Wesleyan Summer Spotlights: Starting Out in Business and Finance

[Introductions] Holly Robinson: Thanks, everyone, for joining us for the last in our Wesleyan Summer Spotlight series. I'm Holly Robinson, Associate Director for Career Advising and Business Advisor, joined by Rachel Manafo, Director of Operations at the Gordon Career Center, and five students who gave their time during break. Please post questions in the Q&A box and we'll get to as many as we can. Grace Donfield: Hi everyone, I'm Grace Donfield, a current senior double majoring in Government and Psychology with a minor in Data Analysis. I'm also a student athlete. Last summer, I worked at a rotational program in Citi Markets in New York City. David Calderon: Hi, I'm David Calderon, a senior majoring in the College of Social Studies with a minor in Data Analysis. This past summer I interned at the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago as an Evaluation and Learning intern. Tihitina Gebeyehu: Hi everyone, I'm Tina, a junior at Wesleyan majoring in Economics and Chemistry. This past summer I did the QAC Apprentice Program. Daniel Lurie: Hey everyone, I'm Daniel Lurie, a senior majoring in Economics and Government with a Data Analysis minor. Last summer I worked at Evercore as an investment banking summer analyst. Michael Astorino: What's up, guys? My name is Michael, I'm a senior, psychology major. I did three things mainly this summer: I was a summer analyst at venture capital firm RRE, a production assistant on ABC's Shark Tank, and I was working full-time for my protein powder startup called Space Milk. [Describing the Summer Experiences] Holly Robinson: Let's talk more about what each of you did over the summer. Grace, do you want to kick it off? Grace Donfield: I worked at Citi in New York in the markets division. I had three 3-week rotations and one week of training, rotating across different desks. I got to see a really wide spread of asset classes, deal flows, and desk cultures, which was really helpful as I figure out where I want to return. One desk focused on foreign exchange, another was mortgage-backed securities, and the third was private credit financing. It was eye-opening to see how many different products exist under the same division. David Calderon: I interned at the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago. My specific role was on the evaluation and learning team — the group that makes sure the money the foundation gives away is actually having an impact. I analyzed data on past grants and did some internal work benchmarking the Foundation against others like Gates and Ford. It was a lot of reading and data analysis. Tihitina Gebeyehu: I did the Quantitative Analysis Apprenticeship (QAC) program here at Wesleyan. I worked in a chemistry lab doing data analysis, and in two summers I learned five different programming languages. I ultimately wrote up my work as a poster and presented it at the end of the apprenticeship. It was a great experience for building skills and having something concrete to talk about in future interviews. Daniel Lurie: I'd had a prior summer in a small venture capital firm, which gave me my first exposure to thinking about companies from an investment perspective. This past summer I was at Evercore in investment banking, focused exclusively on mergers and acquisitions. What I especially appreciated about the internship was that mine was generalist — I worked across technology, communications, and alternative asset managers, which was a great way to experience different teams. Michael Astorino: At RRE, I was one of three interns assigned to build an investment thesis on vertical AI — AI that is specialized for a specific purpose. I chose Agentic Commerce: how people shop with AI agents. I spent the month of August building that thesis. The rest of the summer I worked full-time on my startup, Space Milk, where I'm the CMO handling all marketing: social media, in-person events, email, customer acquisition. It's chaos, but a lot of fun. [How They Secured Their Internships] Holly Robinson: How did you all get these great experiences? What resources, networks, or strategies helped you secure them? Grace Donfield: The number one thing for me was the Wesleyan network, and that starts on campus early. I began recruiting for my Citi internship in October of my sophomore year, just by talking to upperclassmen across banking, trading, capital markets, and consulting. I kept a networking spreadsheet tracking everyone I spoke with: name, company, email, date, and what we discussed. By the time applications came around, I had spoken to over 100 people. I also run Wesleyan Investment Group and Wesleyan Women in Finance — both great resources for students exploring finance. David Calderon: For my MacArthur Foundation internship, I got it by casting a wide net on LinkedIn with no real connections to the organization. I had been targeting consulting, struck out for an internship, and just started applying broadly. The lesson: network strategically, but if there's an opportunity that appeals to you and you have no obvious in, apply anyway. You don't lose anything. The Summer Grant also helped cover the cost gap for living in Chicago on a nonprofit salary. Tihitina Gebeyehu: The QAC Apprenticeship is a fairly direct path since it's a Wesleyan program. The key first step is getting into a lab — talk to a professor early, ideally the start of spring semester, because applications open in April. Your professor submits the application on your behalf. It doesn't have to be a STEM lab — psychology, economics, anything with data qualifies. Daniel Lurie: Very similar to Grace — a lot of networking, beginning sophomore year. Investment banking is particularly competitive, and it's very difficult to get an interview without networking. The Wesleyan network is extraordinary here; every offer I've gotten traces back to a Wesleyan connection. I'd also give a shout-out to Foss Hill Financial, a student-run club at Wesleyan that prepares students specifically for finance careers. Michael Astorino: I plug Entrepreneurship Club, which I lead — it's for anyone interested in startups, running a company, or building something. My path was unconventional: I got my VC and Shark Tank opportunities through the Wesleyan network, largely through the Wesleyan Shark Tank student forum I created. One LinkedIn tip: find niche communities where Wesleyan alumni engage — people who've liked or commented on a Wesleyan post — and message them. My hit rate was far higher than cold outreach because you find people already proud of Wesleyan. [How Wesleyan Prepared Them] Holly Robinson: How did your Wesleyan education prepare you for your summer jobs? Any particular skills, courses, or experiences you'd recommend? Grace Donfield: I'm not an econ major, but Wesleyan gave me a well-rounded skill set. My data analysis minor let me write Python scripts to automate spreadsheets. My government major gave me experience in research-heavy courses where you read, build, and present in tight turnarounds. The biggest thing Wesleyan does is teach you how to learn, not just what to learn. Students from Wharton or Stern might have known the mechanics better on day one, but the ability to absorb information and communicate clearly is something a liberal arts education builds deeply. David Calderon: Shout-out to the CSS — it builds the muscle of reading a lot, writing quickly, and submitting work that's 80% of the way there but good enough. That's basically what professional report writing looks like. Also: your major doesn't really define your career options, especially in consulting. Tihitina Gebeyehu: Use Wesleyan's summer resources. The QAC apprenticeship is a great backup if you don't have an off-campus internship. It builds skills, gives you something to talk about in networking conversations, and helps you figure out what direction you want to go. Also, the Wesleyan Summer Grant is available for unpaid internships — don't let that money go to waste. Daniel Lurie: Foss Hill Financial was a huge resource for me — it's where I found upperclassmen who walked me through interview prep and technical questions. If finance is your goal, get involved early. Michael Astorino: When I was at RRE working on Agentic Commerce, I knew virtually nothing going in and felt serious imposter syndrome. What got me through was using AI — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude — as a learning tool, not to do the work, but to understand it. That's a skill that will serve you anywhere. [Biggest Takeaways and Future Plans] Holly Robinson: What are your biggest takeaways from your experiences, and where are you headed next? Michael Astorino: I'll be working full-time on my startup after graduation. The biggest thing I learned is that whatever field you walk into, even one you know nothing about, you can learn it quickly if you're willing to use every resource available and put in the time to genuinely understand the work. Tihitina Gebeyehu: I'm heading to Amgen as a business development intern. The QAC apprenticeship gave me the experience and confidence to make that transition from pure STEM into a business-facing role. Business development at Amgen means finding companies to partner with, evaluating drug pipelines, and building relationships — a great blend of science and business. David Calderon: I'm joining McKinsey post-grad. The MacArthur Foundation internship turned out to be genuinely useful preparation — the skills of reading quickly, writing clearly, and analyzing data translate. I'm also in the running for a Fulbright Binational Business Grant in Mexico City. There are a lot of indirect paths to business — feel free to explore them. Daniel Lurie: I'm returning to Evercore full-time. I came in feeling behind, not having gone to a traditional finance school. But I learned by doing. By the end of the summer, I was working in Excel essentially on autopilot. The environment is rigorous and fast-paced, but it sets you up well for the rest of your career whether you stay in finance or not. Grace Donfield: Something a mentor told me that stuck: even if you don't come from a background that traditionally leads to this path, you can have this. Battling imposter syndrome is real — pretty much all of us felt it. My advice: hold that in the back of your mind. If you want something, figure out how to get around the obstacles, and ask. Ask a mentor, a peer, or a fellow student. David Calderon: One last thing: find peers who are going through the same process. Recruiting is stressful, and having a friend in a similar boat to do case practice with makes a huge difference. Shout-out to Consulting Pathways, which starts again each semester. Tihitina Gebeyehu: Use all the Wesleyan summer resources available to you. And remember the Summer Grant covers more than just unpaid internships; it can help with housing costs too. Don't leave that money on the table.