Nomfundo Analyst, Listed Derivatives IE Data Management Operations division, London

As a student I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in a Summer Internship at the London office. I enjoyed my internship and had no second thought about accepting the full time job offer.

Background

I completed my high school studies in Johannesburg and then studied at the University of Cape Town. I graduated with a Business Science degree in Finance with Honors. As a student I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in a summer internship at the London office. I enjoyed my internship and had no second thought about accepting the full time job offer.

The Interview Process

The hardest question I had to answer was, “Why would I choose you to sit next to me every day for ten hours, five days a week?” I answered that I am reliable and easy to get along with.

Getting Started at Goldman Sachs

I remember the excitement of arriving at the Goldman Sachs offices in London for the first time, the passion from all the people I met during my internship and the great memories from the orientation in New York.

Career Development

I feel that mentoring is very important in your career, as you can leverage your mentor to get an outside perspective on your work as well as speak about issues you may not always want to discuss with your direct management.

One of my biggest assets is my ability to learn new things quickly. I have used this to quickly develop a certain amount of expertise in my area of operations and I am now able to independently work on a large variety of daily tasks and answer queries from colleagues, management and external counter parties.

In the next year, I plan to continue to build my expertise in my area and get more involved in new projects or initiatives in the team.

Affinity Networks

I belong to the Operations Black Network, which has helped me a lot in my career by providing various mentoring opportunities with peers and senior leaders of the firm. I also belong to the Operations, Finance, Services and Human Capital Management Women’s Network. The network has hosted many skills sessions with senior management, which I have also benefited from.

Giving Back

I have participated in three Community TeamWorks projects since I have been at the firm. I have assisted in the cleaning up of the river Thames, helped preserve one of London’s Royal Parks and taught young school children about careers. I feel that the collective effort made on these projects by my colleagues and I has definitely made a difference.