October 24, 2011
Name: Hayden Edwards
Hometown: Houston
Major: Finance
Classification: Junior
Internship: I worked for Standard and Poor’s this past summer in the Global Index Services division in a group that worked on Global Equity and Strategy Indices. I worked in New York City in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan.
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I learned of the opportunity through Dean Singh’s guidance. I applied for the position during the early part of the spring semester and by the end of March I was offered a position.
Describe your internship experience. I worked with Standard and Poor’s global clients, providing them the data they requested from our Global and Strategy Indices. I also submitted reports to new agencies in the Middle East over the S&P Shariah Indices (Islamic compliant indices). I collaborated with other offices regarding our global risk-controlled indices and Dynamic Asset Exchange index projects.
How will this internship influence your future plans? This internship has inspired me to pursue a career that is internationally focused. I found during my experience at S&P that I loved looking at and researching the various international market factors that can affect the global economy, as well as a company’s individual performance, in a specific region in the world.
What was the most surprising thing you learned during your internship? I learned that I actually liked doing a lot of research on companies as well as other economic activities. The period of the U.S. bond rating downgrade was very interesting to see. I got see how a large company deals with intense scrutiny from external as well as internal sources, but most importantly I got to witness how employees within an organization will come together to support their firm in even the toughest times. It felt pretty surreal to be at “ground zero” for the U.S. debt crisis.
What was the best part of your experience? The best part of my experience was definitely living in a city such as New York, where there is essentially something to do anytime day or night. During my three months I was able to get the full experience of eating at great restaurants, seeing the cultural attractions, and the nightlife was also unlike any other place I had been to. As for the working experience, the international content and issues I dealt with made my position very interesting and I was able to learn about international markets and the issues that affect them.