Each summer, students from the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics gain important real-world professional skills through internships. In each installment of this series, you’ll hear firsthand about how one Lerner student secured their internship, what their experience as an intern was like and what comes next!
Shivani Modi, Class of 2021, double major in finance and financial planning and wealth management with a minor in economics, spent her summer in Phoenix, Arizona as a summer investments intern at Charles Schwab.
Q: How did you find out about this internship?
Modi: I found out about this internship through a referral.
Q: What is the most exciting task that you have undertaken in your role?
Modi: The most exciting project or task that I have undertaken is competing in the Schwab investment challenge. I competed with fellow interns and Schwab executives by building a mock diversified portfolio of 100 million dollars. I ended up winning the challenge!
Q: What did you learn through this internship that you don’t think you would have learned anywhere else?
Modi: Something I learned from the company Charles Schwab particularly is the number of jobs and roles there are in a leading financial services institution. I was really exposed to a lot of areas in the company and really enjoyed it.
Q: What is an example of a time you were able to apply something you learned at the Lerner College to your role?
Modi: I definitely applied my skills of presenting to my internship. I have taken many classes in Lerner and we are continuously presenting in each. Having that experience made me more comfortable speaking in front of Schwab executives for my final project.
Q: What has been the most fun part of your internship?
Modi: The most fun part of my internship was meeting all the different interns from around the country who represent different schools! Really getting to hear their college experience and how it was similar and also different to mine was very interesting!
Q: How do you think this internship will help you with your professional goals?
Modi: Since this internship exposed me to so many roles in the financial services industry it really helped me narrow down what I want to do in the future when I graduate.
Q: What are your plans or next steps once this internship is over?
Modi: My plans are to continue to network with everyone I met at Schwab and share the knowledge I learned at Schwab with my peers when I get back!