Success Story: Christina Berardino ’20 secures internship at J.P. Morgan

Success Stories | Aug 01, 2018 | admin

“I loved the high energy of the trading floor!” That was Christina Berardino’s reaction after a Shadow Day at Goldman Sachs in her sophomore year. It was the first time she had ever been on a trading floor, and it gave her the confidence she needed to pursue an internship in sales and trading.

Berardino, BS ’20, didn’t always know she wanted to be in business. In fact, she had envisioned a career in medicine. But in high school, she realized that she might be missing out on other career paths. She soon found that she liked the practical nature of business and ultimately landed at the Gabelli School.

But what area of business to pursue? Berardino kept an open mind, attending panels to learn about different fields. She eventually settled on a finance major with a concentration in alternative investments.

The last piece of the puzzle was finding a role that would suit her.

With the help of Cynthia Bush, director of career advising, and the Finance Scholars program, Berardino discovered that her interests in reading the news and learning about why stock prices change would be a good fit for sales and trading. That’s when, with the help of some friends, she found a Fordham alumnae at Goldman Sachs and arranged for her Shadow Day.

Confident she was now on the right path, Berardino applied to finance internships at the beginning of her sophomore year for her post-junior-year summer. After interviews and a Super Day for the J.P. Morgan summer 2019 internship, she got the role. She will spend next summer in the sales and trading division.

With next summer’s internship secure, Berardino has focused on other activities this summer. She is taking online courses, studying for the GRE, and volunteering at Murray-Weigel Hall, where she regularly visits with elderly priests.

“At first I was nervous, but it makes their day to see Fordham students coming in,” she says. “They have hilarious stories and they are the brightest minds.” Berardino plans to continue volunteering through next semester.

Her advice to Gabelli School students on carving out their own path? “You can be smart, but it’s how willing you are to put in the extra work and how willing you are to accept rejection before you succeed.”

As Bush told her during her interview process, “It’s not about how smart you are, it’s about fit. You have to take the hits and keep moving forward.”

And that’s exactly what Berardino did.