Blog

High School Interns Receive Career Advice from Gold­man Sachs

Jul 27, 2016 12:00 am

Gov­er­nors Island is known for its rich his­to­ry, but ear­li­er this month sev­en Gold­man Sachs employ­ees made it their mis­sion to help fos­ter the future by turn­ing Nolan Park into a career devel­op­ment hot spot. Through a Gold­man Sachs’ Com­mu­ni­ty Team­Works grant, these vol­un­teers con­duct­ed a career devel­op­ment and resume-build­ing work­shop for the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island’s Har­bor Intern­ship Program’s (HIP) high school interns, who range from from ris­ing high school juniors to recent high school graduates. 

“Giv­en our expe­ri­ences through col­lege and the pro­fes­sion­al world, we were able to pro­vide insights on how to max­i­mize their efforts towards attain­ing their goals,” said Aman­da Leg­gio, one of the Gold­man Sachs vol­un­teer team captains. 

The stu­dents received an overview about resume writ­ing and fill­ing out col­lege appli­ca­tions, and then sat down with Gold­man Sachs vol­un­teers to get indi­vid­u­al­ized advice tai­lored to the stu­dents’ career and edu­ca­tion­al goals. 

Over­all, the stu­dents report­ed feel­ing more con­fi­dent and bet­ter pre­pared to apply for jobs and schools after attend­ing the work­shop. One HIP Intern and recent high school grad­u­ate, Adam Viruet, not­ed receiv­ing great advice from the Gold­man Sachs vol­un­teers on how to high­light all of his achieve­ments on his resume and prop­er­ly struc­ture it to appeal to future employers. 

Best of all, the interns received gen­uine and heart­felt sup­port through­out the expe­ri­ence. ​“All the facil­i­ta­tors were easy to talk to and seemed to real­ly care,” said HIP Intern and ris­ing junior Kimiko Carrington. 

All of our HIP Interns are stu­dents at the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School, locat­ed right here on Gov­er­nors Island. The stu­dents take the same cours­es as any oth­er New York City teenag­er but also enroll in one of six mar­itime-focused pro­grams of study, such as aqua­cul­ture, ves­sel oper­a­tions, and ocean engi­neer­ing. If you vis­it the Island on the week­ends, you will be sure to see these interns wait­ing at the fer­ry land­ings and sta­tioned through­out the Island in our bright blue t‑shirts, ready to greet you with a smile and a wealth of infor­ma­tion. Make sure to stop by next time you vis­it and say hello! 

“We were incred­i­bly impressed with the focus and dri­ve these stu­dents have at such a young age,” said Leg­gio. ​“Based on what we saw, we know that this group of stu­dents will be suc­cess­ful in any­thing they choose to pur­sue after high school.” 

The Friends of Gov­er­nors Island is look­ing to sig­nif­i­cant­ly grow its suc­cess­ful HIP pro­gram, which offers paid intern­ships and career devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties to pub­lic high school stu­dents. We are seek­ing ded­i­cat­ed fund­ing to expand the pro­gram to addi­tion­al stu­dents and schools across New York City next summer. 

For more infor­ma­tion about oppor­tu­ni­ties to sup­port this pro­gram, please con­tact Pro­gram Man­ag­er Kel­ley Bligh at kelley@​friendsgi.​org.