Next up in this multi-part series, four students with majors across economics and computer science reflect on their internship experiences. From future investment bankers to technology wizards, these students have jumped at the opportunity to try out their passions.
Yashica Nagpal, a junior majoring in quantitative economics and minoring in finance and entrepreneurship, will have completed a total of six internships by the end of her undergraduate career. In preparing for these internship opportunities, she has been involved in a number of organizations, such as Recalc Academy, which have helped prepare her for these opportunities. She has also leveraged her own Tufts network: More specifically, she secured two of her internships through Tufts students who had previously interned at the same places.
Nagpal found her rising sophomore summer internship at NextEra Energy on Handshake. The hiring manager was a Tufts alumni who Nagpal had networked with previously and who had vouched for her during the process.
While interning, Nagpal used her time at NextEra Energy to network.
“I specifically made it a point to have a coffee chat once a week, at least, over 12 weeks,” Nagpal said. “I think it’s really helpful to see what kind of business group you’d be interested in and be transparent about that with your manager.”
Last summer, Nagpal completed a private equity and hedge fund internship at Tensile Capital Management.
“Private equity [applications] usually [have] some sort of case study sometimes attached that you would have to do. For the one that I had, [there were] three interviews. [One of them] was behavioral [and] one was to help get … an understanding of my industry knowledge. … The last one was more like a fit — they wanted to see how I was, [the] classes I was taking, how I was prepping for investment banking,” Nagpal said.
Similarly, for a private credit internship Nagpal did, there was an additional behavioral interview where they gauged her business understanding and asked her for a stock pitch.
“I would say, because we’re liberal arts students, the expectation of true, true business knowledge and having done classes … is not super important,” she said. “They just want to see that you’re making the effort to compensate for not having [a] business school. And if you do that successfully … just by internships or clubs you’re a part of, that makes a huge difference.”
Currently, Nagpal has secured a private credit internship for the spring and an investment banking internship for the summer. Nagpal is interested in investment banking in the future and has found the Tufts Investment Banking Club to be a helpful resource.
“It’s obviously investment banking for now. But, I think doing some things in ‘buy side’, doing corporate finance and investment banking, just having those different knowledge bases of what I like and what I don’t like is something that, even though pursuing an internship and doing it takes time, is an effort I’m willing to make,” Nagpal said. “[Especially] if I can be more curated in my decision at the end.”
Connie Li, a sophomore studying economics and art history, did two internships last summer: one in asset management and the other in investment banking. Like Nagpal, Li is part of the Tufts Investment Banking Club where she was first introduced to the field of investment banking. Li found her investment banking internship through her parent’s boss.
“My job was working with a team who [worked] for a digital printing client, which is also related to tech and [artificial intelligence],” Li said. “They’re helping them to basically do mergers and acquisitions. And my role [involved] doing a lot of research and also writing reports for them.”
Li cites the Career Center as a good resource for general career advising. She was able to use the center to help her navigate her art history major and explore other career paths. Looking towards the future, Li wants to continue exploring the investment banking field.
“When you come to college, you see so many opportunities, you see so many potentials of yourself and I was in a state [where] I was very confused,” Li said. “I feel like talking to so many people from different industries, not just finance, really helped me a lot about … figuring out what I want.”
Aahan Mehra is a sophomore studying both computer science and applied mathematics. Last summer, Mehra interned with Fidelity Investments as a data science intern in the cybersecurity team.
“I went to the Career Fair last year in the fall, and Fidelity had a booth over there, so I talked to the recruiter … and then she just told me to apply online and then reach out to her,” Mehra said.
During his internship, Mehra supported the team and worked on a project looking at the correlation between the work of different teams in cybersecurity.
“I used some programming, like Python [and] R, to create whatever data visualizations I wanted to,” Mehra said. “From there, I had to put it into a PowerPoint presentation, to present to the head of cybersecurity and Fidelity at the end of the summer. … I think the head of cybersecurity was pretty interested in what I came up with and wanted to try to implement it.”
While Mehra doesn’t think his role at Fidelity went super in-depth into the computer science concentration, he felt that he was able to gain integral soft skills.
“I think what I learned the most about was just like people management [and] just like interacting with people in [a] workplace setting,” Mehra said.
Mehra also used his time there to conduct a coffee chat two times a week with employees across the other departments that he was interested in.
While Mehra received a return offer from Fidelity, he has continued to look for other opportunities for next summer and is currently interested in a data science position.
Emerson Wang is a sophomore studying computer science. This past summer, Wang worked for iD Tech, a company that runs summer camps for kids who are interested in video game design and technology. Wang found the position on Handshake.
“My brother was [in the program] when he was younger, and … he had a final project presentation. So on the last day, I went, and I saw that he had a lot of fun,” Wang said.
After applying, Wang received an email from a recruiter where he was asked to record a two-minute video of himself teaching a virtual lesson. Additionally, Wang did a behavioral interview with the company.
“I sort of emphasized that I have four younger brothers. … I talked about my experience, about hanging out with [my brothers] and [how] I tutor my little brother, ” he said.
During this past summer, Wang taught a Minecraft class for 7- to 9-year-old campers.
“For me, it was really about keeping the kids engaged, making sure they were sort of having fun and having a happy week while they were here,” Wang said. “I’ve developed a respect for teachers and people who do [that] on a daily basis.”
For this upcoming summer, Wang is looking for an internship in technology.
While still at school, these four are free to mess around, try new things and continue to explore who they are before they are thrust back into the corporate world outside these tall ivory towers.
This post was originally published on here
