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The World Bank Treasury Summer Internship Episode with Funmilayo & Precious
794 Plays1 year ago
In this episode, Veronica sits with Funmilayo Odusanwo and Precious Ozegbe, who are interns at World Bank Treasury this summer. Listen to them share their experiences and useful tips that might help you secure the bag at World Bank.
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Transcript
Introduction & Internship Experience
00:00:05
Speaker
And I was like, wow, so there's actually an opportunity for undergraduate to intern at the World Bank. The World Bank does internships. Even before my interview, before my assessment, I was preparing for it.
00:00:31
Speaker
Hi Grow Getters, it's such a delight to host another amazing episode of this podcast. With me here today are two special guests, two exceptional young women who are both currently interns at the World Bank Treasury in Washington DC.
00:00:46
Speaker
and they are still students of the University of Degasu. That is amazing. So I have with me here, Ulua Fumilayo Udusongo and Precious Uzigbi, and they are both Nigerians obviously, and I'm proud to see two young women who are doing great for themselves.
00:01:03
Speaker
It's actually the first time I would see people from Nigeria get the World Bank Treasury internship. So I want
Podcast Mission Statement
00:01:10
Speaker
to know all about it. So if you're like me, create us to know how they achieve this great feat, then sit back, relax and enjoy. All right. The growth podcast is a space where we share the real stories behind the stories. We take you behind the scenes of the success stories we read and see online.
00:01:29
Speaker
We lift the wheel and ask the questions that no one else is asking. To expand your mind and break the limits that society, and quite frankly yourself, have placed in it. And
Background of the Interns
00:01:41
Speaker
all these is to get you to realise that. Your version of success is attainable for you, which is attainable for you too.
00:01:48
Speaker
Fun fact, actually, Precious is an avid listener of the group podcast, so it's nice to have someone who listens to my podcast come here to be a guest. It just shows that we're doing something right and it warms my heart. Precious is currently a student at the University of Lagos. She's studying accounting and also an executive member of the Investment Society in the University of Lagos. She recently completed her
00:02:14
Speaker
and she is the female lead of the chess team in the University of Lagos. And Fumi, on the other hand, is also studying in the University of Lagos. She's studying finance and has also completed her ICANN. So I'll give them some time to properly introduce themselves, and we'll kick off this podcast episode. Hi, Precious, how are you? Hi, Vern, counting for a row. Thank you. Thank you for the introduction. I'm super excited to be here.
00:02:43
Speaker
And to be honest, it feels just like yesterday listening to Noah and Esther talk about their journey to Bloomberg and you know, listening that day I'm like, oh, I'm going to be on this podcast really soon. And yeah, today's that day. So my name is Precious Azigbee. I am a 300 level student studying accounting at the University of Lagos, like you rightly said. I am glad to remember the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and I currently head
00:03:08
Speaker
the Corporate Communications and Partnerships Division at the Investment Society, University of Lagos. I'm an acting volunteer with Lagos Food Bank Initiative and Chess in Sloane, Africa. And when I'm not trying to be a serious person, I spend time playing chess and watching career movies.
00:03:27
Speaker
Over to you. Hi Fumi, how are you? I'm very well Veronica, thank you very much for the introduction. My name is Oluwa Fumilayo Udusanwu and I am a 300 level student of University of Lagos. I'm also a graduate member of the Institute of Chocolate Accountants of Nigeria. I've always wanted to work in the development space so I always spend my time reading about
00:03:49
Speaker
policies, reading about finance, and I'm glad that I finally got the opportunity to work in the development space, which is with World Bank Treasury. For me, I spend my time, when I'm not being serious, I spend my time watching movies and I play football, even though I don't like watching.
00:04:05
Speaker
that
Securing the World Bank Internship
00:04:06
Speaker
is so exciting like i can't believe that these two amazing younger men sitting with me here on this podcast episode are sports people so precious plays chess professionally at that that is like super amazing and then for me on the other hand plays football who would have thought
00:04:25
Speaker
But yeah, it's nice to have you today. We'll talk about that at some point on this podcast, but it's just so nice to see that you guys have a life outside of academics and profession and all of that, because there's more to life than that, trust me. I recently picked up a hobby in swimming, and I'm happy that I did. At the beginning of this year, I did not know how to swim at all. Like, literally, if you put me in water, I would drown. But now I consistently have been taking lessons, and now I'm at the point where I'm now trying to learn different strokes, not just, you know,
00:04:54
Speaker
Now I know how to swim and I'm now trying to take it to the professional level.
00:04:58
Speaker
So yeah, I just thought to insert my own brand slash one fact. Well, yeah, I'm really excited to have you guys on this podcast episode. And we're going to spend a huge part of this podcast episode speaking about how you got the World Bank Treasury's internship. Because like I said before, it's the first time I will see people from Nigeria get this. So I'm proud of you guys. And I'm just happy that finally we have people who we can have on our podcast, speak about it.
00:05:27
Speaker
First of all, what is the World Bank internship and how did you learn about it? So the World Bank internship is basically like an opportunity for undergraduates, particularly people in their third year to have like a work experience in the development space. That's basically the summary of the internship. For how I got to know about it, I was actually speaking to a friend on WhatsApp and
00:05:56
Speaker
He spoke to me about two guys getting the World Bank Treasury internship in 2022. So I asked him that, how did you get to know about it? And he sent me the link to a LinkedIn post. I checked the LinkedIn post and only for me to see someone that I know look my yourself. We actually interned together at a certain resource management company that's ARM. And I was like, wow, so there's actually an opportunity for undergraduate to intern at the World Bank. The World Bank does internships.
00:06:24
Speaker
I was actually surprised because I know of the likes of Bank of America. I know of Goldman Sachs and of Jeffries, but I didn't know that the World Bank actually offers the opportunity for undergraduates to actually intern with them. So because I saw that Lukman Yusuf got it, I know Lukman, I reached out to him, he spoke to me about it, and that was how I got to know about it. That was in June. So I was actually looking forward to the opening.
00:06:51
Speaker
So when it opened in November, was it November or December? I think it was December, early December, I applied. So that was how I got to know about it. And that was my story. All right. Thank you for that question. So yeah, basically the World Bank Treasury internship is a 10-week-long internship where you get to rotate three different teams and just get to know about what the World Bank does, how they do what they do, and you know how you can add value, right? So that's it about the internship.
00:07:20
Speaker
I guess it's not about the experience. I actually saw it on LinkedIn. Yeah, I saw Lukman's post after his internship. And he said he was going to put out a post when it's time for a new application. So I'm like, yeah, this seems good. I saved that particular post. And I'll constantly check his LinkedIn to say, oh, is the application on yet? And all of those things.
00:07:45
Speaker
Basically, I got to know about it from Lukman. Lukman was here at the World Bank Treasury as an intern last year, and he's going to be returning as a junior analyst this year. Wow, that is so amazing. And that's what I say about people sharing opportunities and just speaking up about getting opportunities. Up here, both of you got it just by learning about someone who you knew and keeping an eye out for the next application cycle. So I hope anyone who is looking to get this opportunity
00:08:15
Speaker
has
Journey to the U.S. & Cultural Adjustment
00:08:16
Speaker
learned something at least about what the World Bank Treasury internship is and from what I heard, it looks like applications open around December, so keep an eye out for the next application. So speaking about this same internship, now let's talk about how you got the internship.
00:08:35
Speaker
So what was the journey like? How did you apply? What was the application process like? Did it involve application, submitting your CV, copy letters and interviews? Just break it down and let us know like what the step-by-step process is. So I'll take questions first.
00:08:55
Speaker
And then Fumi can just step in to cover whatever pressure is needed to cover. All right, thank you very much, Varini. Kasia, like you rightly said, applications actually start in December. So the application for next year would actually start by December 2023. So yeah, the first round starts with you submitting your CV, your cover letter, and then an optional statement on diversity. Yeah, I mean, I know this is optional, but
00:09:22
Speaker
If you're going to apply, I'd actually recommend that you submit that particular statement. So that's the first round. That's all you have to do. So you go to the website, you log in, and then you make your submission. That's the first set. Second round has to do with an online assessment. So if you are successful, like they look through your CV, your cover letter, and they are pleased with what they see, you'd be invited for an online assessment.
00:09:51
Speaker
So basically, the online assessment is a one-hour assessment that has a series of questions around economics, finance, development, and whatnot. So you just have to do that particular assessment and then submit in an hour. So you get your assessment link just before your assessment. And then when it's time, you log in and you do your assessments. That's pretty much it. That's the second round. And then moving on to the next round, I'm really not sure what the
00:10:20
Speaker
cut off ease or the criteria for passing the online assessment, right? But if you're successful, you get a meal that you were successful and then, you know, you have like different interview time, right? So it's up to you to like pick, you know, the date and the time that is most convenient for you. And so you have an interview with the team, usually between 20 minutes to 30 minutes. And so before the main interview, you initially get a meal requesting by your peak, the most preferred date and time.
00:10:49
Speaker
And then afterwards, you get a mail that shows you, you know, your list of recruiters, the possible people that, you know, you could be interviewing with. And then, you know, after the round three, so you have your own interview for 20 to 30 minutes, you talk about yourself and why you want to join the World Bank Treasury. And after that, you eventually get a response about, you know, if you were offered a position with the World Bank Treasury.
00:11:16
Speaker
I think most of the time, if you don't pass through to the next stage, you actually do not get any response. So if, for example, you were at round two and you know, you finished with the online assessment, but you were not successful, you actually won't get emailed that you were not successful. So like, you just sort of need to ask, oh, if I didn't get emailed, that means I didn't get picked. So yeah, that's pretty much it. I don't know if it has anything to
Skills & Preparations for Internship
00:11:41
Speaker
add. Yeah, I think you covered everything. The only thing I would want to add is that
00:11:46
Speaker
There's the formats for the CV and cover letter is actually on their website. So it is advisable to actually tell all your CV and cover letter to that format. So I think that's the only thing you actually left out. Okay. Okay. But I personally am curious to know more about online assessment and what it entails. So for me, you could just talk more about that.
00:12:11
Speaker
Yeah, so like Precious rightly said, the online assessment is basically just to test one's knowledge about finance, one's knowledge about what the bank does. So for anybody preparing for the online assessment, it would be great to read widely about the World Bank Treasury, the services they offer, and basically try to brush up the basic finance knowledge.
00:12:37
Speaker
for what I can also disclose is that the questions are not really direct questions. They are questions that are practical questions. So for people that are looking at applying, don't look forward to questions like what is something, what the World Bank Treasury wants to actually test is your knowledge of that thing. So it is actually the practical application of that thing and also the practical application, the impact. So try to like
00:13:03
Speaker
while you're trying to prepare for the interview and while you're trying to read about finance, while you're trying to read about these topics, try to have like deep understanding of how this concept actually work. Interesting. Thank you so much for that. But what resources would you say would be helpful to help anyone prepare for the online assessment?
00:13:23
Speaker
So I would say that for learning about the World Bank Treasury, like the World Bank Treasury as its own separate portal and everything you need to know about what they do, how they do it, the services they provide, their financial products, everything is already there to learn about the World Bank Treasury. For knowledge of finance, basically, I can't really say there's a particular resource that will help
00:13:47
Speaker
prepare anyone for it. I believe that it is the knowledge you've gathered in the past and you trying to brush up on those little things that you know, those little things you might think might no matter. They might not go into asking the big concepts.
00:14:01
Speaker
The small concept that we actually overlooked that we think don't matter. I'm not trying to make reference to my assessment, but you could see questions around interest rates. You could see questions around time value of money. Just those basic finance concepts that we really think don't matter because it is world bank. We're expecting highly technical questions. So basically, the basic knowledge that any applicant has, try to brush up on it, try to understand the practical application
00:14:30
Speaker
of those concepts. So basically that is what will help this most specific resource. Interesting. Thank you so much for that. That puts a lot of context to it and I hope it's helping someone out there.
00:14:45
Speaker
I think the next thing I just personally am curious about is what it's like to be in World Bank. How did you guys like, so when you got it, how did you feel? And when did you travel? What has the experience been like so far? All the juicy details, please. I'm here for it. Thank you. All right, Marika. I'll just start with that. So yeah, it has actually been really exciting and super amazing. We actually got
00:15:14
Speaker
the offer at the same time it was like say 11 50 on a particular day 11 50 pm and then I got the I was in my power off preparing for a presentation actually and you know I legit screamed like you know this actually came through and then immediately I saw the I texted her for me like yo did you get emailed to us she's like yes I got emailed and we're like oh congrats congrats
00:15:39
Speaker
And we started talking about it. So after getting the initial meal that we were offered a position, we subsequently got more meals from the HR on what to do, processing our visa, the documents we needed to send, and all of those things. And it was really straightforward. They have been very helpful, they told you, in details, this is where you need to go. These are the documents we need.
00:16:08
Speaker
And yeah, so that had been really helpful. Coming to the United States of America, this is actually my first time flying outside of Nigeria. It was amazing, honestly.
Learning & Professional Growth
00:16:22
Speaker
The flight was quite long. I mean, it was like, I think, 14 to 16 hours and, you know, we're over Atlantic Ocean. So, you know, it was a pretty experience for me because it was something I have not experienced before and it was nice.
00:16:35
Speaker
We go here on Wednesday, 24th of May. We actually came together to go on the 24th of May. And then the internship was to start on 30th of May. So came like a week earlier, just so that we could get familiar with places around, you know, check out, you know, the distance from where we're going to stay to the office. And yeah, that's pretty much it. And then inside the office is super amazing. I don't know if I should talk about that now.
00:17:04
Speaker
But yeah, it's been super amazing inside the office. Everybody's really friendly. Everybody's open to answering your questions and helping you out with what you have to do. And we have a lot of coffee chats and informal conversations where you just get to meet people, you network, and you talk about things outside of work. So yeah, it has been a pretty experience for me. Oh, I was just shouting, oh, oh, oh.
00:17:32
Speaker
It's just so nice, like it just brings back some memories for me to like, it's always an amazing experience whenever you get an offer. I remember when I got my offer at Bank of America and I was in a random deal, I was in my house and then I got a call on my phone and when I found out, I just let it cry. So I kind of wondered how you felt to fool me over to you. Let's hear about your experience.
00:17:56
Speaker
Yeah, so for me, I was really excited about it, especially because that was the only international opportunity I actually applied for last year.
00:18:07
Speaker
So it was, I was very, very excited. The journey from, from actually getting it was also exciting and precious, like I was really covered it, the stress of sending the documentation. And for me, I had a particular issue and that was issue with getting an international passport. So I would say that anybody that is applying for an international opportunity, look at getting your passport, even if you're not sure that you're going to get the opportunity. Cause I went through a lot.
00:18:38
Speaker
It was really a lot. It was draining. I cried in the process. I even thought I was going to lose the opportunity because how can I call DHR and tell DHR that I do have an international passport and I actually applied for an international opportunity. So basically, it was exciting. The journey was long, like Precious said, about 16 hours and we're over the Atlantic Ocean.
00:19:04
Speaker
Um, in the plane, that was my first time entering the plane. And from Nigeria, now you would have gotten insights from people that have traveled and they would give you food in the plane and all of that. But I found myself in the plane and they gave me food. I could not eat it because it was different from the Nigeria food. Probably I was expecting there are no much low fries on the mall and all this normal food, but it was different. So I couldn't eat it. The transition, the weather was landing at Washington.
00:19:33
Speaker
We were expecting, as by the summer, we were expecting a weather that is just like Nigerian weather, or maybe a bit different from Nigerian weather, but it was really, really cold. How it feels like to be at the World Bank Treasury. It's actually amazing getting to work with people that are from different backgrounds, different countries. I can say I've met different people from about already. I've met different people from about 30 to 40 countries already.
00:20:01
Speaker
So it is amazing being in that space where you get to converse with people from different backgrounds, different countries, get to learn about their backgrounds. And one of the challenge I had in my first week was even getting to hear people when they speak, because the way they speak is different from the way we speak. So I tend to make more eye contact in order to be able to follow what they are saying.
00:20:27
Speaker
So everybody is welcoming at the World Bank. Everybody knows that we embrace diversity. So we know that people that we work with, they don't have the same experience as us. Everybody is really welcoming, ready to share their own experience, ready to have
00:20:42
Speaker
to network with you ready to build relationships so it has been really amazing being at the World Bank. Wow that is just so nice to hear and I'm happy that World Bank is a very diverse place as it should be anyways but it's just nice to hear your experience. I totally understand your whole like language barrier and just it's not a language barrier because you're both speaking English but then your English is not English anymore here
00:21:09
Speaker
And I laughed so hard when he talked about the food on the playoffs, like, oh my God. Oh yeah, but I'm so happy for you guys. And trust me, this is just the beginning of many amazing opportunities. I personally believe that everyone who has studied in Africa at some point in their life should actually experience something like this, get an opportunity outside of Africa, just to see that there is a whole world outside of where you live.
00:21:37
Speaker
interactive people from diverse cultures and backgrounds. It's actually an enriching experience and something that you cannot really pay for, like no amount of money can get you an experience like this. So just to put in the work and then you might be the next person going to World Bank. I'm curious to know how many people from Africa actually got this internship. We're the only two Nigerians who
00:22:04
Speaker
are currently interning there. What are the statistics like on that level? Yeah, so for the internship, it's just two of us, just Precious and I from Nigeria, but there's also one person from Tanzania. She said it's not Tanzania, that it's Tanzania. So I don't know if I pronounced that well, but there's also one person from Africa. Yeah, that's pretty much it. And we are just 16 interns. Wow, amazing.
00:22:34
Speaker
So you guys should be so proud of yourself. The only two from Nigeria. That's a very, very big deal. Precious. Looks like you want to add something. Yeah. So basically, I mean, I thought it's been just the two from Nigeria. We're actually still the only two from Africa because Nina from Tanzania actually schools in the US. So yeah,
World Bank Interview Process & Tips
00:22:54
Speaker
she's still within the African community. So we're actually still the only two from Nigeria and from Africa. We are super excited about it. Yeah.
00:23:06
Speaker
in a lot to the world. This is so, so amazing. Well, congratulations once again. So let's talk about the skills that you think helped you get this opportunity. I know you talk about the three step application process, the application, then the online assessment, and then your interview. I want to talk a bit about what the interview was like. And then we'll talk about the skills or anything generality that you think
00:23:33
Speaker
If I didn't have this, I wouldn't have been here. Or if I didn't do this in the past, I wouldn't have been here. For example, precious, I know you have, you currently hold the leadership position with the investment society and you have extracurricular activities. Both of you have extracurricular activities that you participate in in your lab, which is very, very important. So I want to know what skills helped you, apart from the fact that you're studying finance, obviously. I want to know what skills
00:24:04
Speaker
or experiences helped you. And please give me the juice of your interview. All right, thank you very much. So I'll just go first. Honestly, if I really know a member of the investment society, I do not think I'd have gotten this opportunity. Honestly, the exposure I got for being a member of the investment society is not something I can even start to explain, but we can always come back to that. So let's start with the interview. You get a mail and you have a list of possible
00:24:32
Speaker
of recruits as it could be speaking with. So first, what I did, I looked them up, there were like 60 names on that particular meal. So I looked up everybody and I just took a bit of notes about who this person is and maybe what they do at the bank. So that, you know, during the course of my interview, I'd actually be able to ask them questions about what they do at the bank.
00:24:52
Speaker
And, you know, that came out really helpful. So on the day of my interview, what I usually do, I don't have my interviews at home. Because you don't want your dad to just come in and say, oh, Precious, go get me food. So I do not have my interviews at home. And, you know, I had a friend and I always go to his apartment and he would just leave the place and I'll do my interview there. And so that was like a regular thing for me. So on that particular day, I got there early.
00:25:19
Speaker
I was, you know, doing my preparation, writing, you know, why do I want to be at the World Bank? You know, what are the values at the World Bank and all of those things? So my interview was really cool. It was for 30 minutes. I had three recruiters on the call, Robert, Sylvia and Victoria. And, you know, fortunately, I looked them up already. I knew what they did. And so it was very conversational. I was very relaxed.
00:25:44
Speaker
And, you know, three of them were smiling at me at every point in time. So it felt really good. There was no pressure. I was just, you know, talking about experiences, TIF, schoolwork, chess, and all of those things together. Unfortunately, Robert, one of my kids has also played chess. So, you know, we have like a chess lunch really soon. So, yeah, that, the interview process was very cool. They asked behavioral questions or,
00:26:11
Speaker
you know, talk about your time, you've worked in a team, and how we helped you, you know, what goal were you trying to achieve, and then you know how you're supposed to use the star approach to answer such questions. So interview was really good. Yeah, what's cues? What's cues are necessary? I mean, first of all, I think the fact you should have an interest in finance. Let's just start with that. If you have done
00:26:39
Speaker
you know, anything related to finance or you think you're interested in development or, you know, international finance and all of those things. I think it's very important that if you have, you know, that particular knowledge or a project around that is going to be very good for you to speak about it if you get the chance to. When it comes to technical skills, I would say, for me, one of my CVs that my proficiency in the years of Microsoft Office here as well as
00:27:08
Speaker
a bit of programming skills because they actually are to raise your proficiency in the use of certain software and applications. So if you know how to use Excel, you know how to use PowerPoint, you know how to use Python, I mean good for you to speak about it, talk about what you have to do using this particular programs or applications.
00:27:31
Speaker
If you do not have it, that's still not an issue. I think proficiency in Microsoft Office uses the basic or the bare minimum for anybody really. So you should be able to know how to use Excel and PowerPoint at the very least and then other programming skills if you have that. When I did my interview, I did not have any programming skills. It was after my interview, I started learning how to code.
00:27:59
Speaker
So that's it about the technical skills. And then when it comes to soft skills, your communication is very important. You need to be able to express yourself, talk about what you do, who you are, and what you want. So your communication skills are very important. Your interpersonal skills, can you work with other people? What is it like working with you or having you in a particular team? How do you behave when maybe you're trying to achieve a goal
00:28:29
Speaker
other people and it's not working out well, something like that. So your interpersonal and teamwork skills are very important and then you actually need to be proactive. Personally, for me, even before my interview, before my assessment, I was preparing for it. I wasn't waiting for the day they would send me a meal and then, you know, I have to just quickly do a two-day preparation kind of thing. So as I was sending in my CV, I knew there was
00:28:56
Speaker
and online assessment after I was getting ready for it, after the assessment, even before getting a response, I was also getting ready for the interview. I had this booklet, a very big book, and I was writing all my preparation down. What are the values at World Bank? What is this? What is that? So it is very important that you are proactive. And lastly, I'll say your ESCAL standards should actually be high. Be a person of integrity.
00:29:25
Speaker
Let people actually be able to say, oh, if you said this, then that is what it is. Thank you so
Lessons Learned & Support Systems
00:29:30
Speaker
much, Prashash. You've shared some really, really good, strong points there and I appreciate it. Let's hear from Fumi. Yeah, so just like Prashash said, the interview was really just to learn about us, to learn about our interest and what got us interested in working with the World Bank Treasury.
00:29:49
Speaker
You should be expressing questions around, tell me about yourself. Why do you want to work with us? What value would you have if you're given the opportunity to work with the World Bank Treasury? And really, it was really more of personal questions and just questions to learn about us. I really don't think I got any technical question. Behavioral questions, yes, or technical questions.
00:30:14
Speaker
on finance, no, I think they really feel that the assessments that they had already given us as don't justice to that. So for skills to have, let me start from knowledge. I believe that the knowledge of finance, the knowledge of research is very key. What you're going to be doing, like our major responsibility is just basically trying to let, they expect us to have had that basic knowledge.
00:30:43
Speaker
or just trying to get an advanced knowledge into what they do and what to have learnt in school actually applies in the workplace. Key skills is your communication skill, teamwork and right attitude to work generally. Thank you so much for me and precious for that. I think you guys covered the field and I've learned a lot from it. I totally agree with you on
00:31:08
Speaker
making sure that you are able to demonstrate your interest in something. It's not just about you saying, oh, I'm interested in this, but you having, you know, practical things to show. And just like for me it mentioned, you don't have to have done one big role or stepped into some pictures. Something as simple as just being a member of some society, an active member
00:31:30
Speaker
working on projects with the society for example the investment society can go a long way so thank you guys for that and also looking at the profiles of your interviewers like it's so important because that way you're able to know just gauge the experience this person has and know a bit about them you never know
00:31:49
Speaker
the direction your interview would stare into and you want to be ready for that. So it's always good to get familiar with them by going to their LinkedIn profiles just to get an idea of what level they are in the office. And you might even mention something that they haven't told you and that would make them know that, oh, this person actually took the initiative to look me up. It might be a plus for you in your interview. And also just looking at the profiles of previous interns, I'm so happy that
00:32:16
Speaker
And you touched on that because that can be super, super helpful. I remember Bocolata telling me about her experience when she interviewed with Bank of America. So it was the first time she was interviewing with them for the summer internship. And she was interviewing for a different role from what she eventually got. And I remember one of the questions she said she asked her interviewer is a question that is only if you've really spoken to people within the bank or you know, like you've read so much about the bank that you would know
00:32:46
Speaker
which is a question that is literally on the wall of the London office, what would you like the power to do? Now, if you hear that question, just know that that person knows something about Bank of America, or probably has worked there, or even has some ties with Bank of America, because that is not a question that you hear randomly, and just know that that has something to do with the bank. But I think her interviewers found it impressive that she knew about that question, and she asked them in the interview,
00:33:13
Speaker
Honestly, as someone working there, if I interview someone today and they ask me that question, I'd know that this person has done some level of research and that is just impressive. So thank you guys for taking our time to just go deep into, you know, the nitty gritty of what you need to do before you get this opportunity. And I'm happy that we're having this podcast episode and I hope it helps somebody secure this opportunity or even another opportunity because the tips you guys have given here are very relevant, not just for getting World Bank book,
00:33:42
Speaker
practically any opportunity that you're looking out for. You need to be proactive. I really liked the way your pressures addressed that. You literally need to be proactive about it. You don't need to wait for them to tell you, oh, your interview is tomorrow. I remember doing an interview with Goldman Sachs and these people sent me an email today for an interview that was in two days, but I had been preparing. I didn't wait for them to send that email, but it was just so abrupt and I had limited time to prepare for it. And so even in those two days, I reached out to people on LinkedIn who were working there
00:34:12
Speaker
to do mock interviews for me and within two days I was able to get five people to do mock interviews with me and give me feedback. Five people who work in the company. Now, the only way I could have done those mock interviews confidently and even had the confidence to reach out to five people to do mock interviews for me was because I had been preparing. So it's very important that you prepare for an opportunity before you even get it. I remember for me talking about how she didn't get an international passport and as now I advised everyone to please get an international passport.
00:34:42
Speaker
while you're trying to get an opportunity is also part of preparing. So preparation, you can never offer prepare for an opportunity because preparation you do for one might be what you need for the next opportunity. So no preparation is ever a waste of time. That
Role of University Societies
00:34:57
Speaker
said, my next question is, what lessons have you learned from the entire process? How lessons has this whole journey taught you? Okay, so to stick that first, lessons so far, very important. Yeah.
00:35:11
Speaker
The first thing I would say is, you know, not being afraid to put yourself out there, right? You know how they say, they would usually say, maybe your work will speak for you or something, something, something. I think you should actually speak for yourself. So yes, your work might speak for you, but that's also the fact of you being able to speak for yourself and putting out there what you do, what you're passionate about and where you want to go.
00:35:40
Speaker
So yeah, not being afraid to put yourself out there is very important. Another lesson is being able to ask questions. So you know how in the regular school environment in class, you're taking lectures, you don't want to look like the person that doesn't know something. And so I know students usually shy away from asking questions, not just in the classroom, but even in other like gatherings and events and stuff like that.
00:36:07
Speaker
Actually, very important. That's actually how you learn. If you're trying to figure something out and maybe you're trying to do it on your own and in the next, say, 20, 30 minutes, you've not figured it out, please ask questions. Don't wait until you know it's deadline. Don't wait until it's the last minute before you start asking questions and start saying, oh, I don't understand how this works. As soon as you
00:36:29
Speaker
if you don't understand, reach out to somebody. There's always somebody that would be happy to walk you through it, right? So ask questions, or just try to do your own research. So in as much as you want to be able to ask questions and learn from other people, it looks good. Or it feels good to know that, oh, you actually did your own research first before you are, you know, reaching out to ask questions so that you don't ask, you know, the very obvious question, right? So I mean, say, for example, you
00:36:58
Speaker
expect us to do, like, say, a rich and cheap analysis. And you don't know what that is. The first thing you do is actually check what rich and cheap analysis. That's the bare minimum you can actually do before you go ahead to say, oh, I don't understand, you know, maybe the interpretation or something like that. So do your own research. It always helps you. It helps you ask the right question, right? So it's do your own research and then ask questions, not the other way around.
00:37:24
Speaker
And then, you know, having, so for me, the investment society, the support from the investment society has been a lot over this whole period from when I submitted my CV, because even before submitting my CV and cover it, I had a couple of guys at the investment society help me review it and say, oh, you know, I think you should adjust this. I think you should adjust that. And so that's very important. So for me, the investment society has been
00:37:53
Speaker
a support system for me, they will help me to even be more accountable because I'm telling somebody, oh, I applied to this and they're asking you, okay, are we started getting ready for your interview, right? So you're not just waiting until that point in time before you start getting ready, right? So yeah, so don't be afraid to put yourself out there, ask questions, ask for feedback too, right? So you might think maybe you had to submit a particular task or do a presentation. So I had to do a presentation yesterday
00:38:23
Speaker
And it was something about current happening in the global financial market. And so after the presentation, I actually asked my mentor for a feedback on how I did. And then he gave me a feedback. He said, OK, your PowerPoint was perfect. This was perfect. But your LinkedIn words were not good enough. So you have a 9 over 10 for this particular presentation. When you do it next week, I want to see you do it better.
00:38:51
Speaker
Right. So, I know what's to improve on next week. So, it is very important that you ask for feedback, especially from, you know, people that already have the experience to be able to tell you, okay, you did this well, you did that well, but this can even be better.
00:39:05
Speaker
So I think that's pretty much it for me. Thank you so much Precious. I don't have a problem with people applying for many opportunities but it's actually very important for you to take out time to think about what you want for yourself and what aligns with your future goals and then go for those ones. So you see people just doing everything that they see. I don't think that's really a good idea but
00:39:30
Speaker
if the goal of you doing different things is to figure out what works for you or what you like and then that's totally fine because as a young person honestly I feel like you need to give yourself time to figure out what you want at the same time it's really important for you to take out time to
00:39:48
Speaker
figure out
Achieving Certifications & Future Plans
00:39:49
Speaker
what you like and what aligns with that and then go for it. And now speaking of the investment society, as much as this podcast is not limited to students of the University of Lagos but is very global and so anyone can listen to the podcast. A lot of our audience are in lots of them seeing as the two co-hosts of the podcast are alumni of the University of Lagos.
00:40:13
Speaker
So it would be nice to talk about the investment society, because I know that after this podcast episode, a lot of them are going to want to listen to it. And in lots of uni accidents are going to listen to this. So I'm just going to give pressure some time to speak about that. And then we would come to talking about chess, because I'm interested in learning about how you got interested in chess and all of that. And then on that note, we could just close the podcast. All right. Thank you very much, Veronica. I'll be more than happy to share.
00:40:42
Speaker
So the investment society, first off, is a live student-led society that seeks to bridge the gap between what you actually learn in the classroom, that theory, and what you would actually do when you get to the workplace. And that's the practical aspect of whatever you are doing. And so it's a multidisciplinary society open to all students at the University of Lagos. So you don't necessarily have to be studying accounting, finance,
00:41:09
Speaker
business administration for you to join. If you are studying engineering, if you're studying corporate affairs and you think you have an interest in finance or you actually just want to learn about what happens in the financial markets, then yes, the investment society serves as a good opportunity for you to learn that. So, we have various front office divisions and usually the idea is that
00:41:31
Speaker
What we do at the society is trying to replicate what is actually being done outside, you know, these transactions, these negotiations, these deals, the measures and acquisitions. How does it actually work? We get the details on, you know, we try to replicate such in the investment society. So we have different front office divisions. We have the investment banking, we have securities and trading, and then we have the alternative investment group. And those other guys are into like, say, real estate investment, private equity.
00:42:01
Speaker
and whatnot. Some of the facts, obviously, of being a member of the investment society comes from the learning opportunities. Every day, we have morning research meetings. We have morning research meetings by 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. During this research meeting, say about three to five people are expected to make presentations on different financial markets.
00:42:27
Speaker
could be a presentation on the US equity market that could be a presentation on the Nigerian fixed income market and whatnot. So you just try to you know somebody comes up make a presentation and other members ask questions and then give feedback to that person on you know how the presentation went and what the person could have done better. So doing this every day consistently for a period of time you just find out that after a while you
00:42:54
Speaker
You actually know what's happening. You're actually involved. You're commercially aware, right? You're able to make presentations on your own. You can project properly. You're PowerPoint. You're improving on it every day. So it's actually a very good platform for people to actually learn and showcase the idea, be creative about what is happening, and also give their opinion on what exactly is happening. So, I mean, the Fed is hacking rates.
00:43:21
Speaker
Inflation is on the high side. What do you think about it? How does it affect you as a person? So these are some of the things being a member would help you to learn about. And then there's also the aspect of being able to participate in the CFA equity research challenge or the CFA ethics challenge. So earlier this year I actually participated in the CFA national equity research challenge. And so it's basically
00:43:49
Speaker
a research challenge for university students where you have a team of five. You are given a particular company by the CFA team in Nigeria to do your research on and then prepare an equity research report. And you are expected to give a recommendation on that particular company, say a buy sell or a hold recommendation. And it was an amazing experience. So we took a lot of time. We did the financial analysis, financial modeling,
00:44:18
Speaker
ESG analysis, competitive positioning, and all of those things. So these things actually help you to improve, help you to learn, right? And this is some of the opportunities we get asked in the investment society. And then we also go out to office visits, right? We actually go to various offices. So sometime in May, we were at
00:44:42
Speaker
Karamo Capital. Yeah, we spoke with the CEO, Mr. Wadiya Deosho, and some other members of his team. So we just got to know about what they do, how they do it, and the opportunities available to members of the society at Karamo Capital, which was very insightful. So we also have partnerships with other organizations, such as Sandvik IVTC, effects commodities, and so on. So these are some of the perks
00:45:08
Speaker
or some of the advantages of being a member of the investment society that has helped me. I mean, going to these offices, making presentations, personality, getting feedback from other people have helped me grow over time, right? So it's very important that after pressing you, it might not necessarily be the investment society you want to train. There are other organizations or other student-led associations that access students
00:45:34
Speaker
you should be open to participating because it's not really enough for you to just come to school, get the good grades, and then leave school. You don't have any network. You didn't join any association. There's way more to life, like you rightly said, at the start of this conversation than just going to school and getting the good grades, right? So currently we are actually accepting applications, right? The Investment Society, University of Vegas is accepting applications and
00:46:03
Speaker
If you'd like to apply, you can just check us out on LinkedIn, the Investment Society, University of Vegas, and take your time to actually put in a good application, because trust me, this is actually a very competitive application too. So yeah, take your time to write your essays on putting in a very good application, and we'll be happy to review your application and have you join
00:46:26
Speaker
the society. So lastly, you know, just to give a big shout out to the founding members of the investment society. I mean, if you guys, if you guys didn't start this, I don't know. I don't know where I'll be right now. So yeah, thank you to the founding members of the society. Thank you to our advisor, Dr. Peter Amma. You've been super amazing, even in the process of coming to the World Bank where there are some glitches. So you've been super helpful. Thank you to the current
00:46:54
Speaker
executive team and the immediate executive team. You guys have been part of my group personally and I'm really grateful for the opportunity. I'm so happy. I don't know why but yeah I know that in love.
00:47:14
Speaker
people who have gone through the investment society have gone on to do amazing things for themselves so it's just so nice to see like an organization so dedicated to helping people grow and I had a couple of friends there when I was in here like and I used to see them in the morning
00:47:31
Speaker
sometimes by 6.30 a.m. around the amphitheater or the chapel area during the morning meetings around us, like, whoa, you guys. At some point, I actually considered joining them, but it happened to be a very tight period for me, and I knew that there was no way I could fit that into my schedule, but shout out to the Investment Society.
00:47:54
Speaker
just like I said. So I think it's actually important for us to talk briefly about how you guys got ICANN while in school because I know people do it, but I don't think it's easy because before now, I think now it's becoming more popular that people get their ICANN before graduating. But before now, people usually wait till they graduate before pursuing ICANN. It wasn't easy for me. I started
00:48:20
Speaker
in my second year like immediately we were reading for like second semester and um I basically got to know about it because I saw people I thought that you know people if people were reading more than I was reading right I'm like what are you guys reading for
00:48:37
Speaker
So I had no idea before then of what ICANN was, you know, the whole, and then I started asking about it when I saw people reading this beauty book and the green test book, you know, that was not the regular school test book. So I asked questions and people said, oh, if you can't do it when you're in school, just wait until after school. Some people said, oh, you can try. It's going to be difficult. But, you know, there's really no harm trying. And they were like, OK, I mean, it's just school really. So why not try? So, yeah, that's how I actually started.
00:49:08
Speaker
I'm really grateful for that particular journey, too, because it gave me a lot of exposure. The people I met, the knowledge I gained, right? So in your final level, you write this particular course, Strategic Financial Management. And I think that's when my interests started shifting away from accounting to finance or financial management. And that course was really tough, but it was super interesting. That's why I got to know about interest rate parity, currency, cross-exchange, and all of those things.
00:49:38
Speaker
It was really interesting, but it was a lot to combine with school. Trust me, because after you have your regular school classes Monday to Friday, you go for, you know, tutorial. I was doing tutorials, and we had like tutorial from like 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. It wasn't funny. Trust me. And so, yeah, shout out to password professionals. Those guys are really good. They let trust them. They're super helpful. Even, you know, outside of school of ICANN work, I could talk to some of my lecturers at
00:50:08
Speaker
for a password about what was happening in school and how to basically navigate through. So it was really helpful and some of the alumni even from the tutorial center were also helpful in getting an internship, talking to them about your interest in investment banking and all of those things. So there were people in the industry that were also taking the exams that I could speak to
00:50:35
Speaker
So that exposure was actually very important for me. So yeah,
Chess Passion & Final Thoughts
00:50:39
Speaker
it wasn't easy, trust me, but God did it. God did it for real here. So that's it. Interesting. It's just good that you didn't listen to those people that told you, oh, you did so it, you can do that with school. And I'm happy that right now you guys have it. I'm just curious to know if you guys are considering pursuing ACCA as well.
00:51:05
Speaker
All right. So thank you for that question. Um, so for me, I don't think I would be pushing on, you know, a sophistication in ACC for now. I mean, I might actually consider it in the future. I think, um, considering the fact that I'm actually shifting away from accounting to, uh, the finance and development space, I think, uh, the CFA program would be much more relevant to what I'm planning to do. And, you know, um, even giving me, giving me more exposure.
00:51:34
Speaker
Right. SSA is something I could still consider. I would definitely consider, but that would be after my CFA program because as an ICANN student, you actually don't have to, or as a graduate member of ICANN, you actually do not have to write all the subject or all the courses in SSA. You have, you know, some sort of exceptions because you already have prior knowledge about what they do. So, yeah, SSA would be the future.
00:52:02
Speaker
Now, for now, I think I'd like to focus on staffing and computing my CFA level. And SSA would be mostly because of the network I'm going to be in, in being a part of that community. Because, I mean, across the knowledge base, there's, you know, there are exclusive benefits you actually get when you're a member of such organizations. So yeah, that's pretty much it for me. Okay. Finally, I would like to ask one
00:52:32
Speaker
question about other opportunities with the World Bank, because I know this podcast was mainly about the Treasury internship. But I know that when I was an undergraduate, I applied for the LEGO internship. And it's OK if you guys don't know much about other opportunities there. But I know that they have other divisions that people could apply to. Do you know anything about other undergraduates slash post?
00:53:00
Speaker
Do you know if they have other undergraduate and graduate opportunities? So I'll just make a very clear distinction. Usually when you say World Bank, World Bank refers to IBRD and IDA, but the World Bank group refers to all five organizations under the World Bank group. So for the World Bank, this is actually only the undergraduate internship they have. That's just one at the Treasury. That's the only undergraduate internship. There's actually also a
00:53:30
Speaker
a postgraduate internship, but I'm not sure what team is in charge of that. And then when you look at, you know, the whole World Bank group, you know, there's also ISC and there's MIGA. So ISC also has an internship for MBA holders. Yeah, so they have an internship with MBA holders. So I think that's the most I'm aware of. Or you can always, you know, check the website. They have quite a lot of information there about different opportunities available.
00:53:59
Speaker
Thank you so much. So I hope all these notes can benefit from that. Thank you. And now back to chess. Precious, I'm so curious to know how you got into playing chess and your work with chess in slum in Nigeria. All right. Thank you, Veronica. So we're happy to share. So to be very honest, I went to Queen's College, Queen's College Yaba, and we had a chess coach.
00:54:27
Speaker
So, you know, once a while, you just go there, you play chess. And I had this group of friends who would go there and play or learn, then we're still learning. So we'll learn very well and then we'll just go back to our dormitory and stuff like that. For every game, anytime we go for this training or learning program, anytime you win a game, you get Zubo and Samosa. Yeah, Zubo and Samosa.
00:54:54
Speaker
me and my group of friends, we started going more often so that we could get Zubu and Samosa. So, honestly, that was it. It was for Zubu and Samosa initially. And then, you know, eventually I actually, um, my interest interest, you know, just sort of came out there and I started playing. I started representing the school. I started taking out more time even when I'm not studying to actually read chess books, right? So, um,
00:55:24
Speaker
I went for local tournaments. I went outside of Lego State for, you know, other inter-state tournaments and it has really been good. Sometimes, you know, after Queens College, I think just before my year one, I was part of the top 10 female players in Nigeria. I think I was like, you know, on spot eight. And then at that point, I'm like, you know what, I'm going to be a professional chess player. I'm going to be the first
00:55:52
Speaker
woman-grandmaster in Nigeria because in Nigeria right now we do not have a chest WGM. WGM meaning the woman-grandmaster. So at that point you know I was very optimistic about my chest goal. I still am, trust me. Yeah so I wouldn't be the first woman-grandmaster. I still want to be actually. I mean nobody has hit that spot yet. But yeah and then you know going into the University of Lagos
00:56:21
Speaker
We have, you know, the male team and then we have the female team. The male team very strong, they train all the time and all of those things. The female team was practically non-existent. Like, anytime we had a tournament I had to do, maybe like an international school, we had to beg female players to come and say, like, you know, you know, the idea is just there for us, but then I sort of changed that. I started
00:56:44
Speaker
organizing regular training, because the reason why some of them didn't want to play was they didn't like the idea of losing. And it was because, obviously, they were not taking out time to read chess books or watch videos and all of those things. So I had to take out time to make sure that everybody that was in the female chess team would read books, would watch videos together. And so that when we have competition, we can actually participate in it. And so last year, yeah.
00:57:14
Speaker
uh last year we had uh new graph yeah the Nigerian university games and um we represented the University of Vegas I had so that you know you play as you play as an individual and then you play as a team right so for the team after all our trainings and watching those videos we actually came out fourth out of about uh 25 schools that participated we were fourth and on my board I actually wanted gold medal so yeah
00:57:42
Speaker
Chess is a very huge part of my life. I also volunteer with chess in Storm Africa, where I use chess to change the narrative of kids in not the best societies. And we go there, we teach them how to teach chess, we organize competitions, and we talk to them outside of chess about paying attention in school, taking their education seriously, and we give them
00:58:10
Speaker
and counseling, even outside of CHESS. So yeah, CHESS in Film Africa. Shout out to everybody that is able to volunteer, and even the executives at the CHESS in Film Africa. Everyone is doing a really great job. Yeah, so that'll be it for CHESS. And I'm also looking to play a CHESS that I met even in DC. I actually registered for one, so hopefully I get to play a CHESS that I made before I leave here.
00:58:40
Speaker
Amazing, little wonder you're called Stargirl, like it makes sense right now. Thank you to me and thank you Precious for taking out time to be here with me on this podcast episode. I had a great time listening to you both and I'm rooting for you
00:58:59
Speaker
You guys are doing amazing and I'm so proud to be from the same uni as you. And the world is just your oyster and the sky is your starting point. Thank you. I believe our listeners can connect with you both on LinkedIn. So their full names are Uluwa Fumilayo Udusunwoo and Precious Uzegbe on LinkedIn. Feel free to connect with them. And have a beautiful week. Bye.