“Part of being successful is about asking questions and listening to the answers.” This is the motto I live by since I joined the GBUS program in year 1. As a university student, you are not expected to know everything and be perfect in whatever you do. We all start by asking the right questions at the right time, while listening carefully so that we can fully capitalize on the answers. This is also something that I followed closely as a summer intern at Rothschild & Co, which allowed me to fully utilize my time there and get the most out of the internship.

During my third summer at HKUST, I was fortunately selected to be one of the summer interns at Rothschild & Co, an independent financial advisory group that comprises offices in around 40 countries. The company is controlled by the Rothschild family, which has significantly impacted the workplace culture. At Rothschild & Co, I worked closely with 23 other bankers in the office as well as colleagues from the Shanghai office. Unlike other investment banks in Hong Kong, we work in a smaller team setting and the hierarchy structure is quite flat. Even as an intern, I was always invited to attend different client presentations and pitching. I was also encouraged to share my ideas in team meetings, something that I was quite surprised about. This has greatly enriched my experience at the company since I was motivated to voice my opinions upon seeing the impact that they make.
 

As an intern who was new to the industry, I met some difficulties when trying to complete my assigned tasks. At first, I was reluctant to ask my manager questions since I was afraid that it will show my incompetence. However, upon chatting with him, he told me that the most important lesson that he learned since starting off as a junior analyst is to ask questions when you really don’t understand something. This has helped him grasp knowledge he didn’t know quickly instead of wasting time producing outputs that would not be wanted by senior bankers. Ever since chatting with him, I had been trying to ask the right questions which had helped me tremendously in terms of producing works that are up to standard as well as learning the best practices from senior bankers.

Being a member of the GBUS community has always been something that I am proud of. The support that I have received, especially the help from seniors and alumni, has been a key stepping stone to my internship and my career. If you are still unsure about which major to choose, this is definitely the place you will want to be. A place where you can ask questions and people will be more than willing to help you out.