Speaker: Debanhi Magana
Describe an example of a training session and what you learned.
Debanhi Magana : One of my favorite training sessions that I did was towards the end where we had to come up with a business idea and essentially uh present a uh project teaser. This was done uh with other interns and we were able to give each other feedback and criticism of what we can improve on so successfully. Later on, we had to also work on other project teasers with clients we were signed to and even essentially present them to potential investors all in all. It really opened up your eyes to the back end of things that you really wouldn't notice until you did them yourselves. In addition, it also builds your technical skills and your collaboration skills, which I find really, really cool since this is essentially the first time I'm doing this and maybe other students are doing as well.
Describe any financial modeling training you received and any materials shared.
Debanhi Magana : I would say one of the models that was heavily used was a revenue model, forecasting and budgeting model. Um It all depended on different projects since a lot of them were based on different parts of the world. And it basically helped us understand what we needed to uh focus on in order to attract potential investors. The training was basically delivered in the sense of one on one conversations with your advisor or even um collaboration with other interns who were working on the same project as you um any, any other additional materials uh was shared through the Egis careers um via email or even your own research, which I did a lot of um through youtube Google books, essentially like anything you needed to really learn was given to you. And if you wanted a further understanding, you just ask questions and um do your own research.
Describe a "live deal" you have been able to work on during the internship.
Debanhi Magana : During my internship, I was fortunate enough to have a live deal of in Australia involving smart solar parks and essentially with the help of my advisor, the client and my fellow interns, I was able to have the confidence to fully inverse myself since this was a project that the objective was to bring in more investors to the ticket size of 408 million US D. And the involvements were basically uh pit creation project teasers, uh financial modeling um and investor outreach and investor calls, which we were fortunate enough to have multiple calls um different days of the week. And it basically teaches you how to manage your time, meet specific deadlines because this is a live deal. This is essentially what people are putting in time and effort in that you really want to succeed. And it just, it makes you understand a little bit more of how the career is pushing you towards.
Why do you believe the EGIS Careers Immersion Program is beneficial to aspiring finance professionals?
Debanhi Magana : I definitely believe this immersion program is beneficial to any aspiring finance professionals. Um I just wrapped up my first year at university and now in my second year, I definitely have a little bit more understanding. Um Compared to my other peers, I would say about the financial world because it is something that you really can't describe unless you've been in it. And since this is very much a real world thing rather than a simulation or fake scenarios, you're understanding different aspects that you wouldn't have known before. And it actually prepares you to what you're actually putting yourself into as you go through your career, through your um education and the quality of the people are amazing and very genuine. They know what they're doing. Um Their experience shows that they want to continue to teach this, they want to expose you to be prepared. Um because everyone has been in the position of not knowing and having those people to lean on is definitely something very comforting that builds your confidence in the end to succeed in what you want to do.
What materials did EGIS Careers offer you before the program start and during the program to enrich the experience?
Debanhi Magana : The materials that were given to me was the um intern handbook, the case studies. And as well, previous work from previous students who were part of this program and it helped me further understand what I was stepping into um and essentially preparing myself to know the workload that I was going to be given. And as well even do further research on my own about um certain things I may have not known before certain terms or certain um um documents, legal legality of certain things. It was, it definitely helped you build your experience more to prepare yourself.
Any other tips/advice you'd like to share with prospective candidates?
Debanhi Magana : Um my tips and advice for anyone who's thinking of joining. I say it's 100% worth it. It may be intimidating and maybe it's the price tag or maybe you don't know what you're going to be walking into. There's a lot of resources available to you, ask your questions. Um get in contact with a lot of people because they're there to support you, they're there to show you to break into this world that you may not have access to later on. I'd say it's 100% worth it. There's people here who want to help you who want to build you up and want to see you succeed. I wish you all the best and it's worth it.
