Review Date: Sep 26, 2019
Experience Prior To The Program
I had taken two accounting classes and a financial markets course prior to the program. In addition, I also had one internship that taught me how to trade FX currencies. I won trading competitions and did really well, however from that experience I wanted to develop more technical skills used in financial/capital markets to try to break into Wall Street. I decided to join the program since it was online so it gave me flexibility, and taught me more than I could ask for. I got to improve my soft skills by learning how to pitch stocks to technical skills by building models from scratch. But most importantly, it gave me a real taste of what it would be like to work as a full time analyst role whether it be as a banker or research analyst etc.
Training Experience
Personally for me since I wanted to do equity research, learning how to build a stock pitch properly and walking it through for someone was one thing that was valuable. Secondly, would be building the independent research reports. Both of these landed me interviews and allowed me to stand out compared to other candidates.
People who go through this program also help each other down the road. Whether it’s with interviews, job openings, or just advice.
Internship Experience
I had an interesting situation where I was taking classes in the summer, worked part time and was part of the program. For me it was extremely intense, but the outcome from all my hard work felt great.
Mentorship
I thought the one-one-one mentorship was very helpful. I got to practice interviewing skills along with feedback, critique, and guidance on my work. This ensured that when I went into a real interview that I knew how to navigate technical questions and my work done during the internship.
Career Development
After the training and internship it opened doors to many opportunities. I got the chance to work for a start up hedge fund during the semester. Then landed a competitive summer internship at a highly rated team in a specific sector that I wanted to pursue. Although, I did not continue to pursue roles within banking it gave me diverse skill sets to pivot into others as well.
Final Remarks
After graduating, I can confirm that through courses at my university that I wouldn't have learned what I did through this program. One thing that I did not mention is that the people who go through this program also help each other down the road. Whether it's with interviews, job openings, or just advice. My advice to those on the borderline is to reach out to any of us who went through the program or even do a quick LinkedIn search to see where people have gone to see how much impact this program has helped them thus far.