A Different Type of Place
Every company in every industry has a department in finance and, depending on the industry, has different purposes for the company. Where I Interned this summer the finance department looked over expenses and makes sure all the finances are on budget, as well as forecasted future budget reports (of course that is not all the department does). This showed me the difference in finance work between the industry I worked in, entertainment, and that of someone working in banking. The people in my department do not look to invest money and make even more money. The job is to see how much we are spending compared to how much we are making, and seeing if those expenses can be cut. Additionally, there is a lot of analysis that goes behind it that takes in work from different departments in order to find effective ways to decrease expenses (note, these are not the only things the department does). As a result, it was interesting to learn what a company in a different industry other than banking has to do.
Additionally, compared to what my friends have told me, who worked in the financial services industry, my internship had a much more relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The environment was not as fast-paced and everyone talked to each other. The office did not have any isolated desks, everything was more open, and everyone talked to each other.