As I sit at this desk and reflect… October 2009, I entered this firm eager, focused… and READY TO FETCH COFFEE! I never thought that my experiences here would be this great. I’ve met some awesome people, and learned a lot about the financial managment business. I’ve actually learned alot about myself, and I must say I will be making a conscious effort to be smart with my money. As a broke college sutdent…. looking into the future… I see myself in this industry. I’m not sure what I will be doing but I can say that my great internship supervisor “David”, gave me many opportunities to see different jobs around the firm. I have really enjoyed myself, and ready to move on… May 11,2010… The journey continues…

*Make financial literacy a final factor in your life

Sincerely from the last day as a GWM intern (tear),

                                         *The Intern

THEN THERE WAS THE HARD PART….

 TIME TO STAND OUT…!!!!

When I returned after Chrstmas break, I was faced with a dilemma. I needed to do what I could to be remembered. I needed everyone to know that my name was T’Aira, and not David’s intern. I worked hard everyday… I would crunch numbers for the excel sheets… without being instructed to do so. I started to make conversation with EVERYONE I met. I wasn’t afraid of a challenge!!! I loved when they couldn’t figure something out… and I came through to save the day!!! Most importantly, I was always myself!!! I never tried to do things that I didn’t know anything about, and I always asked questions… If I would have counted them… I would probably be on question #1,700,000!!!!! Over spring break, I received the email that made my day… my internship supervisor informed me that another group wanted to hire me as a paid intern for the summer…. OMG!!!!!! My mission was complete… As of 5-11-10… I will be a “full paid seasonal employee/intern”… Sounds like music to my ears….

                 Thanks T. Will….

                                 Sincerely from the paid intern position,

                                             **The Intern

Today I met a young woman in the firm…. I was able to tag along to a meeting with her!! The training program that she is apart of seems VERY INTENSE… but I’m ready to sign up!!! I think I could handle it! I’ve learned alot about the wealth management business… It seems that the relationships you create can and will make “or” break your career. As I sat at her desk, I looked around… A family pic =negative. A wedding ring=negative. As I observed my surroundings… I saw that she was surrounded by males!!!! I asked her how many women were apart of this FA training program, and she replied “SIX”….  SIX?????? I see tons of men walking around this office!!!! She spoke about the intensity of the program with the long hours, concrete deadlines, and the “ins and outs” of the business. I could see that she was stressed, but I was so proud to see her maintain in this program!! She is one hell of a woman!!!

by Erin Abrams, filed under Movers and Shakers

When you think of successful African American women, unless you have been living in a media-free cave for the last 20 years, Oprah springs to mind. While we acknowledge and admire the accomplishments of the talk show host, media mogul and self-made billionaire, it’s a shame that many of us are not equally familiar with other black women who have made a big impact on the world of business. Here we briefly profile ten fantastically accomplished African American women in finance and business. If you don’t know their names yet, you should! 

1. Ursula Burns, President of Xerox. As a Fortune 500 company, Xerox has a great track record of promoting women executives to the highest management positions. Next in line after CEO Anne Mulcahy, Burns has driven efforts to improve the line of products offered by Xerox and supported R&D of new technologies, including Xerox’s new emulsion aggregate toner plant in upstate New York. Under her leadership, Xerox grew by 20% in 2007. Burns was named to her position in April 2007, and also holds a seat on the Board of Directors. Burns joined Xerox as a summer intern in 1980, and worked her way up at Xerox after obtaining a B.S. from Polytechnic Institute of New York and a Master’s in Engineering from Columbia. She also serves on the boards of American Express Corp., Boston Scientific Corp., CASA – The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, National Academy Foundation, National Association of Manufacturers, and the University of Rochester.
2. Susan Chapman, Global Head of Operations, Citigroup Realty Services. Chapman manages the day-today operations for Citigroup Realty in 96 countries. She holds the No. 2 spot in the business unit, and is responsible for overseeing mergers and acquisitions, retail branch development, real estate administration, strategic projects and global business relationship management.Chapman sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, where she received her MBA in 1998. She was named to Black Enterprise magazine’s Hot List for up and coming businesspeople under 40.
3. Edith Cooper, Head of North American Hedge Fund Distribution, Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities, Goldman Sachs. Cooper was promoted to managing director in 1998, after only 2 years at Goldman Sachs, and made partner in 2000. In London, she co-led the company’s commodity business for Europe and Asia, and in 2004, she co-headed the company’s global clearing and execution in the equity division. Cooper headed the company’s global futures business before rising to her current position. Before working at Goldman, Cooper worked at Banker’s Trust. Cooper graduated from Harvard College and received her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business.
4. Amy Ellis-Simon, Managing Director, Convertible Sales, Merrill Lynch. Ellis-Simon is the MD and head of the Multiproduct Sales Team, which deals with a wide range of equity and debt products, including convertibles, equity derivatives and fixed income. She’s co-founder of the Global Markets and Investment Banking Women’s Leadership Council, a founder and chairperson of Three Sisters Scholarship Foundation, and a member of the Employee Diversity Council. In 2004, Ellis-Simon was named as one of the “Top 40 under 40” by Crain’s magazine. She joined Merrill Lynch as an analyst after graduating from the University of Michigan in in1994. Ellis-Simon serves on the Board of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), a program designed to provide young people of color with opportunities in the private sector.
5. Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Capital Management L.L.C. Hobson heads the nation’s largest black-owned money management firm, Chicago-based Ariel Capital, with $21.43 billion in assets under management. As manager of all business operations outside of research and portfolio management, she oversees client services and investment planning. She also chairs the Ariel Mutual Funds Board of Trustees. Hobson is a regular commentator on ABC’s Good Morning America and has defended the mutual fund industry in testimony before Congress. Hobson was named by Chicago Business News as one of the Top 40 under 40. She graduated from Princeton in 1991.
6. Melissa James, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley. James runs the Relationship Lending Business in Morgan Stanley’s Loan Products Group, where she is responsible for managing over $25 billion in loan commitments. Before she became a managing director, James headed the company’s industrial origination effort, where she helped raise billions in capital for corporate clients and worked on complex transactions, including the first domestic yen issuance for General Electric Capital Corp., the first global bond for DuPont, and the $4 billion initial public offering of Agere Systems. She is also a member of the firm’s Capital Commitment Committee. James joined Morgan Stanley as a Financial Analyst in 1985 after graduating from Yale College and returned in 1989 after receiving her MBA from Harvard Business School.
7. Suzanne Shank, President & CEO, Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. L.L.C. A founding partner and principal of the Oakland, California-based municipal bond specialist is the fifth-largest black-owned investment bank, with $51 billion in total managed issues. Shank was one of the senior managers tapped by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to help facilitate an $1.14 million bond issue. In 2006, her firm became a major bond underwriter a $500 million tax-refunding bond to help reform the governing structure of the Detroit Public School district. In 2006, Black Enterprise Magazine named Shank one of the “50 Most Powerful Black Women in Business” and one of the “75 Most Influential Blacks on Wall Street.” She graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a BS in Engineering and received an MBA from Wharton School of Business in 1987.
8. Gwendolyn Smith Iloani, Chairwoman, President, & CEO, Smith Whiley & Co. Smith Iloani’s private equity firm is the fourth-largest black-owned private equity firm, with $222 million under management. An investment industry veteran, Smith Iloani directs the firm’s investment advisory and asset management business and the investment and portfolio management activities. Prior to forming her own firm, she was a managing director at Aetna Inc., where she persuaded senior executives to partner with her in forming Smith Whiley. Smith Iloani sits on the board of New Samaritan Corp., which provides affordable housing in Connecticut.She received her MBA from the University of Hartford.
9. Tracey Travis, CFO & Senior VP of Finance Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. As CFO of the $3.3 billion apparel, accessories, and home furnishings company, Travis’s work covers the fields of both finance and fashion. Appointed as CFO in 2005, she now oversees corporate finance, financial planning and analysis, treasury, and tax and corporate compliance. The fashion company includes Polo, Lauren, Ralph Lauren, Chaps, and Club Monaco brands and operates about 275 retail stores in the U.S. and 100 affiliates abroad. Travis is affiliated with the Finance Executives Institute and the National Association of Corporate Directors. At Deutsche Bank’s annual Women on Wall Street Conference in 2007, Travis spoke inspiringly to a crowd of over 2000 women about her experiences as a top woman in finance and offered advice to young women interested in pursuing a similar career path.

10. Lisa W. Pickrum, Executive VP & COO, RLJ Cos. L.L.C. In her capacity as Executive VP and COO of RLJ Cos., a diversified holding company with portfolio companies in financial services, hospitality, real estate, gaming, media, and entertainment, Pickrum handles the company’s legal matters, strategic partnerships, and new business developments. She led the formation of RLJ Hedge Fund of Funds, an asset management company in partnership with Deutsche Bank’s Deutsche Asset Management unit that could potentially become the largest black-owned asset management company. Pickrum has a BA from Vassar College and a law degree from Stanford Law School, as well as a degree in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She also serves on the board of directors for Rollover Systems and CW Wellspring Entertainment. In an interview with Black Enterprise Magazine, who named her one of the 50 Most Powerful African American Women. 

http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2008/01/24/top-african-american-women-in-business-%E2%80%A6other-than-oprah/

                           Sincerely from the big desk,

                                **The intern

THIS IS WHAT I EXPECTED!!!

Sincerely from the big desk,

**The Intern

Internship Horror Stories

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The Worst Internships in America

Like many recent college graduates, I’ve endured my fair share of internships. I was fortunate enough to have a pretty good streak, doing real work at interesting places with bosses who took a genuine interest in my career and still serve as mentors for me today. But then I interned at a certain New York newspaper (that shall remain nameless) during my last semester in college.

For this position, I travelled all over the city to “report” on stories — and once had to go to four of the five boroughs in one day. I say “report” because the truth is for much of this four-month internship, all I really did was stand on the street, waiting. My internship started just after Heath Ledger died, so it was up to us interns to lurk outside the homes of his friends, family and employees for eight hours or more each day (in the middle of winter.) The hope was that one of them would show up so I could ask how they were doing.  Thankfully, no one ever appeared on my watch, and even if they had, I’m not sure I would have learned too much… except perhaps how to behave very, very insensitively. Frankly, the only thing I did learn was the limits of layering. At a certain point, your body is cold regardless of how many sweaters you wear.

But it’s important to remember here that I, like many interns today, was not paid a dime for my efforts. This has particular implications because these days, for many companies, the word “internship” has become synonymous with “free labor.”

It wasn’t always this way…

Photo Credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

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What You Need to Know

The internship as we know it really started in the early 1980’s. According to Forbes, they were originally established by business schools as “a way to build relationships and earn occupational experience.”  Of course, that is still what they are intended for today, but as Forbes notes, the explosion of internships in the work force now allows people to sample careers that might not be related to the path they are on.

At the same time, the demand for internships arguably allows companies to take advantage of free or cheap labor. In a recent article, the Wall Street Journal described what companies are and are not allowed to ask from their unpaid interns. “An unpaid intern must not displace a regular employee and he or she should be learning beneficial skills similar to what would be taught in a vocational school,” they write. Moreover, unpaid interns “shouldn’t do work that provides an ‘immediate advantage’ to the company.” So, for example, had my stint stalking the friends and family of Heath Ledger been successful, and I had landed a big scoop, arguably that could have been considered work that provides immediate advantage to the company.

But I’m not complaining. It’s a tough line. Interns want to do “real” work to some extent, but figuring out at what point companies are taking advantage is difficult, and often relative. Plus, compared to the internship experiences on the list, I think I got off easy. Here is our round up of horror stories and facts you should know before getting an internship.

Photo Credit: adpowers

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Too Sexy for Her Job

Karen, from Seattle, studied advertising in college and was thrilled when she scored an unpaid internship with a small ad agency called Fine Advertising, named after its owner, Dan Fine. Unfortunately, the internship proved to be less about hands on experience and more about doing chores. “I used to have to run errands driving his car,” she said, which might not have been too bad except for one small thing. “He had a personalized license plate that read ‘IamFine.’” So she had to drive around town with an easy excuse for people to cat call her. “I was a 20 year old woman and was mortified!” Still, she completed the internship and never actually confronted her boss about how awkward she felt. “I don’t think… I had the self confidence at that point in my life.”

Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon

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Crashing Your Boss’s Car

If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that interns should not be asked to drive their boss’s cars. One of the worst internship experiences we heard about didn’t come from the intern, but from his boss.

Dave Leftkow is the owner of J&D Foods, a company based in Seattle. He hired a marketing intern who was charged with the task of getting the company’s food products into stores. One day, the intern used Leftkow’s car to run errands. “He ended up getting t-boned when he was making a turn, which completely totaled the car. Luckily, it was a Volvo. If it was any other type of car, he might have been dead,” Leftkow said.

Amazingly, the intern worked for two months after that to finish the internship. As awkward as that must have been, Leftkow and his associates decided to make it even worse. “We bought him a pink shirt that he had to wear every day he came in from then on,” he said. The shirt said: “My boss is making me wear this shirt because I crashed his car.” Ouch.

Photo Credit: bettyx1138

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The Terrible Phone Call

Missy from New York has held several public relations internships, but one experience in particular really scarred her. She was working at a beauty agency in New York while in her sophomore year at the University of Maryland. The internship was unpaid and she was asked to do the work of a normal employee. But the real problem was the company’s president, a tough, temperamental woman. “She dressed immaculately and had a larger-than-life size self-portrait hanging in her corner office,” Missy said.

One day, Missy was asked to fill in for the receptionist who was out sick. No one gave her instructions, but she managed fine, until a call came in for the president. She notified the president that there was a call for her, and in response the president asked who it was. Missy realized she didn’t know and told the president she had not thought to ask. The president then lost her mind, exclaiming “That simply isn’t good enough. What if it is DEATH on the line? What if Death is calling me? Should I answer?”

It’s one thing to get reprimanded for doing your real job wrong, it’s another to be shouted at by manic boss for making a small mistake while doing someone else’s job.

Photo Credit: TheGiantVermin

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The Two Week Internship Disaster

Last year, David, a public relations major at Syracuse University, was offered an unpaid internship at a communications firm with the guarantee that he would “be fully involved in all the work the agency was doing.” But not only was he left out of meaningful assignments, he was nearly left out of all interactions with people working at the company. His boss almost never spoke to him and the place was so disorganized that he never really got assignments.

“After two weeks of unreturned e-mails and spending my day catching up on news and updating my social networking profiles, I quit the position to spend my time working a part time job,” David told us. A few days later, he received an e-mail from his boss saying she was sorry that the internship didn’t work out. This apology might have smoothed things over for him except that a few hours later he received an e-mail from one of his boss’s employees about an assignment he should be working on. “Great office communication for a communications firm right?”

Photo Credit: e-strategyblog.com

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

So today was a good day… Special report from the parking deck…

—- I had my first “INTERN SCREW-UP”—-

As I was preparing marketing materials for the financial advisor’s presentation (which was 20mins. away) I BUTCHERED the visual presentation withthe hole puncher! I was so nervouse because of the time constraint and my personal desire to be a “Superstar Intern”. I had to take a moment to breathe and regroup! I thought to myself, “Wait… I’m a superstar intern… I can handle this ” David assured me that everything was fine, and the documents could be reprinted. I feared that this would be a day that he would put at the top of his “Worst intern day I’ll never forget” list. I had the materials bound and prepared (with updated supplements) before the financial advisor was ready to leave… Whew! That was close!

P.S. Hey, sometimes breaking a sweat keeps you on your toes. I will get used to this.

Sincerely from the parking deck,

**The Intern

So today was a good day…. I wore my “I’m ready for you to hire me” suit. I was able to sit in on a meeting today- I’m so official!!! World, I’m leaving other interns in MY DUST! BTW… I haven’t seen any other interns . David (my internship coordinator got me cupcakes for me birthday… I feel loved!! <3 This week was great, and I enjoy meeting new people around the firm. I feel like more like a temporary employee and not an intern!! I love it! I’m not just making coffee and fetching copies! Yay me! I could get used to this…

                    Sincerely from the Parking Deck,

                                                                    *The Intern*