Alanood Sinjab: Summer Intern 2017

Alanood Sinjab: Summer Intern 2017

What course did you do with Amplify?

I did the four-week Summer 2017 Internship Programme, which is accredited by the London Institute of Banking & Finance.

What was your understanding of financial markets before coming on the course?

Honestly, I didn’t even know how to read a candlestick!

What was the highlight of the training for you?

Because I started with such a basic understanding, the highlight of the training came towards the end of the Programme, when I became able to identify, apply and challenge concepts I had learnt about while discussing financial news. This was very rewarding as my primary objective was to improve my commercial awareness – and the training helped me do just that.

How has the Amplify experience and team helped in your career development?

I signed up to the Programme for quite different reasons to my fellow interns – I wanted to learn about the financial markets, not because I wanted a career in finance, but because I want to pursue a career as an international commercial lawyer and needed to better understand the subject-matter of advice to clients.

Not only was the course content incredibly varied and thorough in bringing me up to speed, but so too was the knowledge and advice of the Amplify team. Throughout the course, we abstracted from the heavyweight technicalities of the financial markets and learnt about more legalistic themes like risk, regulation and compliance. Lucky for me, one of the Amplify team-members, Giles, was a former lawyer himself and really helped me see the legal ramifications of what I was learning to further connect the dots. I also had the opportunity to do a mock interview with Xiaoyu – another member of the Amplify team who in fact runs his own start-up providing students with career advice. In this way, the diversity at Amplify means that the Programme is accessible to any one – whatever stage you’re at, there will definitely be someone to help!

And this support doesn’t come to an end when you finish the course. I can’t say this enough – the Amplify team are genuinely interested and invested in your career and personal development. When I was later invited for an interview, I got in touch with Anthony who gave me CV advice, help with news run-downs and those all-too-important boosts of “I got this” we all need before shaking hands with our interviewers.

I’m certain this played an instrumental role in my success – on finishing the course, I’ve been able to secure two Vacation Schemes!

What would be your advice for someone looking to gain more insight into financial markets?

Think about why you want to gain that insight. And then think laterally. Understanding the financial markets isn’t just important (read: necessary) for a career in finance, but it’s also central to many other fields of work. Can you take this understanding with you elsewhere? Will it set you apart from other candidates? How?

On the flip-side, if you’re set on a career in finance with a particular organisation at a particular desk, don’t shy away from options – because there are plenty. What’s great about the Programme is the exposure and insight it gives you into the variety of roles within the industry, whether on the buy-side, sell-side, as a hedge fund or portfolio manager.

Whatever position you’re in, I think it’s important to pin down just why you want to do it, what you want to get out of it, and look to that to motivate you.

You can view Ally’s LinkedIn profile HERE.