Recent graduate and economics major Christian Hansson ’19 recently began work at Goldman Sachs. Here he tells how he got there.
Can you tell me about your time at Hamilton, what you got involved with, and how you chose your interests?
I started at Hamilton as a lacrosse player from Fairfield County, Conn., but also had the opportunity to explore many diverse opportunities on campus including being an Adirondack Adventure Orientation leader and also joining the varsity squash team my senior year.
I came to Hamilton already having an interest in economics from high school and instantly liked the professors within the department and found the material very applicable to other facets of life.
Major: Economics
Minor: Africana Studies
Hometown: Wilton, Conn.
High school: Wilton High School
The freedom of the open curriculum also allowed me to explore other areas of study including Africana Studies (my minor) and art history which have balanced my studies and enabled me to impress my mom when I identified a Frank Lloyd Wright house near my hometown.
How did a liberal arts education help guide you?
Hamilton College has allowed me to grow immensely as a thinker and has grown my natural interest in understanding how things function. My concentration in economics has especially taught me to analyze the root factors that influence the ways that things operate and the drivers of decision making at a micro level. I took a behavioral economics class my junior year and I am now able to diagnose the origins of some common fallacies in my decision making day-to-day. This appetite for a deep understanding is applicable to any profession and I know will help me throughout life.
How did you become interested in finance as a career?
The Hamilton in New York City Program with Professor (Erol) Balkan (in 2017) gave me my first opportunity to gain experience within finance and also explore New York City. Devin White ’17 helped me obtain an internship at Credit Suisse working in their Portfolio Management Group analyzing credit ratings of companies to which the bank had extended debt.
I realized I really enjoyed the fast-paced industry and was able to apply my study in economics and interest in dissecting market drivers. I first met Matthew Sykes ’95 when he came back to campus for recruiting purposes my sophomore year. He was instrumental in helping me first get an internship at Goldman Sachs and then also guide me through that experience to perform well enough to earn a return offer.
The support group of Hamilton alumni has been incredible and I am very excited to be starting out on a desk at Goldman where another Hamilton alumnus Nicholas Tselios ’17 also works.
