Reflecting upon my internship this summer, I’m proud of my experience. Going in, I did not know what to expect as I had never gained exposure to finance or insurance. Coming out of it, I gained insights into one of the most secretly cool industries.I also enjoyed the balance of structured work and independent work throughout the internship. While my supervisor had a few long-term projects as well as day-to-day tasks, I also had the freedom to choose what I most desired to learn. Because of that combination, I took initiative to learn VBA, conduct discounted cash flow analyses (one way of valuing the company and its segments, essentially), understand the various commercial insurance products along with their market sizes, and help create visuals for the company’s second quarter annual report. Certainly, there were other fun tasks involved (double-checking numbers with verbiage in the operating review document three times or screening about 230 resumes), but I learned something from all of them.
I’m grateful for the CFO/SVP of the US finance group, who as a Columbia alum supported me the whole way. He even scheduled a separate session at the end of my internship to go through my resume with me and give me advice on the interview process. The chance he gave me this summer is one like no other, and I hope to one day be an inspiring mentor just like he is.
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