BEYOND MEDIA – Alumni Spotlights highlight the success of THF Alumni in various industries including government, finance, talent acquisition and more.
Annie (via THF’s alumni support network ’18) is a Senior Analyst at Goldman Sachs, a global investment banking, securities and investment management firm.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in Finance?
Finance was not the career I had initially planned for myself. I was pursuing a career in media but decided to work in Finance when the opportunity presented itself because I was excited by the environment I would be entering.
I knew it would be competitive and challenging, and even it though it wasn’t the industry I intended, I wanted to immerse myself in an environment that I knew would stretch me as an individual and take me out of my comfort zone.
I always knew my career would functionally be in business regardless of what industry I was in, so I decided that the training I would get at an investment bank would build a good foundation to my career. Four years after making that decision, I’m happy I did.
What are your major job responsibilities and what does a typical day look like for you?
I work in a team called Client Integration within our Equities organization at Goldman Sachs. We onboard institutional clients (hedge funds, broker dealers) who are looking to trade with our equity sales and trading desks. We setup their post-execution configurations, or what happens with the shares and cash after they place an order. A typical day consists of speaking to clients both on the phone and via email, speaking with sales and trading on new client opportunities, and working with different teams (legal, technology, teams within operations) to ensure that documents, configurations and preferences are setup prior to clients trading. Once these setups are done and the client is setup to trade, we monitor the trading activity to ensure it went smoothly.
What do you like most about your company?
The people. They are hard-working, kind and some of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met. Because the firm is global, you get to learn about different cultures by working with people from all around the world. I also like the fact that the company touches just about every industry in some way so I can more or less always reach out to someone who works in that field and learn about what they do.
What are the most rewarding and challenging parts of your job?
The most rewarding part of my job is being able to see the new business opportunities that come into the company, helping to enable it and then seeing how your work has directly brought in that business for the firm.
The most challenging parts are when you have to work through more complex setups for clients which require more in-depth solutions, particularly if there is a hard timeline of when it needs to be completed.
What particular skills or talents are most essential to be effective at your job?
Learning quickly and being detail-oriented are essential to the role. There are a lot of products/services offered to clients, complex systems we use, and teams we work with, so making sure you fully understand the nuances and differences between many things by asking a lot of questions and speaking up when something doesn’t look right is important.
Staying calm under pressure is important as your work impacts live trades with various deadlines that could potentially affect profits and losses.
Another quality is emotional intelligence. My role requires working with many teams who sometimes can have conflicting personalities or ways of achieving a goal. Being able to be flexible, patient and having the ability to communicate effectively with different types of people are skills that are important to be successful at my job.
What advice would you give to THF interns/alumni as they begin their careers?
I would first say to be open. I ended up in a field I never expected to be in, but three years later after starting full-time, learned more than I knew was possible. You are only exposed to so much as a college student, so having an idea of what you want to do is important, but you often are not aware of a lot of opportunities that are out there.
Secondly, I would say to trust your skills and what you are naturally good at. It can be hard to navigate a career when there are many different roles and opportunities but know what you excel at makes you unique and will set you up for success and help you make the right choices.
How has your affiliation with THF made an impact on your career?
THF has helped me stay connected to the media industry throughout my entire career. I’ve been able to explore opportunities when I was in college trying to find full-time opportunities and as a college graduate after I had begun working in finance. Despite not currently working in media, I am always able to reach out to seek guidance or advice and am always provided with resources or insight to takeaway. I’m very grateful for this foundation and look forward to continue working with THF!