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Connie Trinh

Internships as a student at NYU Abu Dhabi show you what you like and what you don't like. I still don't know what I'll be doing in 10 years, but already I can strike out a lot of options. Getting good (internship) opportunities really helps you understand what you want, or what you don't want.

At NYUAD, I declared my major early: economics and finance, and a minor in math. I was very into the whole idea of investment banking. So, I prepared myself for that.

Getting good (internship) opportunities really helps you understand what you want, or what you don't want.

Connie Trinh, Class of 2014
 

I interned with Ernst & Young in Abu Dhabi during my sophomore summer

Then I went back to Vietnam to do an internship at VinaCapital, the country's biggest mutual fund. I exposed myself to different angles in the finance industry, to see what I liked.

The next summer I went to New York and interned at HSBC there, on the trading floor. That was the thing I'd been trying for, for so long — to intern on Wall Street; working toward a full-time job there.

But by the end of that internship I realized that maybe it’s not for me, just in terms of personality. The finance industry is great. But each industry requires a certain sort of personality … I couldn't see myself doing investment banking by a few years after college.

Finding the Right Fit

At the end of the day, it's your life, you do what you feel happy about the impact you are generating, not doing what everyone else is.

So I said 'OK, what’s the next cool thing?' You have consulting, and tech firms. I didn't know anything about consulting. And I was not a computer science major or anything, either, but I applied to Google Singapore and got a job with Google AdWords, helping advertisers optimize their campaigns.

Instead of working with big investment banks, I'm working with small businesses. It's very rewarding; you get close to people… it's very tangible, helping clients day by day.

Trinh poses in the latest Google wear at her job in Singapore

The Career Development Center at NYU Abu Dhabi works with students to help improve interpersonal skills, find internship and job opportunities, and prepare for graduate school.