Hello~!
So much has happened this past week and I have so much to tell you about my internship and what’s been happening at work but first! Some pictures from the weekend. 🙂
Yesterday I went deep water soloing for the first time! Which is when you “solo” climb (without safety gear) over a body of deep water. We went to Becket Quarry in Western Mass – super fun! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
In these next four pictures, can you spot the cliff diver?
Aaaand that’s a wrap! What a way to spend your Saturday. 🙂
But anyway! On to the very-interesting work-stuff.
So, I went to dinner with my coworkers on Wednesday. And it was so fun to get to know them all outside of the office environment. They are all such interesting individuals, each and every one of them. They have great life stories and experiences and I very much enjoyed scraping the surface of that for each one of them.
In particular, I enjoyed meeting Maria, who’s the global head for a group that works closely with mine. She’s based out of London and came to Boston for a conference our two groups were having on Thursday and Friday.
So on Friday, I see her at the conference (there’s maybe about 100 of us in the room, and there’s assigned seating with table numbers and name tags and everything – it’s super legit) and she remembers me and suggests we grab lunch together after the conference, because I’d emailed her after Wednesday saying I’d love to meet with her one on one to just talk, if I could catch her before she went back to London.
Well she was going back that afternoon, so it was perfect.
And she was immensely helpful. She told me many things. She told me that as a very senior woman in a very high position, she was called bossy and aggressive all the time. She told me to never be afraid of being called bossy and aggressive. She told me to wear that badge and just be who I am. She told me that as a Wellesley grad with an Economics degree, I won’t have difficulty finding a job after graduation at all. She told me not to sweat it.
She also told me to not be afraid to switch around from company to company within the first 10 years of my career. She said people forgive you for not being loyal to a certain company within the first 10 years of your career, because they know you’re still learning about the field and discovering what you want to be doing. She also said people often mistake loyalty for a way to get promotions, when in fact, companies don’t want to promote someone who’s been solely at their company for the past 15 years. You won’t get into the C-suite unless you can bring an outside perspective to the table, and you only do that by working at multiple companies and getting a good sense of all these different company cultures and value proposals.
She told me that age 38 to 48 is the time in your career when you’re paid the most. So in everything you do leading up to age 38, keep that in mind, and work/strive with that age target in mind. Work your way up, whether it’s switching companies or seeking more senior positions.
She was immensely helpful. And beyond all that she told me, she also introduced me to her direct superior, who is the head of the two groups that were part of the conference (Maria’s group and my group). She also promised to introduce me to the head of Global Exchange, another division within State Street, so I can learn even more thing outside the realm of my current group/work.
And I’ve come to realize that introductions in the professional world mean a lot. When you reach out to that person in the future, you have that point of reference of “oh, this mutual friend of ours introduced us that one time, remember?”. And it’s even more powerful when that person who introduced you is very senior and a big player, as Maria is. I was just blown away at this world that I was suddenly thrust into; this summer, I entered my internship not knowing what to expect, and only two weeks in I’m already amazed at this parallel universe that exists in tandem with the relatively “normal” life I knew as a student.
The two worlds are vastly different.
I can say for sure, though, that I love both. And I’m so excited for what the rest of this summer may bring. 🙂
Until next week, everyone!
~Emily
Oh and P.S. These were taken at dinner one night – I’m slowly mastering the art of cooking for myself! Yay for entering adulthood. And Biscuit is the frat dog; he’s such a sweetheart.
