Peyton Horn, like many students during their time at college, was unsure of exactly what he wanted to do and what major he wanted to pursue in his under- graduate studies. After starting with no idea of what to do, at the end of his sophomore year he came running to Bruce Blonigen (Director of Undergraduate Studies at the time) in hope for some advice. Bruce was able to convince him to study Economics and he has never looked back.
After the conclusion of his sophomore year, Peyton was able to get an internship on the floor of the NYSE. He credited this as a great learning experience, but at the conclusion of his time there, he knew that he did not want something quite so fast paced, “ I didn’t want a hectic lifestyle ”. After his junior year of school, he was able to land a summer intern position with Merrill Lynch through some connections that he had made in the past; however, again, after this time, he knew that the this position was not quite what he was looking for.
After graduation, through some prior connections he had made and after much research, he decided to work for Lehman Brothers in New York, where the incoming class size was about 150. After a short time their and after some training, he was appointed to the Mergers and Acquisitions group. In his first year there in 2001-2002, he had work weeks of 80 to 100 hours. He reiterated the fact that many of the rookies do not stick around because of such a heavy workload, and after 2 years, he made the switch to his current position at Cushman and Wakefield, a Transaction Consulting Group in New York.
He describes his work now as basically financial consulting for large corporate companies looking to do something with their real estate. Peyton emphasized the importance of intern- ships as a great way to see what you would like to do while gaining experience and connections. He also gave advice to those who have not yet begun the job search process in challenging students to do their research by looking at websites, talking to people who can help, and looking at all the entry level positions of companies to find one that may be a fit, and START EARLY!
Profile by Caleb Rexius (2005)