Women on Their Finance Internships

On October 21, the Women in Management club hosted a panel of women second-year MBA students who completed internships in finance this past summer. The panelists shared their observations, as well as some tips on the field and what it offers women.

Katie Kaplun '15

Company: J.P. Morgan
Private Wealth Management

"When I came to SOM, I knew I did not want to stay in the social sector, but I didn't know where I wanted to go. I talked to a lot of people and discovered the world of private wealth management, which is managing money for wealthy families, foundations, and endowments. The field attracted me because it has the level of rigor found in most financial services, but it's also very interpersonal. A lot of it is relationship development, relationship management. This summer I interned at J.P. Morgan in their Private Bank, both in the New York office and in Washington, D.C. I really enjoyed it, thought the work was really interesting, and I'll be going back to the D.C. office after graduation."

Julie Andress '15

Company: Morgan Stanley
Investment Banking Division

"When I was internship hunting, I went to a women's networking event at one of the major investment banks. I highly suggest these types of events. It was an incredible experience. You're in a room with intelligent women from schools around the country who all have similar interests, and you're also meeting women from the banks who are at the top of the field. It's a great way to make connections with more senior bankers who can also introduce you to others in a more organic way. It really was these informal relationships, which evolved out of networking events, that made my recruiting process really enjoyable."

Bridgette Farrer '15

Company: Golden Seeds, an early stage investment fund and angel investor network that invests in gender-diverse companies

"The women that I worked for were incredibly impressive. Most of them had worked on Wall Street for 30 years, in various capacities. They all had really deep finance backgrounds. They were inspiring. The investment criteria of the firm included investing in gender-diverse companies. They looked for two qualities in all their potential investment companies: at least one woman in the C-suite, and that that woman had an amount of equity in the company that was appropriate to her position."

Ria Harracksingh '15

Company: PepsiCo
M&A group

"Pepsi is dominated by women. A lot of the senior leaders are women…they understood a lot of the concerns that I have for five, six, seven years down the line, if I'm signing a full-time offer. It also meant that the culture is structured in such a way that it is very friendly to women. In the rotational program, they allow some flexibility in starting/stopping your rotation. So I've heard of women who are pregnant, take a leave and then come back and in time to start a new rotation, so it doesn't impact their trajectory as much."