Success story: Port Lau secures Morgan Stanley internship
Finance Success Stories | May 02, 2013 | Nicole Gesualdo
Some students figure out what career they want to pursue in class. Others are inspired by seeing what their parents do. Still others get an idea at a job fair.
For Port Lau (GSB ’14), inspiration struck at a club meeting.
Port is among the first members of the Alternative Investment Club, a subsegment of the Finance Society that launched this past fall. It was through the club’s speaker series that he learned about prime brokerage and the job opportunities it can offer. By the end of the academic year, Port had a prime brokerage internship in hand, at Morgan Stanley.
“Prior to declaring my major, I had never intended to go this route,” he said. “I always thought I would pursue investment banking, credit risk or sales and trading, but that was simply because I did not know what else to pursue within finance.”
“Advice that I was given was to always stay open-minded and never be afraid to try new things,” he added. He certainly is making good on that wisdom.
“New things” is no understatement: Port doesn’t even know yet what his daily work at Morgan Stanley will be like. But he feels prepared for whatever the company may ask of him, and he proved himself through no fewer than four interviews: one over the phone and three in person.
Port recommends that internship- and job-seeking students become as active as possible in clubs and organizations. “After attending many meetings hosted by Ascend, Beta Alpha Psi, the Finance Society and the Alternative Investment Club, I was able to meet professionals from a variety of industries and had the luxury of speaking with them one on one after the events,” he said. “I learned that researching different career options is not even close to the intensity of hearing it from a speaker.”
A transfer student from Baruch College, Port said he is struck by the additional opportunities afforded to him by comparison at Fordham.
“Transferring to Fordham University from Baruch College was the best decision I have ever made,” he said. He now plans to strengthen his connection with the university by joining the executive boards of both Beta Alpha Psi and Ascend for 2013-2014. In the few months before then, however, he will focus on making inroads at a sought-after firm.
