Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Industries are Interconnected

One of the things that I did not expect about working in the financial industry as an intern is that I would learn about so many other industries. I assumed that my role would mean that I would learn about the workings of the finance industry. However, in a stock brokerage firm, you end up learning about a whole variety of different industries so that you can make better decisions about certain portfolios etc.

In my time as an intern, I have attended numerous meeting with experts from various industries. These meetings are hosted by my company so that potential investors can gain more information about that certain industry. These industry experts share important industry trends and ways that the industry is changing. Importantly, they highlight that ways that companies in the industry are innovating and developing. This gives investors greater knowledge about the industry so that they can make a more informed decision about their investment portfolios.

One of the meetings was conducted by an expert in the IT sector. His expertise was in cyber security. He focused on professional services and products that were developed by several of the leading companies within the industry. He was able to provide a comparison between the products and also explain key terms or jargon so that investors without experience in the industry could still have an idea of the products and services being offered. Though ‘cyber security’ is a buzzword right now, not all investors really know how some products or services work or what they might entail. As such, these meetings are a valuable opportunity for them to gain more knowledge as well.

Consequently, I have been able to learn not just about the financial industry as an intern in a stock brokerage firm. I have also been able to gain further knowledge about a variety of other industries as well. Most importantly, I have realized that industries often overlap with each other. Thus, trends in one industry can have implications for businesses in other industries as well.