Financial Advisor Intern – Merrill Lynch
In June, I began working as a Financial Advisor Intern for Merrill Lynch in the company’s Wealth Management Department. As a Finance and Management Information Systems dual major, I was able to utilize my previous coursework to succeed in my role. While my financial background aided in my transition into the Wealth Management industry, my MIS coursework was most beneficial in my ability to perform assigned tasks. Since I am not a licensed broker, the majority of my work revolved around supporting the management and administrative team and compliance and business reporting. My central roles revolved around exporting data from Merrill Lynch’s database into Microsoft Excel. The data I exported contained about 50 data points for all of the Merrill Lynch advisors in the Suburban Philadelphia market. Since I was analyzing thousands of metrics and various types of data, I utilized the lessons I had learned in Data Analytics to create meaningful information that could be used to improve the business process at Merrill Lynch. To complete these tasks, I used pivot tables to filter data based on certain metrics, which allowed for final reports that were concise and easy to read.
Aside from creating weekly reports, my major project over the summer was to create a monthly newsletter for the Suburban Philadelphia market. This newsletter included information from advisors from all over the Suburban Philadelphia market. So, to allow for necessary advisors to access and edit the newsletter, I suggested the usage of Microsoft Sharepoint. Many of the advisors had little to no knowledge of Sharepoint before I introduced it, so I was responsible for educating them and supervising the collaborative process. The final product was launched at the end of August after receiving approval from my direct supervisor, the Market Executive of Suburban Philadelphia. My background in Sharepoint and previous experience as a business analyst in MIS 3506 made me familiar with working in a project setting, meeting deadlines, and collaborating with colleagues.
Ultimately, my summer internship was very successful. My management team elected to keep me on as a part-time employee while I finish obtaining my degree. I currently work two days a week throughout the school year in the same role as I did this summer. Recently, I received a full-time offer from Merrill Lynch as a Financial Advisor in the firm’s development program. After speaking with my management team, they told me they were most impressed with my ability to think critically, solve problems, and complete projects in a high-paced work environment. I attribute all of these skills to lessons learned throughout my coursework, primarily within the Management Information Systems Department at the Fox School of Business.