Banking on NYC internships
Three University of Richmond seniors. Three internships at banks in New York City. Three return job offers. This summarizes the experience of Tyler Concaugh, Cheney Williams, and Sofia Zinzi, who completed their academically grounded Jepson internships this summer at some of the biggest names in banking.
Concaugh, who is majoring in leadership studies and philosophy, politics, economics, and law (PPEL), worked as a compliance analyst intern at Barclays in Manhattan. Assigned to the Financial Crime Compliance Assurance Team, he reviewed best practices for combatting money laundering, terrorism financing, and bribery and corruption, he said.
He also reviewed the efficiency and efficacy of compliance assurance software and analyzed U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposals to understand what effect they would have on Barclays and the markets.
“My leadership studies and PPEL majors prepared me with the critical thinking and writing skills needed to think on my feet, synthesize and distill complex information into a few sentences, and debate compliance issues,” Concaugh said.
As a financial analyst intern at Citigroup, Williams said she analyzed the financial statements and data of existing and prospective clients to determine their credit risks. She focused specifically on mid-size companies — those with annual assets between $100 million and $5 billion.
“One of my projects was to identify and research a prospective client that aligns with Citi’s values and wants to expand internationally,” said the leadership studies and business administration major. “I learned so much working on this project and received strong, positive feedback when I made my presentation to management.
“My Robins School education gave me the hard skills I needed — I knew what goes where on a financial statement. I leaned into my Jepson School education in my day-to-day interactions with leaders. At Richmond, I learned to be proactive, take advantage of resources, and strive to make strong connections with the people around me.”
Zinzi, who like Williams is a leadership studies and business administration major, was a security services and digital intern at BNY Mellon. She worked on the Client Services Delivery Team, researching how the bank can implement AI to speed up and streamline client interactions.
“My team looked at how we can use AI capabilities to automate work traditionally done by humans in the client portal,” she said. “We also considered how AI could pull from past client inquiries to develop solutions and responses to current client inquiries.”
While her finance classes gave her a basic knowledge of banking, she said her leadership classes helped her understand the leader-follower dynamic of team work. She was particularly struck by the transformational leadership she witnessed at BNY Mellon.
“Leadership that inspired employees to do better out of a sense of self-satisfaction rather than to earn a monetary reward was most effective,” Zinzi said.
Concaugh, Williams, and Zinzi have accepted full-time, post-graduation job offers from the banks where they interned. All said they are excited to launch their careers in the city that never sleeps.
“I love living and working in New York City,” Concaugh said. “There is always something to do — running on the Westside, visiting restaurants, Central Park, and museums. During my internship, I dressed up and took the subway to work most days. It felt like a real job.”
In a few months, it will be.