Sundowners

一直很想寫有關暑假實習的事情，先把同學已經寫好的來借用一下。

這位同學是澳洲人，對各位比較有參考價值的是

1. 沒有Finance經驗卻進入美林證券做Research

2. 他做了兩個Internship。

前者不見得適用於每個人，沒經驗要轉換跑道的成功案例是有，不過大家別以為容易，成功機率我觀察不高；

後者主要是想介紹一下我認為LBS的MBA最有價值的一部分，就是時間很彈性，而且很多人都會做兩個Intern。第一年都是必修課程，當然彈性少很多，但是相較於一些從早到晚都在上課的 MBA，我很慶幸我選的 MBA在第一年也算時間OK，讓我雖然超忙碌卻有時間專注於找工作。

第二年就棒了，因為有很多Block week和Modular，大家都可以彈性的安排自己的時間。Block week就是一週五天上下午上課，一周把學分修完，密集而有效率，但是能否吸收就看個人和課程安排。Modular是一個學期((Term)當中隔週上課，一次連上兩堂。另外也有晚間的課，這樣就造就了最彈性的時間安排。舉例來說，我第二年的第一個Term(Autumn Term, 一年共三個Term)選擇不修課，待在亞洲，在家混吃等死很是開心，同時也節省生活費，所有的課密集排在第二個Term(April Term)回來倫敦密集修課，一週五堂課，再加上前後共三個Block week，從一月初到四月中，把第二年 MBA課程修完可畢業。有些同學巧妙的安排，一個學期交換學生，一個學期做第二個Intern，課程就都修Block week; 我一個印度好同學S很愛工作，第二年都修Block week跟晚上的課，一週工作五天，這樣也可以，第二年就開始賺錢啦。

這時間的彈性，對我來說是非常非常好的一點!!

以下就轉錄這位同學的實習經驗分享。

hoose to do this internship?

I wanted to work in the mining sector, as I had some experience in the industry before the MBA and think it has a lot to offer. I chose Bank of America because it would give me a chance to experience working in finance, which I hadn't done before. I got on well with the people I met there and was attracted to the straightforward company culture at the bank. The role at Rio Tinto gave me a chance to use my background in M&A and get a taste of an industry role at a top player in the sector. Pre-MBA I worked opposite Rio for one of its arch rivals and was also curious to experience life on the "dark side".
 
What did you find most rewarding?

The learning curve at Bank of America was steep, and the sink-or-swim approach of my boss meant that I took away a lot in terms of technical skills and how to market research ideas. As a newcomer to banking it also gave me a much better idea of how the different parts of the bank slot together. At Rio I enjoyed working on the client side - and being closer to the coal-face of decisions than when I worked as an advisor. I found the work I did around Mozambique really exciting; as it is early-stage development and investment decisions will have a huge impact on the country.

What did you find most challenging?

The work I did at BofA involved a lot of solo work researching a company, staring at Excel and writing up reports - so a fair bit of self-discipline was needed to get the job done. Also the 6.45am start each day took a bit of getting used to! The big challenge at Rio was finding the right people to contact for information. It is a big company housing a lot of know-how, but it is not always obvious where to find it. As a newcomer, establishing contact points in various parts of the business was a challenge.
 
Has this experience affected your future career choice?
 
Yes. It made me realise that whatever path I chose would involve trade-offs in terms of the variety of work I do, the people I work with and my lifestyle. For me, that trade-off favours a role in industry.

Any further comments or advice about your internship?

The structure of the LBS program lends itself well to doing more than one internship. Doing two internships is a great way to clarify what you enjoy at work, what your priorities are and what you are good at - and all in a fairly low consequence setting.