While many students spent the recent fall break at home, a group of 40 students remained on campus to participate in a rigorous two-day event designed to prepare them for careers in finance. The Wall Street Prep event was led by Jesse Milligan, a seasoned financial analyst who currently serves as the director of business development and strategy at the Global Diabetes Group at Medtronic.
At the workshop, students learned the skills needed to succeed in the finance industry, including the basics of financial modeling and data analytics. Fiona Xiang ’22 explained why she attended the workshop, as well as her biggest takeaways. “I hoped to learn more about the details of working in the field of finance, such as daily routines and important hard-skills and soft-skills that are required,” she said. “(The camp) was more about learning very specific knowledge about financial statements (very similar to an accounting class) and practical skill sets of analyzing data and building models.”
Matthew Shang ’22 also shared his experience from the workshop: “I wanted to go because I sought elementary knowledge about financial modeling,” he explained. “I enjoyed learning about all the aspects and technical terms of the financial field.”
While Hamilton does not offer finance courses, economics is a widely popular concentration and students interested in careers in finance often capitalize on the many resources the College offers for finance training, including the Wall Street Prep Boot Camp. Craig Engert ’21, an intern at Morgan Stanley this semester, said that the Wall Street Prep Program helped him find an internship and be successful in his role.
Career exploration is a priority of the Because Hamilton campaign and donor support will ensure all students have the requisite skills to engage in career preparation, build networks that lead to successful outcomes, and develop self-confidence and marketable life skills.
“For work at Morgan Stanley’s Millman Group, where we actively manage a portfolio of stocks, being able to comprehend a DCF and know other financial models is essential and I would not be able to do this without Wall Street Prep,” Engert said. “Hamilton’s liberal arts curriculum allows me to excel in soft skills and be able to successfully navigate client relationships.”
Bianca MacDonald ’21, another past participant of the program, also described how the program set her up for success. “It provided a really good basis of knowledge about valuation techniques and some supplements to the accounting class I was taking,” she said. “Because Hamilton doesn’t teach any finance courses, learning the technical skills was huge and I ended up getting a banking offer for next summer.”
This program was made possible by the generosity of Hamilton alumnus Howard Morgan ’84 in honor of the Alexander Hamilton Institute and was free to all student participants.
