I was honored at the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square, New York City!
Name: Krishnan Iyer
Major: PM - Cybersecurity
Employer: NASDAQ
Location: New York, NY
How did you find the internship/co-op? What was the interview process like? I found the internship opportunity at the University of Maryland career fair where Nasdaq had an opening for the IT Auditor Intern position. I got to interact with the representatives of the Nasdaq's talent acquisition team and express my interest for the role and relate my professional experience. I was more than delighted to get an interview opportunity with the Nasdaq Internal Audit team. It was a one-day interview with a couple of rounds with the seniors in the department and they were really pleased with my technical skillset and professional experience. The interview was very smooth and professionally conducted and I was able to answer all their questions with perfection. After discussion with the Nasdaq team, I got the offer and was onboarded six months prior to the internship start date!
What have been the most interesting aspects of your internship? I was honored at the Nasdaq Towers in Times Square, New York City! Nasdaq, Inc., or National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations is an American stock exchange based in the New York city and one of the world's first electronic exchanges. I worked within the Global Technology function where I evaluated and tested Information Technology General Controls (ITGC) for continuous audit engagements with a focus on cloud computing, access management, digital assets and threat intelligence. I immensely contributed to the automation requirements within the team by creating Alteryx automated workflows and robotic process automations to handle multiple test procedures and streamline manual operational tasks.
Nasdaq has one of the finest orientation programs and intern onboarding processes giving us the opportunity to understand the work culture, get to know the leadership, and also closely interact with Adena Friedman - President and Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq. We also got the chance to be part of the mock closing bell ceremony, interact with other interns across different locations, get our professional headshot, and be at the Nasdaq MarketSite, New York Headquarters.
What campus activities or courses do you think helped you, or would have helped you, with this internship? The strong technical coursework offered by the University, along with my skillset developed over time and professional experience in the past made it easier for me to crack the technical, professional, and managerial questions asked during the multiple rounds of interviews.
In fact, the online and offline career fair also helped me secure interviews with other companies and within a few weeks I had more than one offer letter in my hand!
How have your career or academic goals changed as a result of this internship experience? The internship program gave me the much-needed opportunity to showcase my past professional experience of around three years with an existing skillset and leverage it to showcase my ability to learn and lead in the cybersecurity industry. On completion of my internship at Nasdaq, I am now sure to achieve even bigger accolades without giving up on the process and patience to learn!
What advice would you give other UMD engineering students seeking an internship or co-op position? I would highly recommend continuing to develop your own skillset rather than competing to reach a particular goal. It is the process that gives you confidence and knowledge, the goal is nothing but a sense of satisfaction and victory. My advice would be to go beyond the courses offered at school, get involved in research, get certified and try learning beyond the scope of the internship program. The industry is vast, and it takes patience and effort to explore different technical domains, and this is something I followed, leading me to intern at Nasdaq.
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