What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship?
I graduated from Stony Brook University and pursued Post Baccalaureate studies at NYU in Economics.

What made you apply for the Mountbatten programme?
I was feeling plateaued early on in my career. I had reached the level I aspired to at the time in commercial banking. I needed a challenge to step out of my comfort zone. The program provided me with business and cultural exposure as a young professional in a vibrant foreign city.

Describe your sponsor company and your role within it.
I was fortunate to be sponsored by Citi Private Bank as a Business Analyst. I worked within a small dynamic team supporting the global COO to implement strategies for the Private bank, that entailed defining the target market (Ultra  HighNet-worth individuals (30M+) and coming up with ideas to improve client proposition and better understanding the prospects. The project I was responsible for was the Prospecting initiative to support the New Client Acquisition: Conducting research and Analyzing key Trends & Demographics of UHNW individuals to identify potential clients in various regions i.e. NAM, APAC, EMEA, and LATAM.  I also engaged significantly in some Business Development work, when I wasn’t crunching data in excel and working on PowerPoints as a Business Analyst. I worked with some great people – everyone was helpful and welcoming. The experience provided me with lot of exposure to senior management, and I gained valuable insights on how private banking works and a perspective of working in a global business in London.

What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year?
The highlight was the business development work I was engaged in and part of.  There was a major initiative in place called Project Sheen, with a macro agenda of digitizing the whole Private Bank. I was in charge of helping Bankers and Sr. Managers setup a new application called “In view” by presenting the features, as well as collecting and analyzing testing data to improve the software.  I enjoyed the interaction with senior management and helping address the issues with the Beta version of app, and seeing the progression of the application development was rewarding.

What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year?
London is a fun city – similar to NY in many ways, there is no short of social activities and I had a plethora of fun: from nights out in the West End, Shoreditch, Camden, to seeing  the “Lion King”, visiting museums etc… As a NYC resident – I am less impressed by these things as it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.  The most memorable social moment was being invited by the Global COO, whom our team supported, to her home outside of London for some team building activities . She was very gracious and hospitable. We had a good time as a group engaging in different activities and getting to know one another outside of the office. Running my first full marathon in Paris was pretty special too.

Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship?
Get comfortable with discomfort. Be flexible, engaging, and open to new experiences. Sounds clichéd, but there’s a reason why these sayings are “clichés”. Each position and company has unique characteristics that gives meaning and value to that job. If you work hard and make the most of the opportunities given and be open to a new experience – you will have a rewarding year.

Would you have done anything differently, if you had your time over again?
I am not sure I would’ve changed anything – I had a great time. From traveling across Europe, completing my first Marathon in Paris, to working for a Global business in London and expanding my network. I couldn’t ask for more.

What happened after completing the year – what did you do next?
I had an opportunity to interview with a couple of roles at the Citi NY office upon my return, but ultimately changed direction and decided to join Bloomberg.

Where are you now in your working life and what do you do?
I am still at Bloomberg five years later – working as an Advanced (Senior) Position Management specialist. I have had the opportunity to work with different products over the years. I am currently working with our Premium leading Execution & OMS, which integrated with the Bloomberg Terminal that supports our clients through all stages of the trade lifecycle. From Order Staging to Trade execution, Middle Office, Compliance, Post trade Operations, and Position Management.

Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)?
Ultimately I’d like to start working on high impact projects especially in developing countries. As I am becoming more aware of my passion and challenges facing the world, a few challenges come to mind: Climate Change ( e.g. developing sustainable Energy) and Poverty and seeing how these challenges can be addressed by Finance and Technology. I am specifically interested in the development of sustainable energy as a means to combat climate change. Fossil fuels may still dominate the energy landscape but all the evidence is that their dirty, malodorous days are numbered. The world is hungrier than ever for energy as more countries are pushing forward for economic and industrial development. This underscores the urgency of finding economically viable ways of getting energy from renewable sources. Poverty, because it is one of the greatest killers of all, while easily curable diseases still claim 15 million lives every year. When lifted out of poverty, most people can afford to avoid infectious diseases. China is a prime example, leading a worldwide poverty decline of almost a billion people in the last 3 decades. This has created a massive improvement in health, longevity and quality of life.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?
That I am fluent in 5 languages and did not grow up speaking English.