Internship Experience: Louisa Mancuso, Structured Finance Intern at EY

In this “Internship Experience” blog post series, we will be featuring the profile and thoughts of our students from Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management as they return from summer internships.

Name: Louisa Mancuso
Graduation Year: May 2021
Major: Finance
Minor: Data Analytics
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Intern Company/Title: EY – Structured Finance Intern

Describe your position and some of your daily tasks? 
Due to COVID-19, we had to complete our experience virtually in three weeks. I worked on the commercial mortgage-backed securities team, within the structured finance service line. We spent each week working on a different aspect of due diligence. My team made sure that we left the experience with a high-level knowledge of each aspect of structured finance. 

How did you land your internship? 
I learned about this position through the Whitman Women in Finance trip to NYC. I was paired with alumni who told me about her experience on the team and she encouraged me to apply. I made many calls to different alumni who had this internship in the past and learned more about the team. I made sure to leverage this research during my interview, which led to me receiving an offer. 

What did you learn from your internship experience?
Throughout the interview process and internship, I learned about having an analytical mindset and how that can benefit me in the workplace. My projects required me to look deeply into financial documents that were used in the securitization process. During the technical portion of my internship, I learned a lot about how due diligence is performed on commercial mortgage-backed securities before they are publicly offered. 

Has your experience changed your plans or career choice when you leave college?
My experience has changed my career plans. I now want to go into financial services consulting. Before my internship, I really was not sure where I wanted to go, but I knew that I was interested in finance and real estate. This position has given me the chance to work in both industries at the same time. 

How will your internship experience help you after graduation? 
My internship experience has allowed me to be exposed to the financial world first-hand. After graduation, I would love to continue on this path and explore the world of securitized products. 

How has the Whitman School prepared you for your internship?
Throughout my first three years at Whitman, I had a lot of experience with Excel and modeling. My knowledge from my finance classes has helped me understand how financial models are interpreted in commercial mortgage-backed securities.

What did you enjoy most about your experience?
I enjoyed meeting interns from schools across the country and getting to know them! There were over 3,000 interns across the United States and EY was great about allowing us to meet many of them.

Do you have any advice to students who are looking for an internship?
Start looking for positions early, apply for many positions and leverage the Orange alumni network! I would not have gotten this position without the help and guidance of Whitman alumni.

Kimmy Kimball
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