Sunday, April 20, 2008

• That's The End of It (Not Quite)

  Friday was the last day of my internship at Scotia and then I am going back to school for my final term on Monday. There is no break! And I have my internship report due on next week. Not to mention I am having a serious case of writer's block. So I turn to blogging to ignite my writing desire.
  
  I really enjoyed the work that I did for my internship. So far it is the most interesting job I have ever had. It's interesting because this is my first time to be working on the trading floor, which is always lively, always on the go, always fast-paced and always dynamic. It took me a month to adjust to that kind of environment as at first I found it hard to concentrate on working because of the noise. But I started to like it after I got used to it. Right now I can't imagine myself going back to a little cubicle! I was also treated very well by the group, the traders and especially, my boss. I considered myself lucky to always work for nice bosses. My boss and I hit it off from the start and he is my role model that I am looking up to.
  
  At the beginning I was assigned to a project to establish a new trading book. To be honest, I was pretty worried that I might not be able to handle it as it looked so difficult. Obviously, I lost many nights of sleep over this. But after a week of struggling to understand the materials, I started to gain an upper hand with the help of the traders and my boss. After passing the steep learning curve, I felt more and more confident to finish the project. In the end, I did finish the project and my boss was very impressed with my work. I got a very positive performance review by my boss and he assured me that with my ability and skills, I would have no problem finding a job in Toronto. Also, he will let me know if any opportunity comes up in his group given that most banks are not in the mood of hiring now. If the opportunity presents itself, I wouldn't hesitate to go back there to work full-time.
  
  I feel that after this internship, I have gained a lot of confidence in terms of starting my career in finance and I am getting more and more optimisstic of getting a job after graduation given the grave situation in the finance sector right now. As my boss said, if you got the right skills, you will get hired no matter how bad the market is.
  
  Tonight I was thinking where I would have been if I made the decision not to come to Toronto to look for a new career. I would have still sat in my little cubicle every morning waiting for the day to end. How boring it would be! I am just so glad I made the smartest decision in my whole life. The road for the future might be rough and full of bumps, but at least I know where I am heading to.
  
  

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