Closing Thoughts

Although this final post is supposed to be about the end of my internship, I still have a couple of weeks remaining. This past week, I completed one of my final projects to support our team's private wealth management group's client pitch, including models, strategy outlooks, and market outlooks. It was a great experience to learn about various investment products. However, I do not envision myself entering a career within private wealth management. Four Wood’s operations go far beyond PWM though, and there are various opportunities to work across different areas of the investment universe.

As for my remaining projects, I have yet to complete an investment pitch for a private equity group looking at high yield real estate investments in Brazil. Working on due diligence for this project, I gained a lot of insight on global economic trends and market-shifting indicators. This will definitely be useful for me, as I definitely have plans to remain involved in finance for a time to come.

This leaves one major question – what will I choose to do next year? As of last week, it seems like there have been strong indications of interest that the Four Wood team will extend a return offer.

There was no formal performance review but feedback came in little bursts throughout the summer. In terms of the feedback I received, the team commented that I was a quick study and fit in really well at Four Wood Capital Partners. I was also able to juggle a lot of tasks at once, which I think was a big plus in a firm with about 25 people. I think my attitude towards working with a new company went over well. For areas to improve on, I’ll reference back to myself being a quick study—with friends, it can be easy to talk about topics which I am no master of, but with financial professionals, they are all much more experienced than me, and it is important to know everything about a topic if you don’t want it to become clear you have no idea what you are really talking about.

I have enjoyed my summer internship and hope all followers have enjoyed reading about it.

It's only words and words are all I have to take your heart away....

Hi there folks!

You must be wondering why the title of my post is from a Boyzone song from decades ago. The rason is because no matter what context the boyzone used these lyrics in, it applies to every situation I can think of. Do you remember when your mum warned you that words are like arrows- they can never be taken back ? (well except ofcourse in sci-fi movies they can..but lets pretend not to be superheroes here :)

Why I'm dwelling so much on this message of words is because the last two weeks, I have been trying to socialise with and influence several business partners about a framework that I have developed, and my best friends are impactful words, thoughtful messaging and attention to my audience.

Thanks to my manager at Microsoft, I am paying a lot more attention to the way I relay my messages to business partners and it has been a great learning experience so far. It is not sufficient to have a great model/ framework/ findings if they are not messaged carefully and with impact. This is a skill that comes with awareness, practise and experience (in the words of my mentor). So I'm practising...:)
So for all the finance guys out there- remember, your numbers are only as good as the "words" accompanying them. And the right words take some preparation..

And btw, tomorrow the MBA interns at Microsoft (just the 60 of us) are having lunch with Steve Balmer- I'm super excited!!!!!

All I really need to know.

There are so many things that I need to work on, but the greatest assets that I have - and perhaps most of all, my very extensive experience in hi-tech - I did not acquire in business school, but long before that. Some of the really good ones such as playing nicely with the other kids, perhaps as early as in kindergarten.

Looking at how my strengths and weaknesses reflected through my work this summer, I find that my summer internship is basically amplifying everything. My strong research skills and analytical skills are helping me solve problems I encounter, and my background is really helping me have meaningful talks about the industry with different people in the company (which, for example, is awesome for networking). But working on my final presentation, for example, required putting in a pile of overtime to get the job done. This is something that as a marketer I need to invest more time and patience in than I ever have.

I am able to see the great progress I've done this year in transitioning to marketing. Taking the Management Presentations class certainly paid off and presenting in front of an audience in a relaxed manner comes so much easier now that I can really start to work on specifics I need to improve rather than be concerned with the whole. I am able to quickly treat problems I encounter as business cases and ask many of the necessary questions from the get-go.

But you do know what is really important to do as a marketer in a company like Dell, don't you? Smile to whomever you come across. Be open and true to yourself and to others around you. Do things for your peers and not just for yourself. Things you learn in kindergarten.

Work. Enjoy. Learn.

It is amazing (and maybe even a bit scary!) how fast time flies! Especially when you are enjoying it. Seven weeks of my internship are now gone and three weeks from now I’ll on the other side of the world, in China, touring with incoming MBA1s some of the most ancient historic sights of the world. And it is about that time when my fellow Groupon interns and I start asking ourselves “If you got an offer, will you take it?”

According to me, it is impossible to answer this question without first thinking whether the company culture fits me and thinking even beyond that – what is it that I am looking for in my future job and/or company? In one word! For me, everything boils down to two words: continuous learning. I believe it is extremely important to be surrounded by people who are smarter than me and who push me to be the best I can be, to grow, to learn because in my opinion once you stop learning it is time to move on. This is why I decided to quit my previous job and get an MBA and now, having spent a year among peers who are as driven as myself – this is what I am looking for in my future company.

So does Groupon offer continuous learning? I think so. Probably one of the things I’ve enjoyed most so far is the Summer Learning Series – a series of breakfast & learns that gives MBA Summer Associates exposure to some of the CXOs of the company. So far we have had the chance to poke the minds of the CFO, CMO and COO (not to mention that I ran into Andrew Mason himself in the elevator) and learn more about their road to Groupon and their visions for the future of the company. I have to say that I have been impressed not only by how accomplished and smart all these people are but also by how approachable, energetic, down-to-earth and passionate they are. And it was great to hear my own thoughts about the importance of continuous learning and “surrounding yourself with people that make you feel dumb” vocalized by Jeff Holden, one of the most charismatic and poised people I’ve met, last week. 

Fortunately, this culture of learning (and teaching) does not stop when you become a full-time employee. There are multiple lunch & learns when employees who feel they are an expert on a given topic, anything from Excel to marketing to self-defense is fair game, share their expertise with their fellow Groupeners.

7 weeks in

I have been at my internship for 7 weeks now, and there is still so much to learn about the industry and even my job. I learn something new everyday, and there are challenges all the time. The first observation I made about the industry is that it is very hierarchical. There are ranks within this industry and people put a lot of emphasis and respect on it. This makes sense, since for the people at the top, it took them a lot of determination and hard work to get there. So for my group in particular, I get to sit right across from managing directors  (md) or directors, but I don't get to interact with them a whole lot. The way it works is such that project ideas come from mds, and then the people like associates and directors will plan to make the project work out. So I usually work closely with analysts and associates. I don't think hierarchy is a bad thing, though it does make the office culture a lot more formal.

As for company culture, I must say, I really like Deutsche Bank's culture. I really like that people are willing to take time to explain how to do things, and they are really open to questions as well. For instance, I would be given an assignment, and if I don't understand anything, I could ask the most embarrassing or basic question and they are happy to explain it, even if it would take quite a bit of time. I also like that people in my group are very friendly. They joke around with each other a lot, and often take time to check in with the interns and just hang around to answer any kind of questions. So despite the hierarchy, people are still very approachable.

There's only 3 more weeks left in my internship, and its about time to wrap up some long term projects and kick start the final project!

My view of consulting

I used to think consulting is all about problem solving, which is kind of true. But consulting is more than that. It is about professionalism, no matter what you do, whether it is important or not, always deliver the result with highest possible quality. It is about relationship, building trust with clients and teammates in an intensive short period of time.  It is about commitment, dedicating time and effort to learn clients’ business and problems, always deliver what you promised.  As one of my colleague said “consulting is not a job, it is a profession, and it is a lifestyle choice.”

 After talking with my classmates working in other consulting firms, I feel all the firms are more or less the same at the business side. It is the culture that differentiates the firm. One of the key cultures at Deloitte is “Networking”. It is the best way to make yourself known to the rest of the firm. At industry, your boss will tell you what you need to do. But in a consulting firm, you don’t have a fixed boss. You need to constantly look for your next project, so it is important to build your brand and reputation in those networking event and in your project. Good news is Deloitte will organize a lot formal networking event for you. And every Friday, partners, principle and directors will make themselves available, so you could schedule meetings to connect with them.

Another distinctive culture is that you can feel Deloitte really care about you. I still receive emails from the person that interviewed me and asking how I am doing. Several Ross alumni at the firm also contacted me and ask whether they can be any help. The firm also organized many expensive training and social events for us to learn and relax.  There are many other things that make you feel you are part of the big Deloitte family.

"We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts."

A few days ago, I realized that I'd passed the halfway point of my internship, leaving myself with not a whole lot of time to finish up the remainder of my projects. Sure, Amazon sets stretch goals so timelines and targets can be a little on the ambitious side, but wouldn’t you rather be at a firm that challenges you rather than settling for ‘just good enough’? To be honest, I’m actually pretty surprised at the work-life balance at AMZN having come from my previous stint as a consultant – people work hard to get things done, but you’ll not find people staying late just to ‘show face’ to their bosses. As long as you get your job done, it’s all good. That’s the Amazon way.

One thing I’ve really enjoyed at Amazon thus far is the level of access we’ve had to senior levels of leadership. I know I’ve touched on this previously, but we just had an intern dinner yesterday where we were free to mingle around with directors and VPs. Of course, by mingle, I meant “ask strategic questions so that I know where the firm will be in 5-7 years”. Trust me when I say that the senior leadership here is smart and sharp, yet they remain very approachable and are eager to answer whatever difficult questions that get lobbed their way. Apart from Kindle-specific questions, which are under the usual ‘I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you’ levels of secrecy. In fact, the Kindle VP told me that if I had a great idea, all I had to do was to write up a one-page document and send it directly to him and he’d review it for consideration. How many firms have the resources, openness and flexibility to make that happen?

Another great thing about Amazon is the number of MBA interns we have here. With more than 150 of us here, there’s no shortage of people to meet and beers to chug. It’s always interesting to get different perspectives from the other interns, with everybody having their own war stories to share over a good time at the bar. After all, there’s nothing like washing down a week of hard work with a frothy pint of Weissbier. Mmm, beer.

It’s also worth mentioning that the weather has truly turned for the better – the real summer has finally arrived, albeit a good month later than what I’d been led to believe. What that means is that short sleeves and shorts (well, not for the manager interns anyway – we’re too classy for that) are back in season. Hopefully that’ll hold till the end of my stay here as I still need to check the ‘hike up Mount Rainier’ box off my summer checklist.

Finally, if you’re an avid mobile gamer with a Kindle Fire, keep your eyes peeled for GameCircle, an all-new gaming experience that enables achievements, leaderboards and game synchronization to add an additional layer of fun and socialization to your favorite mobile games on the Kindle Fire. If you are a mobile game developer, hop on over to http://amazon.com/gamecircle to learn how you can build these exciting new features into your games today.

Yes, I had the snake and it was tasty.

 

 Some seafood, yesterday. 

Meals on wheels.

Half-way through internship

It has been a great 6 weeks at Google. I had a check-in with my host last week on how things were going, my experience thus far.

Google makes it a point to do this to ensure that interns have an opportunity to receive timely inputs. Overall my experience so far has been great. 

I have had a chance to share my interim findings and am now on to my implementation phase. What this really means is interns get an opportunity to do meaningful work and really immerse themselves in the culture of the place. I am beginning to get a hang of how things are done here and am able to navigate my way around.

On the fun side of things, we have quite a lot of intern activities that are going on which gives me a chance to meet other interns. A few of us are going to watch a movie, get dinner in the city and really get to know each other. All the interns have such informal groups. We have frequent sharing sessions with other interns and this also gives an opportunity for all of us to understand or at least get a glimpse of the projects other interns are doing.

I had a chance to meet the OCD Director last week together with an alumnus who is working at Google. We had a great conversation about his perception of Ross.

On a personal front, I bought my new car and it is amazing! I went to the Indian temple nearby and did the necessary ‘Pooja’ (prayers) – this is part of the Indian tradition. Over the last few weeks, I have also had a chance to connect with some of my high-school friends from India who are now working in the Bay area!

A great few weeks I must say! 

You have to love New York

Time flies! I’m already half way through my internship! On Wednesday, I had my mid-summer review with my manager and HR. My project is right on truck; and ready to move to the next phase on Monday. I’m so grateful that my manager has been very supportive during the past 5 weeks. Despite her extremely busy schedule, she made sure that I can attend all summer speaker series and training sessions, and worked out my project schedule round it. One thing that I feel is very important to be successful during the internship is being independent and self-efficient. Since my internship is based on one big project, there is not a typical day of work. I manage my own work pace and keep my manager informed of the project progress.

Besides working on my project, I have also been learning about other areas of Citigroup through net working with other interns, and my junior and senior mentors. However, because the first phase of my project was mainly done silo, I feel I haven’t put enough effort into networking and getting to know other FMAs. That is one of the things I intend to work on during the next five weeks.

Life in New York City has been amazing! There is always so much to do. Lots of my friends in NYC are investment bankers and consultants. Because of their irregular working hours, it has been hard for us to make get together plans ahead of time. However, this doesn’t stop us from enjoying the city at all. No matter how late it is at night, we can always find great places to go. From rooftop lounges to beer bars, from museums to riverside parks, the city offers everything to its residents. Outside Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn also offer great additions to the city life. This past Sunday, I went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for NYC Food Truck Rally. Spend a few dollars, you can get amazing kimchi tacos, exotic ice-cream or delicious grilled cheese : )

First impression matters

If I have an appointment with some human resource people to ask for their expert advice and skills for interview, one thing they won’t forget mentioning is that “First impression matters!” Some of them will even tell you that an experienced interviewer will know whether to hire you or not within the first 30 seconds or less. Honestly, I am always skeptical about statement like this from HRs until my very recent project experiences with CitiMortgage.

As I written previously that my project involves with interviewing and hiring new people to an operation center in Illinois. Therefore, I had this great opportunity to sit at the side of the interview table that I am not usually used to and to interview candidates. After conducted over 50 interviews over the past three weeks, I suddenly realized that HR people’s words are true. From the meet and greet moment with candidates to the time they sit down and start to talk, in most cases, both my manager and myself have about 70% of certainty of whether to hire the person or not. The rest of the interview process is about seeking information and clues to justify the decisions that we made in our minds during that first half minute. The interview experience will be extremely valuable and relevant to me for my full time interview process later this year. I experienced the importance about the first impression as an interviewer and I learned few lessons that I should definitely avoid during the interview process from mistakes that others made.

My message to my fellow Rossers, first impression matters a lot, trust me! Every effort should be made to stand you out from others at the beginning of the interviews.

In the following two weeks, I will be in New York for the group projects that involve with all the other summer interns from different business functions in the commercial banking division of Citi. So it should be very exciting and I am definitely looking forward to the group project and good social life in New York.

Learning Wall Street

Working with Four Wood Capital Partners has offered a real-world perspective as to what it is like working in financial services. I have been here for close to two months now and a clearer picture is coming together.

Based on what I’ve seen, being a lower level employee is in many ways an educational experience. My involvement in various projects - from corporate decks and marketing materials to building models and conducting due diligence - offers a wide perspective of different industries and financial tools.

One of the most interesting observations in our office is the alternative use of financial tools to create numerous income strategies. It demonstrates that there is a tremendous amount of knowledge available and wide array of applications for these tools, regardless of market conditions.

I have had two major projects so far. The first was developing wealth preservation models and researching athlete bankruptcy trends to support Four Wood's private wealth management business. The other project was collaborating with a private equity group to research high-yield real estate investments in Brazil. I feel like learning on the job is much faster and more interesting than when it just comes from a text book.

Within Four Wood, the people are extremely intelligent and driven. As a firm that just started with 2 people in November, the group has grown to over 25 employees and is continuing to make headway.

The strength of the company to grow and make headway when other companies are failing comes from the firm’s CEO and CIO. Respectively, they have been a senior managing director in sales at BlackRock and credit CIO at BNP Paribas, and they cover all bases as a team from creating valuable business relationships to creating strong investment products. Getting to work with them shows how to effectively run a business.

I am excited for the rest of the summer.

The First Week of Internship

Now I started the internship. After the first week, it is a good chance to sit down and reflect a little about the experience so far. Basically, this is a great opportunity of learning new knowledge and utilizing existing skill set. Health care industry is big, comprising mainly of hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies. The devices section is what I am interning on. People invented an innovative way of surgery, which is more efficient and requires smaller cutting on human bodies. Patients undergone such procedures would need shorter recovery time and less pain during the operation. The smaller cutting also means fewer risks of infection and other medical accidents. Because of many advantages, this kind of technology is getting popularity all over the world, and also brings benefits to many patients in China. During the first week, I learned how the new procedure goes on, interviewed with doctors about the expansion of the new technology in China, and investigated the ecosystem of Chinese health care.  

Interacting with doctors and other people in the hospitals are rewarding, learning knowledge about human bodies and disease, and good habits of keeping healthy. When talking about curing people’s diseases with less pain for them, you can feel it is a meaningful thing. I am encouraged by new advancement of modern medical technology, and happy to know that China is keeping pace with the technological development. It is introduced that big hospitals in major cities send their doctors regularly to foreign countries to learn the new technology for around half a year.

There are some personal experiences when I observe procedures in the operation rooms. The operation looked scary at first site, but when repeated many times, they become routine and I can focus on the medical aspect of the procedure, rather than the blood scene.

The Dynamic Nature of Hi-Tech World!

Hey guys, at this point of my intern in Hi-Teach industry, having spent nine weeks out of eleven and having awesome opportunity to work on a global project, analyzing investment opportunity attractiveness across top developed and growing countries has greatly developed my industry knowledge. Hi-Tech is the engine room of all sectors of economics, thus show how relevant and dynamic the industry is. This also makes environment more competitive and the industry players have to be equipped for the technological challenges. For instance, we imagine how personal computer has evolved in recent time, from desktop computer to laptop; from laptop to tablet; tablet to mobile device within a decade. So it’s important for business investment planning in this industry to be very critical, detailed and consider unforeseen changes that might affect your implementations. 

  

The industry gives a holistic view of available business opportunities in different markets in terms of country, sector and segment of economics. As a technology company, it’s more equipped to take advantage of the future opportunities by providing products, solutions and services to different sectors and consumers.

Dell as a player in this industry has a very open culture which gives her more competitive advantage. It gives employees opportunity to develop innovative and creative ideas and management has been so supportive promoting such ideas, most importantly now that Dell is increasing her perceptions from hardware to end to end solution. Dell’s greatest asset is the people because they are very collaborative in nature. They are always all out to assist one another in achieving goals. Also Dell has a very flexible working culture that allows you to work from home and it’s also a family friendly working environment.  

Expecting the Unexpected!!

The Valley is reputed to be one of those places where “creative destruction” takes place @ a faster rate than anywhere else on earth. Words that come to your mind are:

Innovation

Disruption

Computers

Ideas

Progress

New

The tech industry based in Silicon Valley employs some of the smartest people I’ve met.  My internship experience leads me to believe that most engineers and managers in the Valley in general come from top schools world-wide. They represent over 100 different nationalities from across the globe. This reminds me of the ancient Indian (Sanskrit) saying:   

वसुधैव कुटुम्बक  - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The whole world is one family!

There are however no pre-set qualifications, smart people from across the globe with no formal qualifications other than an undergrad are successful here . The incredible magnet that Silicon Valley is you would think that it’s “an all work, no play lifestyle”. Right? Wrong!!!!!

Here’s what you probably never expected: most companies in the Tech industry offer great life styles -  plenty of freebies (perks) such as free meals, free snacks etc, half day work on Fridays  and  a work –life balance that is un-paralleled in most professions world-wide.

So how does my internship experience compare (from someone with first-hand experience)?

No standard work hours – just get your work done, show initiative, drive performance and results!

Thank God it’s Friday – carnivals, shows, concerts, bands etc

Cafes – plenty to choose from and an array of choices! 

Snack Bars!

WFH -Work from Home is not frowned upong (as long as you get the work done, attend meetings!)

A few notes below that will give prospective international students a greater feel for the tech industry:

Job Hopping:

A key driver for rapid innovation in the Silicon Valley as AnnaLee Saxenian, author of Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128, puts it is

"Job-hopping, rather than climbing the career ladder within a corporation, facilitates flows of information and know-how between individuals, firms, and industries. When combined with venture capital, it supports unanticipated recombinations of technologies and skill.

Old vs New , Consulting vs Tech:

While consulting firms and consultants focuses on old age economies and traditional business models and processes, the valley focuses on start-ups, developing new processes and innovative business models.

Many Careers:

You don’t program all your life, neither are you into sales all your life in the Tech Industry.

In this video (click here), Tim Draper, managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, talks about the California's Silicon Valleyand about many careers in the tech industry! 

In my next post, I shall talk about enjoying the internship experience - it is such a fleeting moment!

Sleepless in Seattle:  See you all back in school

So folks, this is my last note here. I have only 2 weeks for my last presentation and 3 weeks to my last day here. In order to be as ready as I could, I started working on the presentation a week ago. Next week I hope to circle the deck around the team to have as many corrections as possible. It is actually my 6th presentation this summer - so I must say that at least I learned how the Microsoft people like to have their presentation. Although people's characters is always to be consider while presenting, here in Microsoft most of the presentation are actually the documentation method for the entire project.

Since I networked and connected with so many people, right now there are more than 40 people invited to my final presentation and several more personal meetings with senior managers from other teams that can't participate in the schedule date with my manager (I believe it is also contribute to her network - so I'm happy with that too).

Looking back on my tenure in Microsoft this summer (although I haven't finished yet) it was a great adventure that started 7 months ago - during the recruiting time - continue through my MAP project with the IEB division (gaming studios) and the 9 weeks of internship. I got to know not only a great company that has the ability to change the world, but also amazing people who are smart and open, creative and fun to work with. Microsoft for me feels like a warm blanket of "coming back home" (since I worked in hi-tech before) and I felt in my first weeks here that I know how to hit the floor running.

I would say that there are several takeaways from the entire period (those 7 months):

1.       Go with your heart - do what feels good. If you have fun in your work (especially depends on the people around you) stay there, learn how to love it and put your heart to it.

2.       Be open to feedback. This is why we have two ears and only one mouth - listen 60%-70% of the time, that way you will learn the most.

3.       Smile. It will give you a great feeling and it is contagious so others could start smiling too.

But to be specific about the internship I know I communicate my efforts, needs, questions and results very well. I shared it with smart and key people, networked outside of my immediate environment and put the people around me on my first priority. On the other side I know I did some things not so well - I started to think on business problems with my engineering brain, I almost did some huge political mistakes that could affect my manager and haven't done a great job articulating the story in my presentation the way people in Microsoft use to.

                                                                                    Live long and prosper. Go blue.