Student Profile: Human Capital

Adriana Mochon '11
Pre-SOM: Morgan Stanley
Summer Internship: Thomson Reuters

I'm originally from Brazil and came to the United States to pursue my undergraduate studies in applied mathematics and economics. After college, I headed directly to Wall Street and worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley, in New York, and in Frankfurt. It was quite a learning experience to work with large corporate clients, and to understand how their leaders make decisions and think strategically about the financial future of these organizations. But what truly intrigued me was the inner workings of the firms, the smaller scale decision making that actually drives companies forward day to day. I quickly discovered that my passion lay more within general management.

After my time as an analyst, I became an associate in investment banking management. I worked for a senior officer who thought strategically about the firm’s junior professional population around the world. And that really opened my eyes to a lot of new professional avenues that I hadn't thought about before. Within general management, for example, I became very interested in human capital and how strategic talent management can add value to an organization. These new and exciting personal discoveries urged me to rethink my career goals and ultimately motivated me to apply to business school.

This summer I am interning at Thomson Reuters in their summer associates program. The internship is a segue into a two-year leadership development program, in which MBA graduates get to experience four distinct business areas — and locations — within the firm. The idea is that innovative and effective leadership requires individuals to understand the relationships and synergies between different parts of a business. And so in developing future business leaders, it’s quite valuable to help them build a diverse set of experiences and perspectives.

I have a lot of interests and aspirations. And what I love most about the Yale SOM community is how genuinely accepted and cherished that is. During my second year, I hope to explore organizational behavior, marketing, and entrepreneurship in more depth. I also have a strong interest in learning about development, specifically about common business practices in less developed countries and about the role of socially responsible for-profit businesses in the process of economic advancement.

Interviewed on April 6, 2010.