It’s been a great summer at Monticello and our college and high school interns have been hard at work creating new marketing content, optimizing our website, developing creative thought leadership insights, managing new business development technology enhancements, conducting research for the recruiting department, performing financial analysis, and much more. At first, Michael and Sarah were curious about how things would unfold with the team working remotely this summer, but in the end, they really enjoyed the work from home experience and they brought fresh ideas and tremendous enthusiasm to the “office” every day. We asked Michael and Sarah about their experiences working at Monticello this summer - read on to see what they had to say!
Sarah Dudley (High School Intern)
During my time as an intern at Monticello Consulting Group, I was able to contribute directly to several high-profile projects. I worked alongside the leadership team and senior associates and was able to take initiative on sections of major projects. Not only was I learning through experience on daily projects, but I also met weekly with my mentor, who was able to give me advice on selecting a career in the finance industry as well as being a woman in finance. My internship was filled with new projects and tasks where I was able to contribute my ideas. Unlike working at a large firm, my ideas were heard and many of them would later be seen in the final project. There were several projects where I was able to act as the main editor with contributions from other team members. These included updating the website, recruitment research, and the LIBOR Playbook.
The first project I worked on was updating pages of the website, along with SEO research. The goal was to speed up the website by reducing page sizes, specifically looking at image sizes. I also focused on the Day in the Life page, as we were looking to make it more modern and more SEO friendly. I reformatted the entire Day in the Life page, creating the basic format for future Day in the Life posts. I was also able to change many other pages, focusing more on thematic images and icons that matched the new website style.
Next, I started recruitment research on firms in the NYC Metropolitan Area. The first task was to update the compensation research that had been completed several years ago. This consisted of looking on different websites to find information regarding how different positions were paid at different companies within the management consulting space. This is important to understand when making offers of employment to candidates, as companies need to offer competitive salaries in order to attract top talent.
The LIBOR Playbook was my last project. I was able to take creative lead on this project, as I was editing the main file. This project was important, and it had been designated an advertising budget. Another task I had was to reach out to different digital finance media sites and inquire about their advertising options. I was able to truly see the project from start to finish, playing a main role throughout. Again, if I was working at a larger firm, I would not have this opportunity, as it would be given to a higher-level associate. However, at Monticello, there are many opportunities for interns to step up and take the lead on important projects.
Overall, working at Monticello this summer has given me invaluable experience in the finance industry. I was able to take lead on major projects, giving me firsthand experience. I met people who gave me excellent advice for my future both in the college process and for my future career. My internship was an amazing experience because I was able to work with a team of hardworking, motivated people, who helped me learn the ropes and truly welcomed me into the company.
Michael Jost (Loyola University Maryland)
My summer internship at Monticello was truly an eventful experience. Despite having to communicate with the team online, the collaborative workstyle enabled me to communicate and interact with everyone effectively. The variety of projects that I worked on led me to become more knowledgeable about my majors, helped me establish relationships with different parts of the team, and prepared me with skills and tools that lead me to more success in the future.
For my first couple weeks, I helped to revamp the Recruiting Phone Screen Template that is used during the hiring process of candidates. It really put my Excel skills to the test, as I worked on helping to improve and organize it, and overall make it more efficient for the Monticello team to use. These first two weeks also introduced me to Salesforce, where I started to look into the more data aspect of the company. As the weeks progressed, I continued down this path of data analytics and really had the opportunity to dive deep into Salesforce. I worked on many different Salesforce related projects, such as creating and updating reports, logging tasks and calls, organizing different data sets, and much more.
For my final week, I had the chance to work on more of the business side of the company and research company’s financial statements and earnings reports of the second quarter. I created a PowerPoint on my findings and research, where I discussed the effects that COVID-19 had on these companies, how they performed compared to the previous quarter and year, and any plans that they may have for the future. I was able to present this PowerPoint to the firm over a conference call, which also gave me experience in public speaking, something that I find to be a very valuable skill. Although I worked on a variety of projects this summer, my biggest task that I faced was discovering a more efficient way to create and update data that the company has and automatically import it into Salesforce, rather than uploading it manually. I was able to work with the team to help discover an efficient approach to the problem that the company can now use in the future.
Overall, my summer internship at Monticello provided me with an incredible experience, regardless of the inability to work in the office. The Monticello team did a great job of keeping me engaged throughout the summer while guiding me along the way. Not only did I learn more about the business, but it was a great way to see how a company works together to build up towards the same goal. Their collaborative, entrepreneurial, and inclusive workstyle truly made me feel like I was part of the team and that the work I did served a purpose. I am happy to say that I have established some amazing relationships over the past two months and cannot be more thankful for the opportunity that I was given.
Michael and Sarah – Best of luck as you head back to school in a few weeks – we really enjoyed having you as a part of the Monticello team and you made a lot of great contributions!