A Second Experience in Private Equity

Name: Ibrahim Alkawaz

Year: Junior

Major: Economics

CFS Class: Field Studies in Business Culture

Employer: Shorehill Capital

 

A little bit of background: This is my second quarter of CFS and my second finance internship as well. Both of my internships have been within private equity and as such, the type of work I’ve done has been relatively similar. The work itself is somewhat of a mix between simple/administrative tasks and more challenging/mentally stimulating projects. On the one end, tasks specifically involve data entry and management and summarizing information for the associates and managing directors. On the other end, I’ve gotten to work on financial models for prospective investments, business analytics/corporate development for portfolio companies as well as evaluating and pitching deals to the investment committee.

So far, I believe I’ve learned more about workplace dynamics, culture and navigating an internship than I have in hard technical skills: Things like managing expectations, communication, workplace boundaries, etc.

I’ve also learned a lot from the supplementary CFS class in terms of workplace issues/discussions that are never explicitly brought up at work but are extremely helpful to college students with little to no experience in the professional workforce.