During the last couple of weeks at ISM I've gotten beyond being interested in behavioral finance, and actually doing some reading about it. I read and researched several articles on investor behavior and compiled an annotated bibliography to organize and analyze my results. I started to understand how the psychology of financial decisions can be a factor through sources that talked about overconfidence, loss aversion, disposition effect and attention bias. I was particularly fascinated about the number of times investors make decisions that defy what the standard economic models would say is “rational.” In writing my annotated bibliography I also practised my skills in considering what was not necessarily in the main findings of an article, but instead what the author said about their credibility, methodology, limitations, and usefulness to my research.
One of the other significant things I've learned is how to write a resume. First, it took me a long time to figure out what experiences to put in my resume since I didn't want to make my resume look as if it was just a page of all things I've done. I learned as I went, and I got better at assessing what experiences and skills really added value to the narrative I wanted my résumé to convey. I discovered that you don't necessarily have to have the most information in your resume, you need to have the most relevant information and communicate the right information.
I also started to work on my digital portfolio, which is entirely a new experience for me. I am gaining new skills in arranging information, creating pages and considering what I am displaying to digital learners. There's definitely been a bit of trial and error, but it's been that makes it valuable. In total, I have used my research, resume, and portfolio to start putting in the framework my understanding of behavioral finance and how I want to portray it throughout ISM.