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August 2006 Intern in Action: Sidra Haider '07
Sidra Haider '07 |
Sidra
Haider '07 received a grant from the Linda Fayne Levinson
'62 Internship Fund for a spring '06 internship at UBS Financial
Services. An economics and psychology double major, Haider
hails from West Windsor, NJ. She is working in the wealth
management division at UBS, and under the guidance of her
supervisors, Haider researches companies who offer potential
investing opportunities to UBS's clients. She also is exploring
the psychological relationship that exists between a financial
advisor and his or her clients. It's a chance to put her psychology
studies to use in the financial industry.
Haider
spoke with Barnard online in May about this opportunity, and
her hopes for the future.
Barnard:
What has been the most surprising thing you've learned
about the finance industry from your internship?
Sidra
Haider: Just how multi-faceted the industry can be. As
I saw within wealth management at UBS, the financial advisors,
while involved with their clients, were also researching market
trends.
B:
What's the most valuable thing you learned?
SH: How
to manage my time efficiently. Learning to prioritize efficiently,
and recognizing what tasks to tackle earlier than others was
a skill I developed over the course of the internship.
B:
What was the work environment like? From what we know,
you worked with a small group of financial advisors.
SH: I
worked in a small office which consisted of two financial
advisors and their assistant. This enabled me to become immediately
involved in all aspects of the job. It was very beneficial,
as I learned about the research, client management practices,
and various other transactional tasks of the office simultaneously.
In addition, I got an intimate look at the challenges faced
by the advisors on a daily basis.
B:
Which of the various experiences appeals to you as something
to pursue in the future?
SH: While
both research and managing client portfolios are attractive
to me, I enjoy the research — of markets, trends, and industries
— most.
B:
How does such a work experience compare with a classroom
experience? And have you taken any classes that were most
helpful to what you were required to do during the internship?
SH: "The
Economics of Money and Banking," while pertaining primarily
to the public sector, provided me with a strong background
in the terminology and the tools I used to follow the market;
this really helped when I was researching market trends. "Organizational
Psychology" also was useful, since I learned about the
dynamics of the workplace and how to overcome challenges at
work.
B:
Are you more or less likely to pursue a finance career
now, given the internship?
SH: The
internship helped me to identify the type of work conditions
I work best in. I am more conducive to the research aspects
of the industry. I haven't had any internship in psychology,
but I will begin a yearlong research project within a psychology
lab in the fall. After that I hope I will better understand
where my interests really lie.
—Interview
conducted by Elissa Matsueda
posted
08.08.06
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you would like your work as an intern featured on the Barnard
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