Ask the Former Interns - Receiving Feedback

06 JUL 2016

Feedback is a big part of the internship experience. We asked five former interns for tips on receiving and acting on feedback in a new edition of our intern advice series.

Amy  Finance Division, Salt Lake City


"Make sure you’re getting informal feedback along the way from the people you work with. Going into your formal feedback session nothing should surprise you. Afterwards, write down the things you need to work on and determine the steps you need to take to improve. Then keep checking in with your team on how you’re progressing."

 

Arnie  Investment Management Division, New York


"It’s easier said than done but don’t be discouraged if you happen to get a lot of areas for development. I did. Remember it’s not actually negative feedback. It’s constructive criticism to help you improve. I acknowledged where I needed improvement and showed a genuine desire to do better. Every week I made a point of conveying what I was doing to address the feedback I received and, at the end of the summer, landed the job."

 

Elaine  Investment Banking Division, Hong Kong


"You’re expected to improve between your midpoint and final reviews so it’s important that you act on the feedback from your manager and team. Your buddy and mentor can give you good suggestions for acting on your feedback as well."

 

Manetou  Technology Division, London


"The greater your capacity to absorb the feedback, the more you’ll get from it. Don’t react right away. Take some time to reflect on what the person said and try to connect it to specific things that have happened. Ask yourself, 'how could I have done this differently?'"

 

Pratik  Compliance Division, Bengaluru


"Consider how the feedback from your review can help you with your summer project. I was told that I needed to take greater ownership of my work. That made me change the way I was approaching my project and I think the end product was stronger."


See more advice from our former interns