August 2018
GPP Summer Intern Class of 2018: Lessons Learned, Baseball and Free Lunch
This summer, GPP signed up its inaugural summer intern class. We had four interns with us over a two-month period: Taylor J. (Tulane), Jessica (University of Maryland), Alex (Yale) and Connor (Boston College). Before they said their goodbyes, GPP put them through their paces. Each of them made a big contribution to our firm during their internships and took the first step in a career in financial communications.
GPP asked them some questions on how the internship went compared with their expectations and what they learnt along the way.
Q: What did you know about financial communications or GPP before you started your internship?
Alex
I initially learned about the financial communications industry in a business journalism class that I took last year, but I still had a lot of questions about what the work might consist of on a day-to-day basis. I knew that GPP was a new firm staffed by seasoned journalists and PR professionals, so I was excited to learn from them.
Connor
I knew that financial communications are at the intersection of things I like to learn about—journalism and the finance world—but I didn’t know that it can involve such a variety of projects and topics.
Q: What were your expectations coming into the role? How has the experience surprised you?
Connor
I’ve been surprised by the sheer breadth of issues we’ve worked on. One minute you could be looking at SEC filings to research a hedge fund’s investments, the next you could be helping to find and summarize news coverage for a client or putting together a case study on a company. On any given project, you’ll not only learn a tremendous amount about companies in a variety of industries, but also about how banking, private equity, or activist hedge funds work, as well as the media landscape they all operate in.
Jess
As an intern, I expected that I would be helping with the basics around the office, but at GPP you’re a part of the team. This surprised me because I was making an impact on projects that the team was working on, and I did not think I would have been doing that as an intern.
Q: What was your favorite activity this summer?
Taylor J.
There were so many activities we had the opportunity to participate in, but my favorite would be visiting the New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE was amazing because the environment of the trading floor was not what I expected at all. I expected a hectic atmosphere where everyone was screaming and running around, but our experience was exactly the opposite. We had the opportunity to talk with one of the governors of the floor, witness the closing bell and see the president of NYSE in real life which was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Jess
My favorite activity this summer was definitely a scavenger hunt the team organized in Midtown. Even though my team was sprinting throughout the city and I was dripping sweat, I still had the best time with them. I was able to bond with my teammates and overall it was a great way to get to know the people that you’re working with.
Q: What was the most interesting thing you learned and how do you think it will benefit you in your future career?
Alex
As Steve Lipin told us, “this is a people business.” The importance of investing in relationships, which I learned from witnessing firsthand the thoughtfulness and energy that goes into that work at GPP, is something that I’ll carry with me. I think it’s a lesson that’s universally applicable, no matter where I work or what I do my future career.
Taylor J.
I learned so much more than I expected to over the span of one summer. Apart from being introduced to search tools like the Bloomberg Terminal, I learned how to communicate and work as a team alongside the other interns. Those are two skills that will benefit me in my future career because I have realized that working together as a team accomplishes so much in a more efficient and effective manner compared to working alone. By working as a team, we were able to learn from each other every day by giving and receiving meaningful feedback and learning from our mistakes.
Q: What gif or meme would you choose to describe your time at GPP?
Jess
