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      How Citi is Paving the Way for HBCU Grads and Black Professionals in Finance

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      Ever since Maggie Lena Walker established and presided over the first bank to service Black organizations, Black Americans have been shaping the history of finance. 100 years later, people of color (POC) are still making contributions that leave everlasting impacts on the industry. 

      Although a lot of progress has been made for POC in the banking and finance space, they are still at a disadvantage. The facts of the matter are that POC are disproportionately underrepresented in finance and face a harder time breaking into the industry than others. 

      As a company that emphasizes the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Citi identifies with these issues wholeheartedly. Citi also knows that if these trends continue, an entire legacy of future Maggie Walkers might cease to exist.  Even worse, the contributions and ideas that these POC would have contributed to the finance world would never see the light of day. This lack of input and improvement would slow down the finance world as we know it. 

       Citi has made sure to create a space where POC not only feel welcome but motivated to succeed as well, creating a virtuous cycle for individuals, Citi as an organization and the financial services industry more broadly. In order to create this space, Citi has rolled out a series of initiatives that are paving the way for POC in finance. The first of which has to do with their recruiting strategy. 

      HBCU Recruiting and Presence 

      To employ the brightest minds, first, you have to find them. That’s why Citi decided to set up an ambitious recruiting strategy at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). And we’re not just talking about free koozies and stickers. Citi is showing up on campuses, sometimes even with school alumni, to share background on their diversity and inclusion efforts, educate students about opportunities and show they are a company that values the success of their diverse employees.   

      Here is what one Global Banking Analyst had to say about the impression Citi left when they visited Howard University during her time as an undergraduate. 

      By continuing to establish meaningful relationships with students at HBCUs, Citi is building a workforce that includes incredibly talented individuals from diverse backgrounds. 

      HBCU Alumni Network 

      By creating groups and communities that allow people from similar backgrounds to come together and share thoughts, companies can create new environments to help their employees thrive. That’s why Citi established the HBCU Alumni Network. As you might be able to infer, the HBCU Alumni Network is a group at Citi that allows alumni from different HBCUs to connect, network, and help one another grow. Which, for a lot of people, helped them succeed and learn in a lot of ways.  

      My involvement with the HBCU Alumni Network has taught me the importance of being proactive when you’re on a team. I was tasked to work alongside another team member to initiate contact with 19 schools. I hesitated on whether I should wait for him to reach out first since he has been employed at Citi longer than me, but I ended up having the courage to set up the first meeting. He expressed how impressed he was that I took charge right away and set up a strong foundation for the work we’ll be completing together. That experience taught me to never doubt myself or my capabilities, even if I may be the youngest on the team, and if there is an opportunity to showcase your skills or leadership, you always jump at it!  
       Global Consumer Banking Analyst 

      Through her involvement with the HBCU Alumni Network, she not only gained more experience and confidence in herself, but she also made a good impression on her colleague. All around wins. 

      Black Heritage Network 

      Like the HBCU Alumni Network, there is the Black Heritage Inclusion Network at Citi. Within this group, Black professionals can come together, share their thoughts, seek out mentors, and essentially just share space with people who look like them.  

      After you graduate, the number of groups and organizations you can join to socialize, grow yourself, and feel welcome gets cut in half. When these groups are no longer available, especially in the corporate world, some individuals face issues that diminish their productivity and most importantly, their self-worth. That’s why establishing inclusion networks is so advantageous and why Citi chose to do it themselves. 

      POC in Leadership Positions 

      One very direct way to help POC succeed in financial services is to connect and grow them in leadership and management positions. By doing so, you not only diversify the leadership on your team, but you also create mentors, role models, and individuals who people from similar backgrounds can identify with. As a result, students and job-seeking individuals become more inclined to apply for positions at the company. 

      As he said, it’s comforting to grow and be trained by people who are like you. When you can relate to these people, it makes the relationship better on all ends.  

      One Corporate Banking Analyst had a similar experience with her mentor during her time at Howard.  

      When I was a Freshman at Howard, my mentor, who was a Senior, had a full-time offer in Investment Banking at Citi and was the Citi Campus Ambassador. She recommended me for the Freshman Discovery Program, and I ended up getting in. At the time I was not super familiar with Citi or Wall Street as a whole, so I did not really know what to expect. However, when I arrived, I was completely enamored with the experience and completely threw myself into it. At the end of the program, I was sad to leave and knew this is where I belonged. 
      Corporate Banking Analyst

      If it weren’t for Citi putting her mentor into that Campus Ambassador position, it’s possible that she may have never ended up at Citi. By creating this position and ones like it, Citi now has talent pipelines that will draw in some of the brightest minds in finance for years to come. Pipelines that might just end up finding you one day. 

      What’s Next for Citi? 

      While these initiatives may seem bold, Citi has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. Much like Citi’s Action for Racial Equity, a $1 billion+ commitment to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility in the United States, the ideas Citi is putting forth will have a substantial impact on the industry and the world for years to come.  

      If this is an endeavor that you would like to be a part of and contribute to, check out the positions Citi is currently hiring for. Who knows, in just a few years it could be you leading the change.  More

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      How T-Mobile Gave Me The Tools to Grow My Career

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      As your career progresses, it is natural to start growing curious about other opportunities and new positions. Whether that’s a new job outside of your current company, a different department within your company, or even a more senior title, these desires have a tendency to appear more than once during your career.

      Given this inevitable circumstance, it is important to know that your company is willing to support your desire to grow. But what does that support look like? And how do you know your company is willing to provide it?

      While we can’t speak for all of the companies in the telecommunications space, we can say for certain that T-Mobile is a place that supports the growth of its employees in any path that they choose to follow.

      Recently, we spoke with a few employees at T-Mobile to hear what that support looks like and how it helped them advance their careers.                  

      Freedom to Follow Passions

      One of the first things that stood out about T-Mobile is the company’s encouragement of employees to follow their passions.

      For example, Kasey Liang, a recruiting coordinator at T-Mobile, started her career with the company in a Talent Acquisition internship. Her initial responsibilities had to do with making sure the backend software used to recruit and hire talent was working and also ensuring a smooth transition to a new platform.

      However, midway through, Kasey realized that she would “rather be talking to candidates instead of dealing with the software behind it.” What Kasey did next was express these desires to her manager who not only met them with positivity and support but started helping her through the steps to make that transition. 

      One thing Kasey’s manager suggested was to start reaching out to those in the positions Kacey was seeking. This would consist of asking questions about how they got those positions, what they’ve done right, and what they’ve done wrong. 

      An Openness to Share Knowledge

      Across all of T-Mobile’s employees is an attitude of support and encouragement. This means that they will always offer help to those seeking it. As Kasey reached out to other employees at T-Mobile, she was able to learn more about the day in the life of a Recruiter.

      The fact that an employee will take time out of their day to show you what they’re doing and even allow you to shadow them goes to show the kind of spirit and camaraderie that takes place at T-Mobile.

      Transferable Skills

      Another great feature of working at T-Mobile is that you’re going to learn skills that you can take with you throughout your entire career. For example, T-Mobile uses software called Workday that helps employees with a variety of work-related functions. Being that Workday is very popular, knowing how to use it will look that much better to your next employer who may require that knowledge.

      As for the recruiting position, one thing you’re going to do a lot of is talking. You’ll be learning how to take large amounts of information like job details and responsibilities, and condense them into chunks of exciting and attention-grabbing bits. In some cases, you’ll have to negotiate pay and contracts. In other cases, you might have to learn how to have complex or difficult conversations.

      One way or another, you will be advancing your communication skills every step of the way. Another way that employees would build skills and learn new things would be through T-Mobile’s their own trial and error and exploration of new concepts.

      No One’s Going to Be Breathing Down Your Neck

      While the environment at T-Mobile is very hands-on and good at offering direct instruction, they also help employees grow by not micromanaging them and allowing them to learn individually. 

      By embracing a culture that allows individuals to think freely, T-Mobile is building employees who are able to take initiative and think on their feet. This creates a future workforce of leaders and individuals who know how to get things done.

      They Want You to Lead

      T-Mobile is a company that has all intentions of expanding and continuing to put its thumbprint on the telecommunications and technology industries. In order to do that, they want to see their employees succeed. Anastasia Byrd participated in a business intelligence internship this past May and today, she is a Senior Analyst. While the road to a senior title is not necessarily easy, it is made more attainable by the resources that T-Mobile provides.

      A manager at T-Mobile even once stated “my job is to help you get to where you want to go next.” It didn’t matter if that meant leaving the team and going somewhere else or into a senior position like Anastasia, the manager’s main intention was to enable employees to do what they desire.

      Navigating your professional desires, especially when it’s early on in your career, can be daunting. But it is made much easier when you work for a company that allows you to follow your passions and gives you the resources to help you attain them.

      If you’re someone who has always been inspired to reach new heights and accomplish your dreams, T-Mobile is an employer that will help you do it. Start browsing open roles today and get one step closer to obtaining your goals.  More

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      Why Choose Stifel?  It’s Simple – You and Your Ideas Are Welcome Here.   

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      Success is more than just an ideology here at Stifel.  It’s about taking the ideas of how to succeed and putting them into action.  These actions permeate throughout our organization, within every department, and at every Stifel branch across the nation.  And it all starts with you.  

      Stifel is a place where you can build a challenging, rewarding career with one of the industry’s most diverse, creative teams.  A place where new ideas are welcome and fresh thinking is encouraged.  The kind of thinking that helps us understand and use the forces of the market to be ready for whatever is next.

      To make this happen, our leadership makes the well-being of our associates a top priority.  We actively promote a new and different type of thinking, anchored by a commitment to helping you build strong relationships with your fellow associates across the organization. 

      So, how do we do that?  Entrepreneurial spirit.  Innovation.  And, of course, diversity and inclusivity.  These are all great ideas on the surface – but at Stifel, we put them into action from the top down.  Our leadership sets the tone with each and every associate, and our mentorship philosophy is where our culture really starts to thrive.  We encourage people in leadership positions to step back and ask themselves, “What did I need when I was coming up in the industry?  Who put a hand out for me?  Who gave me guidance?  How can I turn that around and help others that are entering our field”

      At Stifel, if you have an idea, our leadership will listen to it and truly consider it.  Your ideas can actually be put into place pretty quickly.  Our organization is structured like that.  Building on that sentiment, fostering collaboration is another key component to what makes Stifel great.  Our firm is built around supporting not only our clients, but also each other.  This is based on another simple, yet effective, guiding philosophy at Stifel – the “Golden Rule.”  Treat each other the way we would want to be treated and listen with empathy, respect, and with a heart toward understanding.     

      Stifel is often described as a large firm with a startup mentality.  Its metaphorical open-door policy means that a junior staff member can easily call a senior manager and speak with them, for example.  Additionally, the family-like relationship that the associates across departments and branches share is something very special and unique.  

      According to a study conducted by Coqual, organizations rated highly for diversity and inclusion have 57% better collaboration.  We’ve taken this to heart.  Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande, Director of Human Resources, Diversity and Inclusion, has been an integral force in championing diversity and inclusion initiatives across the firm.

      “That’s essentially what Stifel has always done and continues to do so well – to help individuals, to help organizations, to help communities, to strengthen their capacity to be difference-makers. That’s why I’m so excited to be at Stifel – because I’m part of a team that believes in the wonderfulness of America and the ability to be able to make things better.”
      Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande More

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      Day in the Life: Working at One of the Biggest Accounting Firms in the US

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      There is nothing that compares to an energetic, engaged, and sociable office environment. A place that feels like a second home, where you know everybody, where you can put your best foot forward, and where you can grow and thrive with a group of diverse minds who aren’t just your colleagues but your friends too.

      We’re happy to say that such an office exists in the heart of Minneapolis. KPMG Minneapolis has built a culture and community that goes far beyond an office space. In our conversations with employees from the KPMG Minneapolis office, both new and old, we discovered what makes their office perfect for those who want more than a run-of-the-mill office experience.

      Collective Problem-Solving

      A very common worry that a lot of entry-level employees or early career professionals come across is what to do when faced with obstacles. As is the case with any new job, challenges will arise, so this is very natural.

      When we spoke with Reece English, a former intern and current Tax Associate at KPMG, he mentioned that having a bunch of fellow colleagues in the same position as him was incredibly helpful. For example, one day Reece was having an issue with a platform he was using at his desk. After firing off a question to a fellow colleague, instead of replying in the chat, she stopped what she was doing and went over to Reece’s desk and walked him through it.

      Whether it’s asking a fellow intern for a ride to work or getting a managing partner to look over a review you did, everyone at KPMG seeks to support one another whenever possible.

      Social Life

      In our conversations with employees from KPMG, we discovered that they cultivate a culture that values socializing and employee interaction. Pizza days, taco Tuesdays, morning coffee and donuts, and happy hours are incredibly common at the KPMG Minneapolis office. These events help build camaraderie and meaningful bonds between employees.

      The Minneapolis office even has a basketball team and kickball team. While the basketball team is company-wide, the kickball team is exclusively for interns and gives them the chance to compete in a tournament against the other Big Four accounting firms. KPMG won in 2021 but lost in 2022 so they are hoping for a big comeback next year.

      Lastly, the training at the KPMG Lakehouse in Orlando also underscores the firm’s dedication to building a well-connected community. Every year, all KPMG professionals from, intern to partner, head down to the training and innovation center to upskill, socialize, and get to know one another better. Fit with a gym, social venues, and tons of other amenities, the experiences at Lakehouse goes to show KPMG’s dedication to creating fun and lasting bonds between employees.

      Real Experience with Clients

      The KPMG Minneapolis office is particularly unique because of its close proximity to its clients, many of which are Fortune 500 companies. In fact, Minnesota is home to over fifteen Fortune 500 companies, most of which are audit, tax and/or advisory clients of the Minneapolis office. What this means is interns and associates get the chance to interact and work directly with clients on a regular basis.

      Whether it’s through coffee chats, boardroom meetings, or onsite engagements, employees get the chance to work directly with these clients as they help influence business decisions in real-time! For Lilli Denison, that meant no day was the same.

      This communal aspect, paired with the client engagement that even interns get to partake in, made Lilli realize that employees at the Minneapolis office would always be exposed to new, exciting, and meaningful work.

      A Supportive Network

      Another one of the most alluring aspects of the KPMG Minneapolis office is the bottomless support network provided by fellow colleagues and partners. In our conversation with James Powell, the office managing partner in Minneapolis, he spoke about the “pass it forward” mentality that exists throughout the organization.

      James emphasized how there is a “whole network of people who, yes, have a job to do, but at the same time also find it very important to make sure that the people around them are successful.” James went on to say how much of a proud culture the KPMG Minneapolis office has and how that pride reverberates off the behavior of employees helping one another. This pride stems from their devotion to helping fellow colleagues and lifting each other up whenever possible.

      At KPMG, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been with the company for a day or a decade, everyone is treated the same and given the same opportunities to grow and succeed.

      Make the Minneapolis Leap

      People choose to stay at KPMG for a variety of reasons. Some include the ones we mentioned earlier, but many of them are discovered by the employees themselves. Whether it’s the support system, the social life, or the paths to success that are paved for each and every employee, the KPMG Minneapolis office is the destination where early career professionals go to thrive.

      Learn more about the internships and open roles that KPMG is looking to fill at their Minneapolis office and locations across the country here and begin your road to success! More

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      Five Job Application Tips from Full-Time Business Analysts

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      When you’re applying for a job, there are several questions that are likely to run through your head. Does my resume need to be updated? Am I portraying myself well? Have I prepared enough?

      Unfortunately, a lot of these job application questions don’t get answered until the process is over. However, we’ve been put in a unique position to give you the answers you’re looking for no matter what stage of the application process you’re in. We recently had the opportunity to get those behind-the-scenes answers firsthand.

      Recently, we sat down with two junior business analysts at Maximus, a consulting company tasked with protecting health, supporting families, and streamlining government services, to hear how they crushed the interview and application process. In our conversations with them, they revealed what it takes to stand out to recruiters both at Maximus and in the professional world.

      Format Your Resume for the Job You Want

      Odds are you’ve been hearing different kinds of resume advice over the years – keep it to one page, think beyond your job duties, highlight relevant skills, etc. While some advice is better than others, what Zain Baig, Business Analyst and former intern at Maximus, believes is most important is to format your resume for the job you want.

      Zain didn’t have experience in the industry or department that he was applying for. However, by reframing the past experiences on his resume in a way that was aligned with the internship he was applying for, he seemed more like a fit in the eyes of the recruiter.

      Make Use of Networking Opportunities

      Recruiters and employers also want to see prospective students attend networking opportunities available to them.

      While it isn’t likely to land a job on the spot at a career fair, that’s not necessarily the point. Making this first point of contact sets you up for your second, third, and fourth moves. Now you have established familiarity with the recruiter or employer, which will make you stand out in the application process. However, that’s not the only benefit.

      Benefits of attending a career fair/networking event:

      Gain more knowledge about a company

      Establish familiarity with recruiters

      Practice interacting in a professional setting

      Find out what you do and don’t like

      Whether it shows you something you never thought you’d like or just helps you stretch those networking muscles, there really isn’t a reason not to take advantage of these events.

      Know the Basics About a Company

      This next piece of advice might seem obvious but is often overlooked by so many students and young professionals looking for a job. When you’re applying for a job, a major red flag in the eyes of recruiters is a candidate who doesn’t know anything about the company.

      What Edda did to prepare for the interview process was simple. She went to the Maximus website, clicked through various pages, read about the company’s offerings, and caught up on the most recent articles they published. This gave her just enough information to speak with interest and familiarity for the company, something always stands out to recruiters. 

      Be Prepared for Tough Questions

      One of the harder parts about applying and interviewing for jobs is answering questions on the spot. This is because there is only so much you can do to prepare for them. Chances are, you’ll be getting asked a question you didn’t expect or have a planned answer for.

      What’s most important about crossing this bridge is approaching the question genuinely. If you need a second to think about an answer, politely ask for a moment to reflect. Recruiters will appreciate that much more than you rushing to a conclusion or pretending to know something you don’t.

      Additionally, recruiters suggest not to over-prepare for questions with copy-and-paste answers. Recruiters can tell when you’ve put together responses in advance, especially when you’re reading them on your screen. Again, approach the question genuinely and craft your response with care, precision, and grace.

      Express a Desire to Learn

      While all the tips on this list will help you shine brighter in the eyes of recruiters, the most important thing young professionals should do when looking for a job is express a desire to learn. 

      For those who are early in their professional careers, chances are you don’t have a whole lot of job experience. So, what you need to let the interviewer know more than anything else is that you want to learn. But you have to be direct about it! What is it you want to learn more about? What skills do you hope to learn? What position would you like to eventually see yourself in?

      By expressing this desire to grow and learn with a company, recruiters will always be more willing to give you a chance to prove yourself.

      While both Zain and Edda followed different paths to get to where they are now, they both relied on these core tips to secure jobs that launched their careers.

      Now that you know what it takes to crush the job application process, why not try your luck? Start browsing open positions today! More

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      How Meritage Homes Is Diversifying the Home Building Space One Job at a Time

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      There are a lot of factors to consider when determining where you want to work. Location, salary, position, and culture are all crucial details that will impact your experience with a company and ultimately, the trajectory of your professional career.

      In addition to these crucial factors, one characteristic that everyone seems to be looking for in a company is an inclusive environment. As we’ve come to understand, fostering a culture that acknowledges and supports people from different backgrounds leads to incredible growth for the company, the employees, and oftentimes the industry as a whole.

      But what does an inclusive company look like? And how are you supposed to know if your particular background and individuality will thrive there?

      In order to find out, we spoke with Meritage Homes Vice President of Inclusion and Culture, Regina Rivera, and Assistant Construction Manager, Madison Martin, about what diversity means at their company. In our conversations, they spoke about the company’s interpretation of diversity, why it’s important, how the company supports it, and all the benefits gained from embracing inclusion.

      Diversity of Skills, Behavior, and Experience

      One of the most fascinating pieces of information that arose from our conversation with Regina is how Meritage Homes interprets diversity. Regina emphasized that they don’t singularly look at someone’s particular race or background; they also focus on their skills and experiences.

      Being that we think and behave based on our life experiences, this made perfect sense. While someone’s race or gender may have led them to particular experiences in life, Meritage Homes focuses on the results of those experiences. Regina described how they think about diversity “not just through the race and gender lens, but the diversity of behavior” as well.

      She went on to talk about how professionals from outside the industry “can speak and share different perspectives and comment on the work from a different angle.” At Meritage Homes, this is what they believe will help drive innovation.

      Why Diversity And Inclusion Is Important

      At Meritage Homes, the end goal isn’t to meet some quota or percentage. While they do care about increasing representation in their company, Meritage Homes doesn’t base their success solely on numbers. They base it on how well the values of their company are being embraced and demonstrated by their employees’ values that are enhanced by collaboration and a supportive network.

      Regina spoke about one of Meritage Homes’ behavior anchor statements regarding “playing to win” and “collaborating as a team.” She stated, “To live out the concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion is to live our [Meritage Homes’] values.” The whole idea of collaboration is to create with people who can provide different perspectives and insight than you. What better way to do that than by creating a workforce filled with people who had different experiences and come from a variety of backgrounds?

      While diversity is important in its contributions to the growth and profitability of the company, one of the most important differences it makes is to the employee experience at Meritage—their level of comfort, belonging, and connection in the workplace.

      How They’re Supporting Diversity and Inclusion

      So it’s clear that Meritage Homes knows what diversity and inclusivity look like and why it’s important, but how do they support and empower it? Meritage is committed to weaving diversity, equity, and inclusion into the company fabric. They emphasize to their team members and leaders that DE&I isn’t something extra that they must do but is a part of strategy and operations every day.

      Raising awareness has definitely been a starting point. The willingness to have conversations, acknowledge one’s bias (both conscious and unconscious), and actively take steps to pause and consider alternative ways of doing things is essential.

      Through regular communication, training, micro-learning, modeling, linking and labeling behavior, Meritage is sharpening an inclusive leadership mindset and building DE&I skills throughout the organization. 

      Today, Meritage Homes continues to lead this inclusive revolution by not only diversifying their employee base but training them to lead in a way that reflects Meritage’s core values as well.

      The Benefits of Diversity

      While the benefits of Meritage Homes’ actions and initiatives towards diversity are felt in the workforce, marketplace, and workplace, we’d like to concentrate on the workplace as it has the most immediate influence on what the day-to-day will be like as an employee.

      Madison Martin, an Assistant Construction Manager, is a perfect example of how Meritage Homes’ inclusive ideals were beneficial. When Madison first came across the job listing, she wasn’t sure if homebuilding was right for her as she had preconceptions about the construction industry.

      However, during the interview process, Madison realized that Meritage Homes doesn’t believe in one particular background for any of its roles. 

      Madison said this discussion about the value of people with different backgrounds and areas of expertise ultimately helped her make the decision to join the Meritage team.

      Madison shared that she immediately felt welcomed and was treated like a member of the team. She has felt both challenged and supported as she has learned her new role. 

      Madison joined Meritage Homes as an intern and after a few months, she was offered a full-time position as an Assistant Construction Manager. 

      By redefining what diversity means and reshaping what an inclusive environment feels like, Meritage Homes has created a revolutionary culture that is bound to send waves across the industry.

      Their lens is a unique one and their mission is a brave one. Will you join Meritage Homes as they seek to enhance the home building industry one job at a time?

      Start browsing open positions and internships today. More

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      In Three Words: Dow Jones Interns Break Down Their Summers

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      Landing an internship at Dow Jones is an opportunity to work for a company that makes a worldwide impact. As a global company with over 5,500 employees, our mission is to provide the world’s most trusted journalism, data, and analysis to help people make decisions.

      Whether it’s helping our readers make decisions through our flagship publications, The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s Group, or helping companies make decisions with our world-class data and analytics services, we educate and inform people to make choices and form opinions everywhere.

      At Dow Jones, it doesn’t matter what area of business your internship is in, you can be certain it will be an immersive experience with meaningful and impactful work. During your internship, you will be working hands-on with real projects and business objectives. Additionally, you will learn how to grow and harness your skills through professional development sessions and networking events with executives and our CEO, Almar Latour.

      For insight into the “real” Dow Jones internship experience, read what former interns who have since transitioned into full-time employees have to say. Here’s how they described their internship experience in three words. More

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      How An Assistant Vice President Launched His Career with WayUp

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      There is no one set path to your dream job. As you move through life, college, and your early professional career, new avenues will appear and opportunities will begin to show themselves.

      While there are several places to look for these new avenues and opportunities, one place that a lot of early career candidates are using to find jobs is WayUp. One individual who used WayUp to find his dream job is Louis Smith, an assistant vice president at multinational universal bank, Barclays.

      Recently, we got the chance to chat with Louis to hear all about how he went from intern, to analyst, to assistant vice president in just three years. In our conversation, Louis mentioned some career tips and insights into the job-hunting process, what his internship was like, and why he loves working at Barclays so much.

      The Job Search

      In late 2018, Louis knew he wanted to explore finance, work in New York, and thought that it would be cool to work at a bank. He knew what he wanted, but he didn’t necessarily know where to find it. What he ended up doing, and now recommends to current job seekers, is find out everything he wanted out of a job – industry, location, position, etc. – and narrow down the search as much as possible.

      Luckily, WayUp provided him with the perfect place to do that.

      As a lot of college students, early career professionals, and job seekers will find, it can be hard to figure out what kind of job you want. What made things easier for Louis was scanning the market with WayUp, finding out what he did and didn’t like from job applications and filters, and shooting his shot from there. Eventually, he came across Barclays and their summer analyst internship.

      An Internship of a Lifetime

      While Louis had past job experience, his summer banking internship at Barclays in 2019 was his first major job in an office setting. Besides the fact that he was working in Manhattan, just a few blocks away from Time Square, and doing what he had always wanted to do, Louis didn’t really know what to expect during his summer at Barclays.

      As it turned out, Barclays’ summer analyst internship was the perfect combination of exploration and support. Louis was able to explore new territory, learn new concepts, and make significant contributions to the business all at the same time. 

      Whether it was financial analysis and modeling or valuation and client due diligence, Louis’ time during Barclays’ summer internship program exposed him to the world of corporate banking and all the opportunities that existed within it. Something that made his time at Barclays even better, however, is the culture, environment, and people at Barclays.

      What Makes Barclays Different

      The finance and banking industry is massive. That means that there is no shortage of places to work and grow your career. However, each of these institutions has something that sets them apart. For Barclays, it’s the culture and people that make their company stand out so much.

      For Louis, going to work meant he would be surrounded by people who don’t just care about performing their jobs, but uplifting and helping one another grow as well. In turn, this helped him appreciate his own role at the company and stay motivated to contribute to the company’s goals as well as his own.

      A Community Perspective

      While this people-forward mindset is certainly prioritized at Barclays, it goes a step further with employee resource groups. These employee-led organizations, whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve, have proved to have enormous benefits for employees.

      As is the case with the employee resource groups at Barclays, Louis has certainly gained a lot with his involvement in the Black Professionals ERG. Specifically, as it pertains to his interactions with people he didn’t normally get to interact with.

      Additionally, Louis’ involvement in the Black Professionals Group has also allowed him to take on new roles and responsibilities. From leading panels and hosting discussions, Louis has been able to grow his skills in massive ways all while demonstrating his capabilities and competence in front of senior stakeholders. Once an intern but now an assistant vice president, Louis attributes part of his success to experiences like this.

      What Will Your Path Be?

      Although Louis Smith’s path to success was ideal, there are several different routes young professionals can take to achieve their goals. What every ambitious individual should take from his story is to make the most of the opportunities available to you.

      If you’re looking for new opportunities that could very well be the jumping-off point for a lucrative career, create your WayUp profile today and check out some of Barclays’ open roles. More