Name: Hina Mahmood

CFS Concentration & Year: BFS, Summer 2010 

Internship: Goldman Sachs

Major /Minor: Economics/BIP

Graduation Year: 2012

Current Position: Brand Specialist at Amazon

 

Describe your CFS internship and how it helped you either in interviews, job opportunities or graduate school applications?

My CFS internship showed me what I did and didn’t want to do in life. I interned in the finance sector where I developed new skills, learned about the industry and made great connections but I also realized that this career path wasn’t necessarily for me; I wanted a career with more creativity. You can’t spend a summer at Goldman without learning a lot and luckily for me, I learned a lot of transferable skills. For instance, I did a lot of Excel work which helps me in my current position at Amazon since it’s a very data heavy organization. I also learned discipline from working 40 hour weeks along with classes. It was a good prep for grad school where I was both working and going to school full-time. I’ll have to admit that resume-wise, the Goldman name helped open doors to opportunities I otherwise wouldn’t have had access to.

Did you see it as a future career when you took the internship? 

Yes, definitely. When Karen and I were going through internships I really wanted to work in finance. A great thing about the program is that you have access to so many different companies and businesses that you wouldn’t ordinarily have. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of finding a job and the program is a great resource. Additionally, if you do well in your internship you can get a subsequent internship or full time job opportunity after Northwestern.

Please briefly explain what you are doing now?

I started as a Brand Specialist at Amazon 3 months ago. My position is cross functional across marketing, operations, and vendor management. Essentially I’m assigned a brand that sells on Amazon’s platform and I get to handle everything for that brand with the goal of growing the brand within Amazon. It’s kind of like owning your own business within a large business.

Is there a link between your CFS experience and what you are doing now? 

Interestingly enough, yes. When I decided I didn’t want to do finance anymore I knew that the experience would help me in terms of providing a robust skill set. The content of work is different but I am doing a lot of similar things. Aside from managing a brand at Amazon one of the company focuses is increasing product selection. This requires going after leads, researching them, pitching those leads, and onboarding them. The skillset for this is pretty similar those I developed at Goldman while prospecting.

What advice do you have for students at NU considering the program? 

I would say do it. I did it during the summer when most people are looking for internships anyways. The connections that Northwestern and Karen have are spectacular. All the internships have real work for you to do and will allow you to learn real things that will help you in subsequent internships or jobs. The class is a good supplement and a way to network with your peers and professors. Networking is super important and you have nothing to lose by going all in.

How can CFS students make the most of their experience? 

I would say just network as much as possible. It may not seem fun to do as an undergrad but in the long run it can be so helpful. The class is a great platform for even just bouncing ideas off of people. Also–look for internships at companies that interest you. Northwestern has great connections at places that may normally be hard to get a foot in door. Northwestern typically has a good reputation and CFS alums tend to do well in their internships so take advantage of the great opportunity!