DePaul MBA/IMF Program

Review these "Day in the Life of...," then take a look at

The Curriculum, or
What a Typical Week of classes and lectures might be.

What kind of experiences you might have on the internship, with diaries from the following students:

Ece Bennett(ABN AMRO, United States)
Amy Christopher(UNCTAD, Switzerland)
Stacy Deming (Affinity Logic, South Africa)
Jennifer Eickelberg(Nabisco, Ecuador)
Andrew May(Citibank, United Kingdom)
Rebecca Nakamura(SI Associates, Singapore)
Lana Natalchenko(BANKONE, United States)
Amy Shang(Mercedes Benz, United States)

A Week in the Life of an MBA student on an internship:

Lana Natalchenko
Internship with: BANKONE, Chicago, Illinois

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10

Week 1 (Posted on June 19, 2000)
The Orientation session the new employees and interns attended during the first day gave us some insight into the BankOne's structure, work ethics and employee benefits. This session did not clarify though the expectations of me as an intern in the Capital Markets: Private Placement and High Yield Finance division. So, I struggled with uncertainty for another night. On Tuesday, I gathered the knowledge, stored in my head and in 4 books (Money and Banking, Corporate Finance, Investments and Financial Accounting) and prepared to enter the uncharted waters (for me at least) of the internship experience.

After a week on the job, I have learned that in order to work with managers who make the deals for issuing Private Placement and High Yield Bonds, I have to be a expert in Financial Statements Analysis, all the peculiarities of the Foreign Currency SWAPS, Government Regulations of Securities operations, Power Point, and Excel. Sounds great and challenging! To have some experience with the above-mentioned things is one thing, to be a expert is another. What is wonderful about this division however, is that the managers who hire young analysts have to train them. So, after analyzing my strengths and weaknesses, I pulled up my sleeves and plunged into reviewing Training Manuals and all those fat textbooks I brought with me.

Week 2 (Posted on June 27, 2000)
Although the markets for Private Placement and High Yield finance have been slow this year,the appetites of investors are keeping the department I am working in very busy. During the second week I worked on the presentation for a company interested in private debt issuance. The goal of the presentation was to represent BankOne Capital Markets Division and its impressive experience in the Private Placement and High Yield areas. Additionally, the presentation included financial analyses, debt rating, industry comparisons and market conditions.

I am happy to report that my school experiences with Power Point and Excel during our projects became an invaluable tool. There is no time to learn those skills here! The work is challenging and requires a lot of attention to detail, but it feels terrific to find practical applications to the skills we learn in school.

Everybody is already talking about the Taste of Chicago Food Festival and the Independence Day celebrations. My colleagues are happy to share their experiences and advice on how to enjoy these events to the fullest. I will share my impressions with you in just 2 weeks!

Week 3 (Posted on July 5, 2000)
I would like to share a few details about the Corporate Culture at Bank One Capital Markets Division. Meetings are an essential part of it. Every Monday, managers from all the departments at Capital Markets both in Chicago and Detroit set up a Conference call to update each other on the latest Debt Issuance and planned deals. On Tuesdays, a conference call is set up between the Private Placement and High Yield Groups in Chicago and Detroit to discuss the results of negotiations, business trips, planned deals and work in process. Capital Markets is a huge division and a lot of events are taking place even on the same floor. Therefore, I find meetings, although routine, very useful in keeping myself up-to-date with credit markets.

I think that Dress Code is a part of the Corporate Culture as well. I noticed that in Ukraine, we also had official attire in the areas where employees meet with customers and business casual in other areas. It seems to me that business dress code is pretty much universal around the world.

When I was learning about BankOne and going through the interview process, I thought that teamwork would be a part of my everyday life. Once on the job, I realized that analysts are independent workers here, so why would the ability to be a team player be such an important requirement for the position? Well, it comes in handy when the fate of the project is on the line and deadline pressure calls for cooperation.

Week 4 (Posted on July 10, 2000)
My 4th week at the bank started with the Taste of Chicago on July 3rd. Armed with sunglasses and forgetting about healthy diet for one day, my colleagues and I went to experience the famous 20-year-old feast. As it turned out, we were not the only people, who decided to have a gourmet lunch on Monday afternoon, so we had to join the crowds and lines. But it was worth it!

Because of the variety of food represented and attracting smells attacking us from all directions, it took us a long time to decide how to divide the space in our stomachs. Finally, we tried Mexican, Italian Chinese and Southern-American dishes, added some beer and spiced it all with good humor and stories of all kinds. Cinnamon rolls and Cheese cakes with strawberries added a final delightful touch to our feast.

I started the 4th of July with jogging along the lakefront so that the Taste of Chicago would not stay with me forever. Morning was nice and cool, but the sun did not come out and thick fog was gradually creeping from the lake. The weather was not really understanding of the importance of clear skies on Independence Day. Fortunately, the fog cleared a bit towards the night and my friends and I ventured to see the beautiful breathtaking fireworks that Navy Pier is so famous for.

Navy Pier, and Chicago in general, is a tourist destination and a wonderful place to visit on a long week-end as there are so many sightseeing attractions, museums, boat cruises on Chicago river and Lake Michigan. Add this to the Taste of Chicago food festival and any other city is not even an option for a long week-end. City authorities announced a red alert because of all the people and highly recommended everyone to use public transportation if possible.

We are not particularly crowd friendly people, but on the 4th of July there was something special in the air. The spirit of joy and pride for the country united thousands of people gathered at the lakefront of Lake Michigan in Chicago. To me, the celebration of Independence Day is meant to carry a noble mission - to honor those who fought for freedom and to remind the living that in many places of the world this struggle is not over. Next week: more about projects I am working on at BankOne.

Week 5 (Posted on July 17, 2000)
During my 5th week at the bank I was assigned two projects on Private Placement and High Yield debt issuance. Each project involves:

1) Financial analysis and Debt rating
2) Pricing Sheet with company description, discussion of the financial trends, industry and competition
3) Deal specification and finally
4) Power Point presentation "pitch" book

I already had an opportunity to work on all of the above-mentioned parts for various projects, but I have not been responsible for a whole project yet. The markets are not very active at this time and I have two weeks to finish my work. When financial activity picks up in the fall and winter analysts may have to complete a project a day! It just means they sleep here. Well, "cest la vie" in this department - exciting and very challenging!

Week 6 (Posted on July 25, 2000)
This week I attended two very interesting and informative events at the Bank.

On Monday Standard & Poor's Rating Agency gave a presentation to Bank One Capital Markets. The speakers specifically elaborated on the development and expansion of the S&P business. For example, I learned that the Agency is currently involved in rating all kinds of debt instruments - public, private, bank loans, etc. Yet, just a few years ago it used to be a very focused conservative organization with "one size fits all" approach, which means the Agency provided single, undifferentiated product. Now S&P is even rating the companies with no public debt outstanding. Additionally, it provides various tools to help companies manage their credit ("Rating Evaluation Service") and tools to help bankers and investors "do credit" (Credit Outsourcing, Credit Training, Credit Models, etc).

The number of companies rated by S&P in 1999 was 45 times higher than in 1995. This is a huge increase that also demonstrates the development of the world financial markets and growing investors' demands. The speakers also explained the models S&P is using for debt and company rating, as well as the general administrative process. Overall this presentation greatly contributed to my deeper understanding of the rationale behind the debt rating models the Private Placement and HighYield Group is currently using.

On Wednesday I attended Bank One Women's Networking Group Event that consisted of presentation followed by a Q&A session. The speaker was an extremely charismatic African-American woman who made a successful 10-year career at Bank One and then established her own business - a mutual fund. She shared her experience with managing her job and family, and her thoughts about career building and working environment for women. I learned that Bank One Women's Networking Group is a very active organization that provides a lot of interesting information and networking opportunities. I think that relationships build through the events arranged by the Group will be mutually beneficial and enjoyable. I am finishing to work on the two projects assigned to me 2 weeks ago and looking forward to the new deals.

Week 7 (Posted on August 1, 2000)
It is amazing how many free tennis courts are available to people in the Chicago suburbs! All you need is to know how to play. I think these tennis courts had a silent influence over my husband and me. Somehow we became tennis fans. From now on nothing can draw us away from the TV when a Championship is on! So, Sergiy took tennis classes in June and I decided to join him last week. The classes take place at night and close to our home in Evanston, which is very convenient.

Last Saturday' s night was very special in Chicago - it was a Venetian night. My friends and I ventured to the Grant Park to enjoy the boats parade and fireworks. Never in my life have I seen such a variety of big and small boats and yachts so close to the shore. They all were beautifully decorated and gracefully cruised along the lakeshore. One of them won the hearts of the jury and got the grand prize. I bet the jury had a very difficult call! How can you judge art and beauty?

This warm night attracted hundreds of people to the downtown. They conversed in so many different languages that we even heard Ukrainian and Russian.

As the time of the fireworks approached we hurried to take a few spots right on the edge of the water. I have seen fireworks many times already, but this spectacular show of light, color and sparkles made an unforgettable impression. The crowd screamed and applauded to the artists who kept splashing the skies with glamorous colors. We walked along the lakefront for another hour admiring the boats, enjoying the music and celebrations. This night has recharged us with good mood and energy for the whole week. So many people have told me that summer in Chicago is wonderful! It really is!

Week 8 (Posted on August 10, 2000)
During this week I had to analyze British financial statements. This is when Financial Analysis Project for an international company we did for Dr.Needles came in use. Back in the Fall of 1999 my classmate Rebecca Nakamura (who is sending us her fascinating stories from Singapore this summer) and I have tried to bring British Telecom annual statements anywhere close to GAAP. This way we could enter the numbers into the accounting model for analysis. We also deciphered that "stock" in the UK statements means "inventory" and has nothing to do with common equity. Additionally, "reserves" in the UK correspond to "retained earnings" in the US. Knowledge of the above mentioned peculiarities served me well at work.

I have acquired some additional skills this weekend. My friends and I happened to go to the bowling club and had a lot of fun there. I already had an idea of how to throw the ball and now I have an idea of how to keep the score. Last winter Class 2000 and Class 2001 had a nice "get together" at the bowling club called "Lucky Strike". We should arrange another party with Class 2002 and keep that tradition!

Week 9 (Posted on August 22, 2000)
Time is flying by so quickly! It seems as if I just started to work at the Bank, but at the same time I learned and experienced so much that our last Spring quarter is such a distant past.

My work has been successful so far and I was very glad to received positive feedback. Last week I was assigned a new project dealing with an Australian company. It takes a while to decipher international financial statements, but I am becoming much better at it now. While working on my assignments I had an opportunity to review several different industries and gained very useful skills using the Bloomberg database.

Last week I also had a chance to follow the bidding process for the deal. On behalf of the Company bankers at Capital Markets sent pitch books to several institutional investors. They had 2 weeks to review the books and decide whether they are interested in buying the Private Placement financial instruments. Interested investors called the bankers and placed their bids, sometimes requesting changes to the covenants of the deal. It is up to the bankers and the company to pick the investors and a lot of negotiation and self-interest comes into play.

Week 10 (Posted on August 22, 2000)
This week was busy and hectic as always. It was very hard to believe that I have already spent 10 weeks at the Bank. But nothing is as rewarding as the feeling of accomplishment and a job well done. I learned a great deal during my internship and met a lot of interesting people.

I believe that summer internship is a crucial part of our MBA / IMF program, because it enables students to plunge into the business environment and receive a first hand experience that can never be acquired in a classroom or learned from others.

So, a few more days and we will welcome the Class of 2002, share our experience and advice, and aim our hard work towards academic achievements during the final School year!