Interns participating in the Wall Street Exchange (WSE) Program gathered virtually on July 21 for the program’s sixth session, sponsored and facilitated by MUFG. The session, titled “Owning Your Career,” focused on career ownership, managing workplace stress, mindfulness, and the skills interns will need to succeed in the years ahead.
The session opened with introductions from Marguerita Courtney, Group Head and Managing Director of Credit for the Americas; Enid D. Jean-Claude, Deputy General Counsel and Managing Director, Head of Legal for MUFG’s Global Corporate Investment Bank; and Raquel de Azevedo, Assistant General Counsel and Director covering MUFG’s Global Corporate Investment Bank, who each brought powerful personal and professional perspectives to the discussion.
Marguerita kicked off the session by framing career mobility as a shared responsibility among interns, leaders, and HR. She emphasized that it starts with the individual, encouraging interns to conduct honest self-assessments, research opportunities thoughtfully, and build and execute an action plan, while leaders and HR provide coaching, resources, and open doors along the way.
Interns then broke into small groups to identify a source of workplace stress and discuss strategies for managing it, sharing ideas and learnings with one another before debriefing as a full group.
Raquel led a guided mindfulness exercise, drawing on her own practice since 2012 and her training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. MUFG’s mindfulness initiative, now extending to its C-Suite leaders, offered interns resources including the e-book “Integrating Compassion into the Financial Services Industry” and Janice Marturano’s book, “Finding the Space to Lead.”
The panel then turned to skills for the future, sharing research which found that analytical thinking remains the most sought-after core skill among employers, followed by resilience, flexibility and agility, and leadership and social influence. AI, big data, networks, cybersecurity, and technology literacy topped the list of fastest-growing skills, while creative thinking and curiosity are expected to keep rising in importance through 2030. Interns broke into a second round of small groups to discuss which skills they believe will matter most in their own careers.
To close, the panel left interns with a simple set of tips for the rest of the summer, an easy ABC to remember:
- Ask thoughtful questions
- Be present and curious
- Close out projects – taking action is important
At the conclusion of the session, the WSE awarded a CFA Student Annual Membership, sponsored by the CFA Society, to Naina Biswas. Congrats, Naina!
A huge thank you to Marguerita Courtney, Enid D. Jean-Claude, Raquel de Azevedo, and the entire MUFG team for investing in the next generation of finance professionals.
The WSE Co-Chairs and Committee extend their sincere thanks and appreciation to the President’s Circle Firms, the Partnership Circle Firms, and the Friends of FWA for their unwavering support and generosity to the interns and the Wall Street Exchange Program.
