Weekly Report (September 30th to October 6th)

● ​Monday 09/30​:
○ ​Completed the final draft of the resume with
all the improvements
○ ​Practiced networking and interviewing for
Business Symposium
● ​Tuesday 10/01​:
○ ​Practiced interviewing and memorized the answers to
commonly asked questions
● ​Wednesday 10/02:
○ ​Business Symposium
○ ​Networked with professionals and learnt
about skills required to thrive in a professional
environment
○ ​Completed two interviews with professionals
and received feedback
○ ​Learned what is needed on a good resume
through the presentation
○ ​Got an idea of what ISM journey is like by
talking to ISM alumni
● ​Thursday 10/03​:
○ ​Confirmed the interview with Mr. Ryan
Elmore on October 5th, at Nerdvana at
1pm.
● ​Friday 10/04​:
○ ​Talked about Business
Symposium and received
reflections
● ​Saturday 10/05 - Sunday 10/06​:
○ ​Interview with Mr. Ryan Elmore
○ ​Watched Ted Talk to gain a better
understanding of FinTech and AI’s impact
on FinTech
○ ​Completed Research Assessment #3
○ ​Completed Weekly Progress Blog #3
Reflections
:

This week, I got my first taste of a professional setting at the Business Symposium.
During the networking session, Mr. Anurag Sinha emphasized on how important reliability and
delivering on your promise is. Another take away from the networking session was that it is
important to build connections in different fields. Mr. Felix Menses built connections with
everyone in the group. For instance, he said me and Sanjay could create a machine together.
Another person there was in sales and he could sell the product. I thought these connections in
different careers can really help me in the future. Moreover, I reflected on the feedback I got
from my interviews. I learned that I had to slow down and relax. On top of that, I need to be
more engaging by asking more related questions. I plan on working on this feedback and get
better results next time.

I also had an interview with Mr. Ryan Elmore, who is a priority contact. During the
interview, I came across the term FinTech, which led to me doing my research on that term.
After research, I am considering exploring this area. FinTech uses knowledge in AI and finance
to make predictions and improve a client’s financial experience.

I learnt more about AI and how Mr. Elmore used AI and data science to better predict the
needs of a company. His clients work in various industries like food, finance, oil and gas, etc. He
emphasized the importance of internships and experience in the professional environment.
Courses on Coursera can help me get some high level internships this summer, and I plan on
doing that.

What could I have done better? / Goals for next

week​:

I need to improve my interview skills by reflecting on the feedback given by the interviewers. I
also need to better manage my time as I am procrastinating a lot. Furthermore, I need to start
making calls to professionals, or I will fall behind. I also need to better conduct interviews by asking
questions that relate to the information given.

My goals for next week are as follows:

● To contact more than half of my remaining contacts

● To improve interview skills based on given feedback
● Keep grinding and finish the 9 weeks with a bang.

● To learn more about the field of AI