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Next Gen Investment Banker
CATEGORY: Internships
TYPE: Articles
RELATED PROGRAMS: Economics
AJWAD SAYS Professors Joyce Minor and Karl Egge prepared him well. They gave him advice on networking and linked him up with Mac alums. Professor Moe also advised him on classes to fit his interest and provided him with the necessary skills.
By the start of his senior year, Ajwad Imran ’12 (Lahore, Pakistan) could relax. The economics and math major had already received a job offer from Citi (formerly Citicorp) in London, where he’d interned last summer.
Since sophomore year, Imran’s goal had been to launch his career in investment banking. By networking with current and former investment bankers, including some Mac alumni, Imran landed an interview for a summer analyst spot in the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) division of Citi’s London office. Specifically, he specialized in the global energy sector, which focuses on making deals involving oil and gas companies.
Imran’s duties included doing research, running financial models in Excel, and creating PowerPoint presentations for use both in pitching potential M&A deals and in meeting with clients. He was surprised by the trust placed in and responsibility given to the interns and liked that his projects were results-oriented. “It was great to see projects I was working on materialize into M&A deals,” he says. “Seeing those deals mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times or the Bloomberg gives you a major feeling of accomplishment.”
The stress of the environment, the long hours, and the stiff competition were the internship’s most difficult aspects, says Imran, adding, “It’s a fast-paced environment and the learning curve is extremely steep.” Nevertheless, he believes that Macalester—and his economics classes and professors in particular—prepared him well for the challenge, and for the career he’d dreamed of.
PUBLISHED: 11/01/2011