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Part II of our Fall 2019 Northeastern University Co-op QAs highlights Adam Kramer.
What is your major/background/hobbies/interests at Northeastern?
I am a Senior majoring in Finance and Entrepreneurship, and I will be graduating this May. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to grow up around the world, having lived in various states on the East Coast of the United States, Hong Kong, and Brussels, Belgium. Outside of class, I am heavily involved in my fraternity, I love to compete in multiple sports (tennis, basketball, and golf sort of…), and I day trade, when I have the time, as well as, have DJ’ed in the past.
What drew your interest to the Stax co-op position? How did you hear of Stax?
The beauty of Northeastern’s co-op program is that students are able to try out a variety of different industries, roles, and interests to better test whether or not they are interested in pursuing them post-graduation. Prior to Stax, I enjoyed two very different co-ops; one in finance and one in consulting, and I was looking to take a step forward with my third co-op. I wanted to find a role that had a nice blend of those two past experiences. After finding the role at Stax, and speaking to individuals during the interviewing process, I felt that Stax would be a great place to challenge myself and further develop my skillset.
What were you hoping to gain through the NE co-op experience?
I wanted to take full advantage of the co-op program by exploring many of my interests and whether or not I truly enjoyed them. I hoped to further refine my career goals and prepare myself to hit the ground running in whatever career path I chose post-graduation.
What are your responsibilities at Stax as part of your co-op experience?
As the co-op on a project team, I am tasked with handling a broad range of assignments based on the needs of the specific project. What that can include is conducting primary and secondary research, preparing web surveys, crafting slide decks, and taking ownership over specific workstreams in order to best help our team communicate our findings to the client in a clear and concise manner.
What have you learned so far while at Stax?
The experience gained throughout my 6 months at Stax has been invaluable to my personal and career development. Coming into this experience, I had a general understanding of the world of Private Equity and some experience in the consulting world. However, I did not have any knowledge of the pain points experienced in Private Equity and how a consulting firm can really serve to help alleviate those pain points. Reflecting back on my time here, I will be leaving with an increased knowledge of how PE firms evaluate opportunities, what factors go into sizing a market and forecasting growth, how to predict and mitigate risk, and how to collect large amounts of both qualitative and quantitative data and synthesize it into concise, actionable recommendations.
What is your most memorable experience at Stax to date?
I have enjoyed much of my 6 months at Stax, however, one experience that was definitely a top moment for me was when we, as the Boston office, watched a Boston Red Sox game from an amazing venue over left field. It was a beautiful way to watch the game, introduce myself to many in the office, and kick off an amazing six-month experience at Stax.
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