Alumni Perspectives

A career with impact for women in finance

When I applied for internships at hedge funds, I was told it was a long shot. While it is true that there aren’t a lot of women at hedge funds, I made that long shot. I know others can do it as well. 

Women were about 30% of my class, proof that more women are choosing finance roles. There is a lot of support for and among women at Berkeley Haas. The relationship with Financial Women of San Francisco connects us with the real world of women working in high-level financial roles. 

It was helpful to find out that other women shared my initial lack of confidence. Together, we can reassure each other, and raise our voices, and put our skills to good use. I would like to motivate more women to build their confidence about succeeding in the financial field. 

Mock interviews prepare you for success

The MFE Career Management Team rates 10 out of 10. Even before classes begin you are being advised about courses and your résumé. Later on, the interview prep sessions were valuable, 

The alumni who do mock interviews really know what questions to ask and how you should frame your answers. Doing mock interviews can help you clarify which roles interest you the most. 

The same alumni who do mock interviews are often the ones recommending hires. That is a major advantage. In my case, the mock interview was almost a real interview.

The role of anomalies and intuition

Going from electrical engineering to financial engineering was a challenge, but I wanted to transition to a quant role, to build investment strategies and portfolios. 

As an engineer, I understood and was comfortable with numbers and equations, but I needed to learn about the role of intuition. Classes like Behavioral Finance helped me understand the anomalies and the reasons for choosing a particular strategy. 

I am so proud of creating an investment strategy from scratch during my internship. I am eager to start exploring a broader set of ideas for creating value and making money for the fund. I can’t wait to work with an entire team of quants. 

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