

7. Compare textbook prices across different websites through Slugbooks.com.

8. Those really cheap textbooks on AbeBooks.com may be international editions with different section questions than the US editions. Just be aware of this if ever you decide to buy via that route.

9. Renting textbooks may turn out to be more expensive. If ever you're reduced to desperate measures, you may want to try a rental site I've used before: CampusBookRentals. What I like about this company is that they provide excellent customer service, free shipping and discounts during certain times of the year (usually before classes start in the fall or spring). And they usually have cheaper prices than Chegg.

10. Well, it always pays to ask around -- second-years may be selling their first-year books, or some of your classmates may have taken that elective in a previous term. Your library may also have electronic or print copies of the book you're looking for.


As you might have noticed, this post is very much textbook-related.

I think it has something to do with the fact that I've gone through the list of textbooks I might need this fall semester, and have been thinking of ways not to spend so much on them. If you're from the Philippines, you will definitely experience sticker shock when you find out how much the textbooks over here cost.

I'll be wrapping up my internship this week, and heading back to campus. Good news: my internship savings will be enough to pay off my second year's tuition fees! Yes! Hopefully, my part-time job in the library will help to cover living expenses.