As I am nearing the halfway point of my internship, I am glad to have the opportunity to reflect on how far I’ve come over the past five weeks. My internship at Cohen & Company is not only my first internship experience, but my first time working in an office at all. As I approached my first week, I had no idea what to expect and though I was excited to get started, I was super nervous as well. However, these nerves were alleviated quickly once I realized how welcoming and understanding everyone is at the firm.
My internship is within the assurance team in the Registered Funds Group, so I have been working on audits focused on the investment industry. Prior to starting, I didn’t even know what a registered fund was, let alone how to do an audit of one, but I caught on quickly.
As I began training during the first week, I was so overwhelmed. I never thought I would be able to remember all the information they told us and thought I was doomed from the start! However, as I started working, some of the items covered during training came back to me and, looking back, there was no reason to be overwhelmed. The more I’ve worked, the more I’ve learned and been able to connect back to training. I even went back and reviewed one of the training sessions after using much of that information in my job already, and I was amazed at how confused I was such a short time ago and how far I’ve come.
None of that growth would be possible without the fact that Cohen & Company places so much trust in their employees. I never would have imagined I’d have the opportunity to do so much work on an actual audit as an intern. I am so lucky to have this learning opportunity and am thankful for everyone at the firm believing in me, despite my lack of experience. The trust they have shown in me will allow me to improve greatly in my work.
My biggest lesson throughout my internship so far is that anything is attainable with determination and enough help. I am so lucky that everyone at Cohen & Company is so approachable and willing to help with whatever the interns need. I know I can go to almost anyone and they will be happy to help, which has been super reassuring. Multiple times I have gotten a task from someone and taken my first look at it and been overwhelmed. However, I have found that taking the time to look at it in detail versus “big picture” makes it seem much more attainable, and I can always ask questions!
I truly have met so many incredible people, both my fellow interns and everyone else at Cohen & Company. I have never met a group of people so welcoming and genuinely interested in getting to know me. From day one, I have talked and met with other interns that I could reach out to with simple questions or questions about the internship structure. Furthermore, I am so lucky to have been able to get to know some of the staff and seniors, and even some of the managers and partners! Through learning buddy lunches, casual lunches with registered funds employees and after work get togethers, there have been so many opportunities to network in a casual setting and really get to know everyone here, which I greatly appreciate.
I cannot express enough gratitude for the opportunities my internship has provided thus far, both in and out of the office. I could not have asked for a better first internship experience and cannot wait to see what is to come over the next five weeks!
Kaitlyn Nock, The Ohio State University