I’ve been talking to some people about the transition from summer to analyst, and I’m getting conflicting advice. Some say the people you meet during the internship are everything—basically your future sponsors. Others say you should be networking broadly during the internship itself because things shift once you’re full-time. The confusion for me is: are you building relationships for a return offer during the summer, or are you actually building for the A2A promotion later? I know both matter, but strategically they feel like different games. Like, do you focus on your team leads and seniors during summer, hoping they push for your return offer? Or do you spread yourself across different groups so you have options moving into full-time? And then once you’re full-time as an analyst, does the networking strategy reset completely, or are the relationships you built over summer still your core group? Trying to figure out where to actually focus my energy.
I went through this last year. During my summer, I focused mainly on my team and got close with my VP. Got the return offer, which felt great. But then full-time started and I realized my VP was mostly hands-off in terms of day-to-day work. The people who actually mattered then were the seniors I’d casually worked with on different deals. So yeah, two different games. Summer is about proving yourself to your team for the offer. Full-time is about building advocates across groups for eventually getting better projects and knowing who to talk to.
This is an insightful question because it reveals a critical misstep many analysts make. During your summer internship, your primary goal is a return offer, and that’s typically controlled by your direct team. However, strategically, you should be building relationships across your group or division with peers and seniors on different projects. This isn’t neglecting your core team—it’s layering. Your team gets your best work; adjacent teams get your personality and competence in different contexts. Once you hit full-time, the game shifts. You’re no longer proving your technical competence; you’re proving your judgment and judgment spans projects outside your immediate purview. Your summer network becomes your foundation, but your full-time networking is deliberately focused on building sponsorship and visibility with leadership that influences staffing and promotions. The people you bond with over summer are often your closest peers going forward, which is valuable but different from the champion-level relationships you need for A2A.
Both matter so much! Summer relationships plant seeds, full-time relationships grow them. You’re building a network, not just an offer. Keep showing up, stay genuine, and solutions emerge!
honestly summer is abt not messing up and gettng the offer. thats it. u think ur networking but really ur just trying not to get fired lol. once ur full-time then u can actually start thinking strategically about making moves. summer friendships are nice but the real game starts when ur actual analyst.
ohh so summer is mostly about proving urself to ur team but also making good connections elsewhere? that acutally makes way more sense than what i was thinking. ty this really helps clarify!!
Research on analyst-to-associate timelines shows that roughly 65% of promotions involve sponsorship from leaders in groups where the analyst has worked projects, not necessarily their original team. During summer, aim for a 70-30 split: 70% focus on your team for the return offer, 30% on adjacent exposure. This isn’t risky—it’s visible work on other projects. Full-time shifts to 30-70: maintain relationships with your core team, but actively develop advocates across different coverage and product areas. Your summer network is a foundation, but promotions happen when people outside your daily circle champion your advancement.
Plus there’s something about summer where everything feels temporary so people are naturally more open to hanging out and grabbing lunch. Once ur full-time, people get busier and interactions feel more transactional. So those summer friendships? Actually valuable just for staying connected during the grind later.