Name: Wendy Chen
Year: Sophomore
Major: Economics & Global Health
CFS Class: Business Field Studies
Employer: Goldman Sachs

In the winter of 2021, I interned at Goldman Sachs as a financial analyst intern in the Private Wealth Management Division. This internship was an amazing experience that allowed me to learn more about private wealth management, asset allocation, market trends, and equity research. As an intern, I supported three different teams that managed billions of dollars in assets. Since this was a remote internship, I also learned how to work remotely and communicate without ever having met your colleagues in person. Initially, I was worried about how to show my team that I am ready for work, but over time I saw how much we can accomplish online, and the benefits of remote work.

In one of the guest lectures by Natasha Krol, I learned to make actionable items for the goals that I set out for myself. Before starting this internship, my goals were to learn more about different asset classes, communicate with my teams on new trends, and build technical skills. To achieve these goals, I broke these down into smaller steps like the exercise we did during Natasha’s lecture. In tackling the goal of learning more about the different asset classes, I broke each week down into reading the firm’s presentational materials on the different asset classes. To communicate to my team on new trends, my action item was meeting with a colleague and asking questions about the current market environment or clarifying questions on the reading materials I was exposed to. Not only does having these market discussions and question & answer sessions with my colleagues help me build more market knowledge, but it also contributes to my personal growth as a young professional. Overall, this internship has taught me how to divide my goals into smaller actionable steps, and to think about both professional and personal goals.