Nathan Jankowski
Major(s): 4th Year - Computer Science BS & Economics BS
Intern at Discover Financial Services
What did a typical day look like as a Data and Analytics Intern at Discover Financial Services?
My position was basically a software development role. I would commute an hour to work and then my day would start with greeting my fellow interns in our assigned section. After checking and responding to emails and the team’s chat, I would start preparing to get work done. I had two projects throughout the internship, which were both related to tech debt. I would usually work on those for a few hours and then we would have our daily scrum meeting, which would last around 15 to 30 minutes. In scrum meetings, everyone discusses their progress, any issues they’re facing, and announcements before returning to work for the rest of day.
There were also several events scattered throughout my internship. Some were mandatory for interns, but others were optional and open to anyone within the company. In mid-July we were all treated to food and music aboard the Spirit of Chicago, and we sailed around Navy Pier. I also attended a presentation on financial literacy and a couple of other activities too.
What was your favorite event hosted by Discover?
Discover uses an anagram, and they use the “V” in their name to stand for volunteering. I don’t remember the name of the nonprofit, but I enjoyed participating in this volunteer outing where we packed backpacks for less fortunate children in the Chicago area. It was a good way to help the community, and it gave me a chance to talk with some other people at the company.
What were the two projects you worked on during your internship?
I worked on machine learning explainability models, which, for banks, can be used to make very important decisions related to determining whether people get approved for loans or credit cards. Both Discover’s data analysts and regulators need to know why these decisions are being made the way they are — especially regulators — so that we can prove Discover is not discriminating against applicants.
My work was largely focused on a JSON file and being able to run that file through the software we were developing to generate model reason codes. These model reason codes would give a reason as to why a specific decision was made. My job focused on making sure the file was validated properly and that it was formatted correctly to ensure that it was not going to cause an error down the line that could potentially either break the software (which would be a good outcome) or poison the system entirely (which would be the bad outcome). The second project I worked on was building a command tool to help automate the validation process, so now, people can type in one command, give it all their files, and the program will validate everything for them.
How did you seek and obtain this internship?
I never thought that when the university had me make a Handshake profile it would actually come back to pay dividends. I was surprised when a Discover recruiter reached out to me during my sophomore year. I applied, interviewed, and then attended this one-day event in downtown Chicago the summer between my sophomore and junior year, where I got to get an overview of the company and its culture. Everybody who attended got early access to the application for the following summer’s internship. I applied for the data and analytics position, went through two rounds of interviews, and the rest is history.
Two things drew me to this opportunity:
- Fintech (financial technology) is right up my alley as someone who is double majoring in computer science and economics. I knew this was an internship where I would be able to learn about machine learning, which is a field I want to pursue in the long-term.
- Discover has a very strong company culture. It's a very welcoming space that’s open to new ideas and there are a lot of really good people working there. Once I started my internship, I felt like I was included and being heard. I also felt like I was doing work that actually meant something and was helping other people.
What skills did you develop or enhance during your time as an intern?
I was able to learn technical skills that my computer science education does not necessarily provide. I didn't know what a JSON file was until I came into this internship, and I left with a pretty good understanding of them. Test cases are also something that are kind of touched on in courses here, but not that much. In my internship, writing test cases to prove that my code actually worked as I say it did was about half of my job.
However, I think the bigger picture is that I also got better at collaborating with other people in my team, especially people who are much more skilled than I am. Standing up and advocating for myself in terms of asking lots of questions and seeking out feedback was also a very important part of me growing professionally.
What tips do you have for current students seeking internships?
My biggest tip is to show your humanity. If the company wanted to hire a robot or an AI, they wouldn’t have put up the job offer in the first place. They put up that job offer because they want to hire a human, so show that you're a person with interests who will be fun to work with and who can make people laugh. Talk about how your interests outside of CS contribute to you being a better worker. During one internship interview, we ended up on the subject of a research project I did for a gen-ed in Russian culture, and the interviewer liked what I said so much that they ended up contacting me after that interview on their personal account, asking if I would send them the presentation I did for that class. A lot of CS majors are told to just grind 100 applications, but I would say remember that employers don’t want a robot, they want a human
Can you see yourself in a future career with Discover Financial Services?
Yes! It’s already going to be a long-term career for me. I received a return offer around the beginning of the semester. After I graduate this spring, I will be starting in what is essentially a rotational program. All the new hires rotate around the different departments for a few months at a time for roughly two years or so before they specialize into one department. This process makes sure that people go into something they want to do and where they can be the most productive and excited.
Congratulations! After having this internship experience and becoming more familiar with Discover Financial Services, what are you most looking forward to in this full-time position?
I’m looking forward to learning more about the technology and the company. Hopefully when I go back there, I'll be able to learn where my code from this summer ended up. I’m also interested in the new challenges we’re going to be facing, especially right now with the merger with Capital One. I know the merger is a big topic of concern for some employees, but I think it will be a really good challenge. Discover is also starting to work more towards integrating artificial intelligence into its workflow, so I’m curious to see how we will experiment with it in ways that will keep private data confidential.