As a rising sophomore at the University of Michigan, there is a lot of pressure to figure out which career path I want to pursue. To be honest, I barely know what I want to major in, much less know what I want to do after college. Given my array of interests, it has been difficult to distinguish one field as my primary focus. In an effort to help with this decision, last summer I applied for internships within the financial sector. Luckily, I landed a job as an intern at Community Capital Management and was asked to return this summer – which I eagerly accepted.
During my two summers, I’ve worked alongside a variety of CCM’s business units, including marketing, operations, investment, and sales. Each experience taught me about the holistic approach it takes to run a successful firm. Since CCM does almost all of their impact/ESG investing research internally, my favorite experience was looking at potential investments and analyzing their impact/ESG investing merits. I was asked to find proof that each potential security was making an impact, and to ensure that there were no potential impact/ESG risks. This attention to detail is critical for CCM and is a skill that will stick with me no matter what my future endeavors entail.
As I head back to Michigan, I have a better understanding of the impact/ESG investing industry and the additional research and due diligence required. Although I am still not certain of my exact career path, I am confident that I will utilize the skills I have learned over the past two summers at CCM.