My Internship Experience at Cervello

In spite of being a remote internship experience, I felt fully welcome and was exposed to the workplace ethics which made me see what actually goes on in the financial planning profession.

The journey started the day I learnt I was selected for the interview round. I was awarded with the opportunity to engage in the practical application of the theories I had learned before.

From the first day I was provided with clear guidelines of what the weekly targets were and what was expected of me. I fully immersed in the process right from the beginning and the synergy involved in the process was immense. I have learned so much about using surveys as a part of setting this up and I’ve learned to operate the survey software ‘Survey Monkey’. Although I often called it ‘Monkey Survey’ which made both Chris and myself burst into laughter. 

I enjoyed the gradual progression of each week towards the successful completion of the white paper reports. I realised how important it was to think about our own thought processes and how respondents might answer to design the survey as effectively as possible.

During the 4 weeks, I used LinkedIn to connect with people and prepared reports on the analysis of the survey results which has further developed my presentation and analytical skills. 

I was also fortunate to become the part of the monthly meeting of the Cervello ‘inner circle’ organised with other renowned professionals including Chartered Accountants, Solicitors and Financial Planners where the group talked about how they could specifically help and support clients using their own unique knowledge and skills. 

On successful completion of the active discussion, I was asked to prepare the minutes which made me reflect upon the various aspects of the case study and appreciate different perspective of people on the same topic. The internship did provide me with a chance to work with seasoned professionals which elevated the overall experience at Cervello.

This internship opportunity has advanced my email and telephote etiquette, self-confidence and awareness of a workplace helping me improve my soft skills.

The digital collaborative tool ‘Zoom’ never let me feel that this was a remote experience rather a flexible internship experience. I am extremely thankful to Charlie, Chris, Russell, Cassie and the rest of the Cervello team for providing me with this valuable opportunity and for mentoring me towards positive change. It has given me countless opportunities to grow and learn throughout the process with continuous support and inspiration from people. 

I now look forward to utilising this knowledge gained in real world by immersing myself completely in full-time working in a graduate program focusing on investment management and financial planning. Apart from that I also want to continue to enhance my professional qualifications.