Morgan Stanley

As part of the series of the IET Women in STEM lectures, in partnership with UTC Reading, Kendrick and Reading Girls' School, Kelechi Adiele, a computer analyst from Morgan Stanley gave a presentation to show the opportunities provided in the financial services sector.

Kelechi is a software engineer at Morgan Stanley, where she has worked for the last 9 months. Having left University in 2014, Kelechi has worked in the financial industry for over 3 years, working for 3 large banks. Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking and wealth management services. It has a culture of ethical behaviour which fosters: Putting clients first, Leading with exceptional ideas, doing the right thing and giving back.

Kelechi described her journey from sixth form and the influences which made her decide to study a Computer Science degree at King’s College and how that decision opened a vast array of opportunities, including playing a role of another large team in the Olympic Games. She explained to the audience comprising of students, industry professionals and educators that her first Java program inspired her to explore more about Computer Science and thinking computationally.

The importance of internships was made clear where Kelechi was able to reflect on her experiences at Goldman Sachs and how this provided an important insight into the financial services industry. Her desire to continue learning and expanding her underpinning Computer Science knowledge base came through a range of further commitments such as working at Barclays Investment Bank before moving to Morgan Stanley.

Many myths were dispelled through an explanation of how programming has become a collaborative and cultural experience, embracing different time zone and being able to take part in a range of projects including support sales and trading activities. Kelechi identified some key contributors for success including work experience, internships and graduate programmes.

Kelechi certainly gave an inspirational and insightful talk in which her presentation was matched with a large number of questions from an enthusiastic and fully engaged audience.