Name:Carol Canales
Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Morgan Stanley
Position Title:Summer Analyst for Finance Division
Major(s)/Minor(s):Financial Economics
Current Class Level:Senior
Work Term:Summer 2020
*Don’t miss UMBC CONNECTS: Morgan Stanley , a virtual recruitment event on Wednesday, September 30, to learn how you could land an amazing, career-relevant opportunity like Carol’s!
Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.
This was Morgan Stanley's first year being remote, so they condensed the program in the hopes that we would be in person for a small portion, but instead we had an incredible, well structured 6 week program. Instead of being assigned to a department team, we were divided into Pods with 3 Pod Leaders who had different senior roles in the Finance division. Our day to day included department deep dive sessions to develop an understanding of Morgan Stanley Business. We also learned more functions while interacting with Finance Leadership and during Pod Lead and mentor check-in. Every week there were assigned case studies, where we implemented excel training and drills. We worked on our group research project, my group had Banking Regulations. We did shadowing sessions with full time analysts to learn more about their roles and experiences. We also had weekly Diversity & Inclusion discussions which allowed us to express how we felt in current times and how we can uphold this core value.
Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?
I heard about the program at the Career Fair and the recruiter had me apply through the Morgan Stanley's careers site and I submitted the application for both the Operations and Finance programs towards the end of February 2020, after getting my resume polished through the Career Center. I heard back and received first round interviews for both, which then moved to be remote since the company was transitioning to telework due to COVID-19. The Career Center did a great job at providing me with virtual interview prep, which helped me feel confident about my Finance phone interview and the final rounds for each division, each included 3 back to back 30 minute interviews through Zoom. I got a phone call from my recruiter and got offers for both programs, so I was excited to choose Finance! I accepted the offer the first week of April and the recruiter kept constant contact about onboarding and the structure of the program.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?
I loved that they provided us with meaningful workshops about self promotion and geared them towards women, such as fireside chats and allowing us to speak with the CFO and CEO of Morgan Stanley!
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
I believe I impressed my pod leaders and mentors through my final presentation and debriefs on my case studies. I did practice run throughs with my mentor and always ended up presenting first, which helped me set the tone for the other interns. When we met in our cross-divisional pods, I represented the finance division very well and helped other interns understand profit and loss, monthly financial and management reports.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
Do your research on the companies that you are looking to apply to. Do they share similar values as you? How supportive are they in terms of career growth or job mobility? I noticed from those interviewing me, that there are people who have been at the firm for over 25 years, and you should ask them what made them stay and you need to know where your interests are aligned in the firm.
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