Looking back two months, comparing what I knew then and what I know now, my knowledge of finance and Search/PE funds has completely transformed. Ellery Partners has allowed me to gain real finance experience during a summer of great uncertainty. The hands on experience I had at Ellery and the relationships I was able to develop have put me in a position where I feel like I am narrowing down what I want to do for my career.

I’ve had the opportunity to learn in detail about niche industries, interact with brokers, and talk to CEOs directly. Each week I got to watch all of the interns present on specialized industries within the Ellery search criteria. Even if they aren’t a great fit, you are encouraged to find these niche industries and my eyes have been opened to dozens of industries I had never heard of prior to Ellery.

More recently, I was provided the opportunity to build LBO and DCF models with real professionals in the field. Learning how to model from former investment bankers at top firms, I feel so much more confident than I did before the internship. That is the single most important thing I can draw from this internship–my confidence has grown significantly. When you present every week, review deals on the pipeline, and interact with professionals in the field, your confidence rises naturally. Although all virtual, I look back on my first few industry pitches and can see tremendous improvement in my presentation skills and familiarity with buzz words in finance.

I have developed genuine relationships at Ellery that will last for much longer than a summer. You spend a lot of time with your assigned partner talking about how to handle the workload each week and what interesting pitches you are thinking of. I had the chance to personally get to know my teammate and develop a relationship outside of the work environment. No matter how busy the team was, I could always find a helping hand to solve problems. I am very grateful for my experience at Ellery and the lessons I have been taught along the way and would recommend the experience to anyone interested in a career in finance.