Alum of the Month
Owen Raine
August 2019
New York Program
September 2009 Intake
Current Role: Enterprise Relationship Manager – LinkedIn, New York
What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship? Management, IT and German at the University of York.
What made you apply for the Mountbatten program? The desire to get further international experience! (I had lived and worked in Germany as part of my degree). I had never been to the US, so I was keen to work overseas again and experience life in a brand new continent.
Describe your host company and your role within it. I was placed with Deutsche Bank – Financial Services. I interned as a Business Analyst – mapping business processes, partnering with various business teams to deliver change management projects, identify and solve issues, and make day-to-day operations more efficient and robust.
What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year? The moment ~ 3 months into the internship when everything started to make sense. I had no Financial Services experience and found Wall Street very daunting at first (being surrounded by more senior, accomplished professionals). I recall waking up one day and being able to draw the connection between different projects, systems, stakeholders, and from that moment forwards felt far more confident and value-adding to my leadership.
What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year? Travel! Being able to visits parts of the US and Canada with friends was unforgettable. Montreal and Niagara Falls were beautiful, Mardi Gras in New Orleans was exhausting but fabulous, and we all got sun burnt in Cancun!
Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship I learnt how to interact and work with senior executives. This is something that has helped me so much in my later career… Irrespective of their title / level, they are still human!
If you ask appropriately and state why, most people will actually have a meeting with you. As an intern, senior people will take an active interest in your experience and want to help you.
If you could change anything about your internship, what would it be? I would’ve made a more conscious effort to meet with more senior leaders at Deutsche Bank, and other companies. Mountbatten offers a unique opportunity to network with anyone you want to, I wish I had used this opportunity far more!
“You’re never going to get what you don’t ask for” – unfortunately I came to this realization after Mountbatten – in hindsight I would’ve set myself a goal to meet a certain number of people and stuck to it.
What happened after completing the year - what did you do next? After initially returning to the UK, I managed to secure a position back in New York. I joined a consultancy (Prospect33), and used my Mountbatten experience and knowledge to turn a 20-person company into a 200+ organization with offices in New York, London and Singapore!
Where are you now in your working life and what do you do? I am living and working in New York, partnering with 40 strategic clients of LinkedIn.
I work with companies looking to build compelling marketing strategies, talent strategies, and foster a culture of learning and professional development.
We live in an exciting time, whereby every company is going through some form of digital transformation. I feel very fortunate that my Mountbatten experience taught me change management and business transformation. I then used these experiences to grow a consulting company, and am now using them again with LinkedIn’s clients looking to transform their business models and go to market strategies using LinkedIn’s products and services.
Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)? If I were to move overseas one more time, it would likely be 3-4 years in Sydney, Australia.
I do think about setting up my own business one day, and have some ideas, but nothing concrete enough just yet…. I’m open to ideas 😊
What would people be surprised to learn about you? I won a national gold medal as a rower in 1997 and my sister completed in the New Delhi commonwealth games!
Is there any other information that you would like to be included? The friendships you’ll make on Mountbatten, at your host companies and through other channels are super important! Make an effort to stay in touch with people and build lasting connections.
I also suggest that everyone (current and past interns) should read this book:
• Keith Ferrazzi: Never Eat Alone.
It has completely changed the way I think about life and my career: and has created opportunities and opened so many doors.
Connect with Owen on LinkedIn