On the Trading Floor in Tokyo
Xinyi Wang (Finance and Applied Math, ’18))
One of our students, Ms. Xinyi Wang, experienced an in-depth 10-week internship program at Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Equity Division in Tokyo this summer. She received the internship opportunity from Boston Career Forum, which provides an annual opportunity in Boston every November for Japanese and English bilingual students who seek either an internship or a full-time job in Japan. She has lived in the Japanese House on the William and Mary campus for two years. During her time at the college, Ms. Wang has worked as the W&M President of Japanese Culture Association and was a TA for Japanese 101 and 102.
Ms. Wang submitted her entry application and résumé in early September and participated in two telephone interviews before attending the forum. During the actual career forum, she was invited to a networking dinner with other selected applicants as well as current employees and got her offer after a short face-to-face interview at Morgan Stanley’s booth the next day. A particular requirement of the Morgan Stanley Tokyo office was fluency in business-level Japanese (which I will be offering as JAPN 402 this next semester) and English. Ms. Wang was not native to either language but had sufficient competency to win her the internship.
During the 10 weeks of that internship, she rotated among four different desks on the sales and trading floor, shadowed employees during market hours and worked after hours on her designated internship project. Although she did find the work schedule to be a bit daunting, the work day possibly starting as early as 6 am and extending to 8 pm, such hours were similar at other area investment banks.
Morgan Stanley management and staff perceived the internship program as highly beneficial, and it was reflected through their policies. Ms. Wang was pleased to enjoy a free service apartment, a refund of the cost of her flight, and a regular stipend. Employees were also extremely helpful and supportive. She was able to schedule short Starbucks talks or lunches with staff members. Sometimes interns were even invited to casual get-togethers with staff after work.
According to Ms. Wang, she wants to pursue a career in finance in Tokyo after she graduates from William and Mary. She states, “I had a really great time in Tokyo and at MS, and this internship really inspired me to find a job in Tokyo after my graduation.”
Trading floors for IED:
