It was the Fall of 2013 Indianapolis, Indiana. I was Junior in college attending one of the largest undergraduate professional conferences, the SHPE National Conference. I walk into the first day of the career fair to encounter an ocean of companies; booths as far as the eye can see. Thousands of students flood the doors and bolt towards their desired exhibitors. The students eager for opportunities and the companies hungry for young talent. This is without a doubt the land of opportunity, I thought to myself and I stroll across the first row of booths. I was calm and collected; I had a well-developed plan. See, this wasn’t my first time attending this event; I was somewhat a connoisseur of all things SHPE. My goal at this year’s event was to make my way to New York City, now I was just in search for the company that could do that for me.

I grew up in South Florida and went to school in Tallahassee, Florida near the panhandle. I wanted to experience at least a summer in the big apple. I had a list of all the exhibitors present and had pick pointed the ones with headquarters in the city. I then narrowed down the list to the companies that were offering summer internships in their New York offices. I spend the weeks leading up to the conference doing the research and looking up those companies. I had my resume picture perfect, my suit on point, my talking points ready at the gate, and a foolproof plan. I had never been more prepared, now it was just time to execute.

I approached all the banking and consulting firms. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do in life, but one thing was for sure, no way in hell was I sitting behind a screen all day or in a testing facility in the middle of nowhere Midwest, USA. I wanted to in the city and I wanted a dynamic work environment. Like the social butterfly that I am, I pranced my way around the different workshops and hospitality suites. Meeting people, shaking hands, handing out resumes. I was in my element. I started out with the consultants; luckily their booths were all in the same hall. I had the opportunity to speak with many consultants and learn about their firms. Immediately, Accenture and Deloitte caught my eye. These were big boys and both had huge offices in New York. I surrendered my resume and talked my best game. I hope that was enough to get someone’s attention. I then made my way over the financiers, time to see what these bankers were about I spoke to the big dogs of Wall Street, like Goldman, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Barclays, and Bank of America. I quickly realized I knew absolutely nothing about banking, but damn did it seem like an interesting industry. I made rounds all day; meeting new recruiters, handing out more resumes, and getting free conference give outs. What a day that was. By the end of the day I was dead tired; with my hand cramped for shaking so many hands and my feet destroyed from standing all day, I headed back to my hotel room. I hadn’t made it out of the convention center before I got a call from a number I did not recognize. Was this it? My first interview of the 2013 conference? What company could it be? Let’s find out!

I answered the call and in a play-it-cool but very clearly nervous voice I speak into the microphone, “Go for Alejandro.” Seriously!? That’s what my brain decided to blurt out? I felt like such an idiot. I’m already thinking I blew this one. The soft voice of a young woman slightly chuckled from the earpiece and without skipping a beat responded with, “Hi Alejandro, this is Faridah from Barclays.” After a brief exchange of words, we agreed on a time to meet. Scheduling my first interview of the conference, accomplished. I wasn’t sure exactly who Barclays was at the time more than it was just another bank. Being from the United States, I was much more familiar with others like Goldman or JPM. For some reason though, I couldn’t shake off this really good feeling about Barclays.

As the evening progressed I got more calls and emails similar to the Barclays call. I fill up my itinerary to the brim with interviews for the next day and a half; some almost back to back. I wasn’t going to leave a single stone unturned at this conference. After all, this was my last undergraduate summer and my last chance to explore a new industry without committing to a full time. By the following afternoon, after the dust had settled, I had been able to secure twelve job interviews. I put my game face on, fixed my tie knot, tamed my hair and made my way to the interview booths. Let’s show these companies what I got. Many of the interviews went great and some not so great. Some companies made a great impact and genuinely sparked my interest. Some seemed bland or felt like their culture was not a great fit for me. After all, I was looking for a good fit, not just a good job. The banks called stole my interest so I was hoping one of them had liked me. When it was all set and done, I met up with the rest of the FSU chapter to share experiences and celebrate the end of a successful conference.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I’m back in Tallahassee. I still haven’t seen any real result from the conference but I was still optimistic that something would turn up. I’m coming back from class and headed to my front door when I feel my phone buzz in my backpack. I quickly drop my keys and tear my backpack off and begin to fish for the phone. The weeks following the conference, it’s a common occurrence for the attendees to experience a slight heart every time their phones ring; All hoping for a company recruiter on the other end of the line delivering good news. Anyways, I finally reach my phone and see that it’s a 212 number. Yes, New York! I take a deep breath and compose myself. I answer the phone and confidently say, “hello?” Nailed it! Definitely better than go for Alejandro. An assertive female voice answered, it was Faridah from Barclays again. We spoke for a bit and discussed some things about the interview and the role. She then proceeded to extend the good news and offered me a role as an Operations Summer Analyst for the summer of 2014. I had a million things running through my head and I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. Faridah said that we would be in touch soon and to expect a package from Barclays in the mail. Trying to contain my excitement said thanks, good bye, and I hung up the phone. Wow, this was it! I got a job offer for the summer in the big apple. First thing I did after that call was run around the apartment yelling “I love New York!” The I called my parents.

Some weeks passed when I go to check the mail and find a large tan envelope addressed to me. I carefully opened to not tear the dark blue folder inside. The front face of the folder was stamped with Barclays in big blue letters. I read the instructions of what to do with the package and begin to flip through the pages of the offer letter. This felt like the most adult thing I had done in the entire last year. I signed where they asked me to sign, put the large stack of legal papers back in the folder, and sent it back to the provided address, 745 7th Avenue, NY. It was official, I was going to intern in a Wall Street Bank in NYC!