Name: Li Jiang
CFS Concentration & Year: Business Field Studies, Fall 2008
Internship: Goldman Sachs
Major /Minor: Economics / BIP
Graduation Year: 2010
Current Position: Associate, GSV Asset Management

Describe your CFS internship and how it helped you either in interviews, job opportunities or graduate school applications?
I worked in the investment management division. I did research on mutual funds and designed presentations that would go out to clients. I think the experience of working with highly capable colleagues and being at Goldman Sachs during the height of the 2008 financial crisis made the internship a unique opportunity. The skills and knowledge I gained definitely helped me in securing my summer internship the next year, which helped me find my full time job. CFS was the catalyst that opened many opportunities to me.

Did you see it as a future career when you took the internship?
I definitely saw the CFS internship as a future career opportunity though not exactly in that role. I’ve shifted in my career and life since then (we call that a pivot in Silicon Valley). While I now work closely with entrepreneurs to grow companies, the financial foundation gained is still very applicable. Many of the soft skills such as balancing work priorities, communicating well with colleagues are very applicable today.

Please briefly explain what you are doing now?
I’m currently working in Silicon Valley investing in entrepreneurs and their high growth technology companies. This means I have the pleasure of going to meet with entrepreneurs, talking about their company, their vision, doing due diligence to learn more about the company, the management team, the industry and then if we make an investment working to help the founders and CEOs with a wide range of strategic activities. I can say with great certainty that there is NO “typical” day in my work.

Is there a link between your CFS experience and what you are doing now?
I think my career and life has evolved quite a bit since 2008, but the common connection between my CFS experience and my current work include a number of things such as: developing a process to understand a business problem, organizing information and ideas, communicating and working efficiently with colleagues, winning as a team (in companies as in sports, teams win championships). There are almost an endless number of professional skills I learned going through the experience with other awesome CFS students that quarter that all form the person I am today.

What advice do you have for students at NU considering the program?
Just do it. The working world is quite different from the academic world and you just won’t know until you’ve been in the environment and viscerally experienced it for yourself. Also, as a practice piece of advice for students considering CFS, you can usually get into a much better role at a higher quality organization by working through CFS than just trying to land an internship yourself (for non-summer quarters).

How can CFS students make the most of their experience?
Think like an entrepreneur. This is just an updated way of saying “be proactive” in any job. One of the fundamental differences between school and work is that in school, you get homework, you have to take quizzes at certain times whereas in work, you have much more flexibility to shape your role. Even in large organizations, you can raise your hand for certain projects and really begin to specialize or find your strength and highlight those strengths within an organization. You can pick what you want to learn more about and who within that company you want to be your mentor. You really can get a lot more out of a job or your life by thinking entrepreneurially – you are responsible for the quality of your experience.