Over the months of June and July I had the opportunity to work as a FI sales desk intern

at Fidelity Investments. The internship was virtual, but if I were to go into the office I
would have worked in the Smithfield, Rhode Island office. With COVID-19 I was lucky
enough to keep my internship and be able to work alongside 11 other sales interns from
all over the nation. I was able to learn about the financial services field and the products
that Fidelity has to offer. The internship gave me exposure to double jacking, career
development, excel spreadsheets, mock sales calls, networking opportunities and
presentations. I also participated in weekly eLearning training on topics such as stocks,
bonds, IRA’s and many more. COVID-19 did not affect my work and I was able to
accomplish everything I was hoping to if not more. My experience interning at Fidelity
gave me the opportunity to learn, grow and allowed me to step out of my comfort zone.

I wanted to share some helpful tips and skills that I learned throughout my internship
experience. In the future whether you intern for Fidelity Investments or another company
these tips and skills could be helpful to get the most out of your experience.

1. Network with as many people as you can

Fidelity Investments is a huge company with over 140 different locations. Being virtual I
was able to meet people from California, Colorado, Texas and more. This internship
made me see how important and beneficial networking really is. You never know how
someone can help you out in the future whether it is with a job opportunity or with help
on a project.

2. Do not be shy, put 15 minutes on anyone's calendar

Everyone that works for Fidelity wants to get to know the interns and hear about their
experience. No matter how high up someone is in the firm if you put 15 minutes on their
calendar, they are more than happy to meet with you. It might seem intimidating at first,
but everyone has been the new employee before and knows how you are feeling.

3. Ask questions. No question is a bad question

Everyone that works at Fidelity knows that the interns have never done these projects
before or used certain software. This is okay because it is a learning process, but part of
the learning processes is asking questions. This shows you are eager to not only learn
but shows that you want to do your work right the first time. Try to ask your mentor or
other people on your team to not only get to know them better, but so you don’t feel like
you are taking up all of your managers time asking questions. I asked over 5 questions a
day just to make sure I was doing the right thing.
4. Proofread and check over all work, projects, emails, and messages

Be professional with everything that you send out. At the end of the day every piece of
work that you do, every email and message you send has your name on it. Use proper
grammar and punctuation and most of all use spell check. People in the workplace will
take you more seriously when something is well written and put together.

5. Take all feedback and work to improve on the things you need to

An internship is an opportunity to learn and grow. Every bit of feedback you get, take it,
absorb it and improve on it for next time. One thing that helped me was I would have one
on one meetings with my manager. Every week he would give me feedback on my
presentations and mock sales calls. I would write down everything he said so that I
would not forget and could work on it for next time. He would tell me what I did well, how
I improved from last time and what I still needed to work on.

6. Reach out to the people that can help you, use your resources

On every project and presentation, you get assigned reach out to people that are experts
in the topic. Use others as your resources because they are here to help you and are
usually happy to. Therefore, networking is so important because when you form
connections with people, they can help you with future project work. Fidelity has so
many different resources and learning tools for interns and employees to use, do not be
afraid to jump right in.

7. Send thank you cards or emails to everyone you connected with

Make sure you spend some time during the last week of your internship sending out
thank you cards or emails. These thank you notes should go out to whomever
interviewed you for the position and future position if applicable, all managers you
worked with, mentors and other people you connected with. Let these people know that
you appreciate their time and how they helped you along this experience. Make sure you
add something specific you may have talked about or learned from them, so they know it
is personal. Thank you notes should also be sent out after you meet with someone for
the first time in a one on one meeting.

8. Lastly, Be yourself

This is the most important tip I can give to anyone in their future internship is to be
yourself. Be a genuine and kind person that is looking to learn and grow as much as you
can during your internship experience. The more you are your true self the more your
coworkers and managers will like you and trust you.