So far my internship has required me to do whatever random tasks the staff ask me to do, like translating, updating excel files, and looking up data. Whenever I'm not doing any of the above, I have been working on an indefinite project to summarize industry reports and then translating them into Korean for the staff to read. It is incredibly difficult and time-consuming -- probably why it was assigned to us -- to try and condense a 40-50 page industry report into 4 pages, and then having to translate industry terms such as "blowout preventer" under "Oil & Gas: Equipment & Services" to Korean. Fortunately, the I've gotten to know the intern sitting next to me (Korean native studying in the UK), and so we've divided up the work according to our respective skills; I do the summarizing and he does translating. It does nothing to help my Korean but at least we get the job done faster.
Recently however, I have been assigned to a new project; carrying out financial due diligence on a potential takeover target. In standard English, that means my team has to look carefully into the target company's financial statements to see if anything looks fishy. So far, I've mainly provided a support function for the staff; what else can you expect from an intern? Even still, it's been pretty interesting seeing how all the parties -- the potentially acquiring company, the target company, the accounting advisor, the legal advisor, and the investment bank -- come together, especially since I'm interested in going into investment banking. Yesterday, I was able to listen in on a conference call highlighting particular issues my team need to look at in more detail which felt pretty cool, but maybe that's only because I'm new at this.
In all, I was expecting more late nights and a constant flow of work, but perhaps my expectations were too high going in. I've come to terms that you can't expect too much in a very technical-based company like the one I'm in without any formal training. Still, it's an opportunity I can't let go to waste.
-Emoinacloset
Recently however, I have been assigned to a new project; carrying out financial due diligence on a potential takeover target. In standard English, that means my team has to look carefully into the target company's financial statements to see if anything looks fishy. So far, I've mainly provided a support function for the staff; what else can you expect from an intern? Even still, it's been pretty interesting seeing how all the parties -- the potentially acquiring company, the target company, the accounting advisor, the legal advisor, and the investment bank -- come together, especially since I'm interested in going into investment banking. Yesterday, I was able to listen in on a conference call highlighting particular issues my team need to look at in more detail which felt pretty cool, but maybe that's only because I'm new at this.
In all, I was expecting more late nights and a constant flow of work, but perhaps my expectations were too high going in. I've come to terms that you can't expect too much in a very technical-based company like the one I'm in without any formal training. Still, it's an opportunity I can't let go to waste.
-Emoinacloset
