Goldman Sachs- A Level Girls Inspire Programme- Friday 22nd February 2013

On Friday the 22nd of February, I attended what I would describe as an insight day at Goldman Sachs. This event gave girls who are currently doing their A levels an opportunity to find out what Goldman Sachs is all about. The event was held on two separate days with the first one on the 15th of February. I would say there was possibly more than 50 girls that attended the one I went to and we were all placed in one huge room on tables so we got to interact with each other. I was immediately impressed when I got there because it was the first time in ages where I have been somewhere and my name has been spelled right :)

Goldman Sachs building

This was our agenda for the day:

It was very well organised and as you can see we had a lot to do throughout the day. The day consisted of numerous presentations, a networking lunch and my favourite part, the trading game. Firstly, we had to take part in an ice breaker activity where we each given a sheet with a number of facts on them and we had to go around the room and find people who related to those facts. It was a great way to get everyone relaxed for the day ahead. After the ice breaker we sat through a number of presentations and I guess it'd be beneficial if I share some of the things I learnt :)

• An investment bank acts as an intermediary between potential investors and those who seek capital
• Look after large companies and governments

Key skills:

• Enthusiasm and interest in the industry
• High academic achievement
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• Thinking and problem solving skills
• Demonstrated leadership and teamwork capabilities
• Evidence of hard work and commitment
• Determination to succeed
• Strong understanding of your own interests and work style

I could go on and on about all the things I learnt and found out about but I advise young people to take up these opportunities and go to loads and loads of insight days because I have definitely learnt a lot from attending this event.

We were all given a number of other things such as a booklet about internship/ experienced hires opportunities, a pen, a notebook and a wallet. If anyone is interested visit the Goldman Sachs careers page http://www.goldmansachs.com/careers/ and there are numerous opportunities for undergraduates, graduates and experience hires not only in the UK but across the world.

Apart from this event that I applied to I also applied to Bank of America for a two-day programme and HSBC's one week work experience programme.

I will also be applying for:

•  Morgan Stanley's three-day programme and open day
• JP Morgan's insight day
• Deutsche Bank/ Windsor fellowship internship

and anything else I come across.

Following on from HSBC's work experience programme I got through to the interview stage and I will be having my telephone interview this week which I might do a blog post on it to give advice and to share how I dealt with it if it will be of any importance to others.

There will definitely be more blog posts to come!!!