Business Technology Services Intern at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is one of the 12 regional Reserve Banks that help with making sure our nation has a safe, flexible, and stable monetary and financial system. During the summer of 2016, I worked in the Supervision, Regulation, and Credit (SRC) department as their Business Technology Services (BTS) Intern.
As their Business Technology Services Intern, I was assigned to work closely with a Business Analyst and help her with three different projects. Some of my tasks included writing documentation such as data models, test scripts, and requirements. Furthermore, I was also in charge of building SharePoint sites and redesigning them to make it more accessible and easier to use for the bank employees. Before my internship ended, I was required to present a user training session in which I made my own powerpoint that explained how to use the SharePoint sites I created and each of the special functions the pages had.
From working this internship, I learned that a company’s organizational culture is a great driver for hard work. The Fed has a very happy and energetic culture. Every single employee is always walking around the halls with bright expressions. One the days where I would be stressed out from work, my mood would immediately change the moment someone greeted me with a big smile. It is important to work around others with a positive energy because it encourages you to do the same and work hard.
Another thing that I learned from the Fed is that you should always be willing to listen to other people’s ideas and also be open to learning new things. For example, I first thought documents had to be strictly written in one certain way that I never asked for help because I thought I had the “right” solution. I wrote documents (such as a requirements document and scope document) the same exact way I learned it in my MIS classes that I refused to use any template that was given to me. After much trial and error, I decided to listen to others and learn how to use other templates and found out that each job could be done a different way and even easier.