Name: Shivam
Year: Junior
Major(s): Economics, Statistics
CFS Concentration: Business Field Studies
My name is Shivam Malik, and I interned Mission Measurement Social Capital. My main interest lies in the field of finance and I wanted to gain more exposure in equity research and financial analysis. Interning at MMSC was one of the most rewarding internship and collegiate experiences I have had.
The reason I decided to work at MMSC was because I believed its investment philosophy was very distinct. The firm measures the link between social impact and financial performance to derive investment insights. This opened up a whole new world of investing to me that I never realized existed. As an intern, I was primarily responsible for updating quarterly company reports, listening to quarterly earnings calls, and updating/understanding each financial model for every company. I conducted financial analysis and gave conclusions whether we should buy/sell/hold certain stocks and got the chance to recommend some new companies we could add to the fund.
The people I have worked with have been my favorite part at MMSC. Everyone is very approachable, willing to answer questions, and give lots of great feedback on your work. Not only did I learn about industry and market trends, I also got to work on some projects with the consulting side of the firm, like helping them code surveys or research information for their database. I got to sit in on countless conference calls and got to see how clients and my supervisors interacted with one another professionally. I think this experience was very unique because I got to understand how all aspects of the firm worked together to reach its common goal. The connections I have made at the firm are invaluable.
As for the classroom portion, it has definitely been an eye-opener for me as I have learned the importance of various issues in the workplace. We discussed topics like gender equality, paid vs. unpaid internships, business ethics, innovation, the future of the workplace, and much more. At first, it seemed like this would be another boring discussion class that you would find in a humanities course. However, I was baffled as I found myself and the rest of the class extremely engaged in the discussions facilitated through the professor and readings. I was able to reflect on my internship experience on a different level through the class and got to learn a lot from my peers’ experiences and opinions as well.
Overall, CFS was an amazing experience that intricately tied together work and classroom learning. I would recommend it to anybody looking to gain more work experience, branch out, and personally grow and develop new skills for the future. It has definitely been one of my favorite experiences at Northwestern thus far.