From International APP student to Investment Banking
Background
Aaditya Shah enrolled in our 2020 program as a sophomore while attending Emory University. He was an Economics major pursuing a career finance within the investment space. He was an international student who wanted a career in finance. Like many of our students, he had no professional skills or relevant finance experience. It’s a typical problem college student’s face, many of whom feels lost and do not know where to turn to for help.
The Results
- Within 8-months of completing our program, Aaditya had secured a full-time position at the Investment Bank Houlihan Lokey in the Portfolio Valuation Group.
- Read the complete story here: my journey to portfolio valuation at Houlihan Lokey
Challenge
Breaking into finance as an international student is a challenge that many college students face. Most firms do not provide work visas or sponsorship. Aaditya also had no technical skills or relevant internship experience. Understanding this, Aaditya researched professional career programs and found the Romero Mentoring Analyst Prep program. The program would give him the professional skills and relevant experience employers are looking for. Aaditya took the opportunity to apply to the APP program to bridge the gap in his technical skills and become a better financial professional.
The Process
We provided Aaditya with our structured 196-hour training, mentoring, internship, and career development program.
- Aaditya received essential training in Excel and PowerPoint. We also focused on setting up a solid foundational base in accounting, valuation, and financial modeling, skills that helped him set the foundation for Investment Banking.
- We also taught Aaditya technical analysis and helped him build his stock analysis skills as he was very interested in stock investing.
- We also provided Aaditya with career training and an internship, where he received high levels of responsibilities to simulate on-the-job situations. For example, in a PayPal stock analysis case, he performed three disciplines of company valuation analysis (e.g., DCF, Sales, and EBITDA comps).
- Aaditya performed deep analysis, including his stock price target, and presented an investment presentation.
Aaditya gained the same on-the-job skills that professionals take years to develop, giving him a tremendous competitive advantage in the field.
Aaditya is now on the career express lane.