Dora Xu

Experience Prior To The Program

Prior to joining the program, I had no finance background at all. Having never taken a finance course before, all the concepts were completely new to me. I wanted to join the program to gain a better understanding of the general work that people in the finance industry do as well as develop my own technical skills to see if pursuing finance was something I wanted to do as a career. I hoped that the program would not only allow me to develop professionally and learn the necessary skills for entering the workforce, but also allow me to connect with mentors to guide me in improving myself as a leader and in exploring career opportunities.

Training Experience

I found the training process extremely thorough and advanced. From starting out with very little to no experience, I found the modeling assignments to be challenging but a very rewarding experience since I was able to see my progress from start to finish. There is definitely a steep learning curve, so I’m grateful that I was able to expose myself to learning something new and being able to apply such versatile skills in later interviews.

The amount of creative freedom and responsibility given to you during the internship are very reflective of what actual professionals in the industry do, so it really encourages students to perform ahead of the curve and gain an advantage in career development.

Internship Experience

The internship allowed me to apply the skills that I learned during the training process and accumulate everything together to present my own company valuation and investment thesis. By performing the entire process individually, the internship was a great opportunity for me to practice important soft skills such as presentation and PowerPoint skills, and it also gave me an overall idea of the responsibilities a financial analyst would do on a daily basis. The one-on-one meetings with Mr. Romero were extremely valuable as I was able to receive useful feedback on my work and further insight on preparing for interviews and applying to internships.

Mentorship

The mentorship aspect of the program was extremely helpful, not only in improving my skills but also in better understanding myself and what kind of career in finance I would like to pursue. Since I came into the program with limited knowledge about the world of finance, my meetings with Mr. Romero, Drake, and Emran played a significant role in developing confidence in myself and navigating what my future goals are.

Career Development

The resume re-branding session and other meetings I had with Mr. Romero about career development definitely guided me in realizing what kind of career I would like to pursue. Being pushed to think deeply about my passions, strengths, and weaknesses, the valuable advice helped solidify my interest in equity research and data analysis.