Sophie

As a teenager, I wanted to work at IMF or the World Bank as an economist who would be actively involved in emerging market economic development policies. Both of my parents were doctors and I didn’t have any relatives working in finance so I had no clue about what an investment bank was and what Goldman Sachs was. I always thought that I would be working for a public sector organization, rather than a private sector organization.

However, as I began to study in college, I realized that the role of the markets was very important for these economic policies and one needs to know how markets work to be able to come up with workable or valid solutions for emerging market economies. That’s when I started to become interested in private sector companies including Goldman Sachs.

Surprisingly, I realized that what I thought was tedious and basic such as writing, key mathematical skills and logics are keys to the success in this field, so I would encourage anyone thinking about a career in finance to focus on these areas. Also, as we go through the most recent market crisis, I realize that everything is so intertwined, so I encourage someone to follow the global news. Its helpful not only to be on top of what’s going on but also to think how something will have an impact on various other parts of the world, even if it might seem irrelevant.