Israel Uuyuni
Investment Solutions & Products, Performance and Risk
Credit Suisse
Bachelor Student in Economics
Namibia University of Science and Technology
February 01 - April 30, 2018
At Work
Working at Credit Suisse - a unique and insightful opportunity whereby I was exposed to friendly working environment where I could learn. The first week was more of eLearning’s which were a bit boring because I was eager to learn and this taught me that patience is a virtue. I prepared performance report and calculated portfolios standard deviation and geometric mean and I improved my computer user skills. I was part of a team where I was valued, trusted and I felt part of a team. My mentor organized some shadowing for me within the bank where I could get an overview of what other departments are doing. Their guidance and advice have been helpful and I am forever grateful for the support I got from my team.
My Swiss Host Family
We received a warm welcome from the B360 team at Zurich Airport, unfortunately my host family (von Felten Family) couldn’t make it because they were still on holidays, so I had to go with the Mullers family for the first night. The next day, the von Felten family picked me up and they welcomed me in their lovely home, I was overwhelmed with seeing wealth everywhere from the car window. Later that afternoon they took me for sledging which I mistook for skiing. They made me feel at home and showed me that there is more to Switzerland than skis and chocolates. I visited numerous places with them, to mention a few: Bern, where I saw the Swiss parliament and got to see bears, and Solothurn. Moreover, they took me to a beautiful castle in Rapperswil and a museum. I enjoyed playing football with the boys as well as table tennis and just became Roger Federer of Namibia.
Highlights and Challenges in Switzerland
This will always be the greatest highlight of my life: in my leisure time I managed to travel and explore Switzerland and I visited cities like Lucerne, Lugano, Basel, Zermatt (Matterhorn), Bern, Geneva, Zug and many villages. Three months was little but I made the most out of it. My challenges would be the language barrier whereby I was given tasks that were in German or Italian and it required me to ask assistance from Italian speaking colleagues and I became familiar with some Italian and German business terms.
My Future Plans
It has always been about education and it will always be about education, I plan on finishing my degree and continue pursuing for a master in near future, securing a job in a banking environment as well.
Personal Message
I owe many thanks to my colleagues at Credit Suisse who helped me see beyond the conventional boundaries of the discipline and supported me over my three months in Switzerland. Moreover I want to thank B360 and other stakeholders for the profound impact they have on this internship. Any all weaknesses remaining are mine, all mine.