Riddhi Desai is a Certified Public Accountant from the State of New York. She worked for top consulting firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP and Deloitte, LLP prior to coming to MIIS to pursue a degree in Translation (English – Japanese). She landed translation projects on equity research with Shared Research Inc. in summer 2017. According to the company’s website, they “offer corporate clients comprehensive report coverage, a service that allows them to better inform investors and other stakeholders by presenting a continuously updated third-party view of business fundamentals, independent of investment biases.” This offered a great opportunity for Riddhi to leverage her financial and language training. Here is her path to this opportunity.
*How did you find your job/internship?
After several rounds of lengthy translation tests with a certain company from the career fair, communication fizzled out. By that point, my other classmates had secured wonderful internships and I was feeling like a failure in comparison. In a moment of utter desperation, I remembered a company I’d heard about that specialized in equity research translation, the field in which I’m most interested. Unfortunately, like most companies in this field, they weren’t advertising anywhere about recruiting, nor did they have any job postings. I found their general recruiting address online, and cold-emailed them explaining my background asking if they were in need of freelancers. I hadn’t expected anyone to reply, but they did!
*What experiences at MIIS helped (career management course, career fair, individual career advice, the MIIS network, coursework, class project, immersive learning experiences)?
When I was feeling down after the fiasco with the previous company, talking with Winnie Heh, my Career Adviser, really helped. She reminded me that I could choose to either mope about things, or pick myself up and start again. I’d also first heard about Shared Research from a couple of MIIS professors who knew I had an interest in equity research.
*What advice would you share with MIIS students?
The job search isn’t over until you stop searching. If a path to an internship doesn’t present itself to you, carve your own. Even when the situation is dire, don’t give up!
Winnie Heh
Career & Academic Advisor
wheh@miis.edu
