Finance and the City: How to Stand out in a Crowd

The Smith School's Finance Fellows and Women’s Society organized the event, "Finance and the City," to help students of the Robert H. Smith School of Business gain an insight into the strategies necessary for succeeding in the finance sector in the current downturn economy. The primary focus of the event was to provide the industry’s perspective on the job market to the students and help the students understand what would be required of them to stand out in the crowd and succeed in the world of finance amidst today’s unprecedented circumstances.
 
Susan White, a Distinguished Tyser Teaching Fellow, engaged a panel of eminent individuals in the financial sector and moderated questions addressing the implications of the current scenario on the job market and how the students could leverage the time spent in school to better prepare them in laying the foundations of their career. The panelists were very supportive and articulate in their advice and recommendations to the students, owing to their rich experience in the finance sector and also for the fact that some of them had actually witnessed similar trends early on in their careers, albeit of a relatively lesser magnitude.
 
Kevin Fallon ’93, director of development at Smith for metro New York, started by advising the students to “take advantage of every opportunity, and be hungrier than students have ever been in the past.” To this direction the students should “carve out a piece of their day to gain industry knowledge as the market is transforming,” he said and recommended the students to read key articles from the Wall Street Journal to keep abreast of the market dynamics.
 
Cynthia Keith, executive director of investments and senior portfolio manager for Oppenheimer Asset Management and a Smith alumnus, emphasized on the fact that the competition for the limited number of jobs is fierce and that one should “act like a sponge” and absorb all the knowledge one can. She also recommended students to leverage the Chartered Financial Analyst program of the CFA institute to enhance their knowledge and also provide additional evidence of their competency. Besides, attending the meetings of such programs as CFA provides the opportunity to network with people in the finance domain.

Cindy Rubert, Senior Vice President, Fiduciary Trust Company International participated in the event through video conferencing. She stressed upon the importance of networking for the fact that people like to hire and work with individuals they know or are comfortable with. She also reiterated the importance of keeping informed of the market and being able to engage recruiters in intelligent conversations.

Professor White also asked the panel for their opinion on how the students could enhance their resume and best present themselves for interviews. To this, Constance Miner, vice president of investments for UBS Financial Services, replied that “recruiters want to know about the kind of leadership and volunteering work that you have done.” “They want to know whether you are adaptable,” she said. She suggested students to be creative and utilize tools such as You Tube, for example, to post a video resume. “The chief way people fail on interviews is that they are not aware of why they want to do what they want to do,” she said and advised students to be aware of what they want to achieve, why, and how they think they can reach there.

Christine Stewart, assistant dean for finance & administration at Smith, added that the students should be well prepared for the interview and should research the firm beforehand. “You are not expected to know everything, but you should know something,” she said. This would show the recruiter that the interviewee is genuinely interested in the job and is passionate about working in the organization.

To this Fallon added that the bar has been raised and it is also important to know about recent events and not just about the basic financial concepts learnt in school. Being able to apply the concepts to real time business scenarios and discuss them is what makes a person stand out. “It is one thing to gather information, another to synthesize it,” he said. He also emphasized upon the importance of being committed and taking initiatives in a highly unstructured and ambiguous environment, which is the norm in the current business context. He elucidated that employers are looking for PHDs- Poor, Hungry and Determined individuals. Poor, implying a debt upon the student which needs to be paid-off and thus she would work really hard. Hungry, for knowledge. Determined, committed and willing to adapt to succeed and achieve organizational and individual goals.

The panel also shared their views on the importance of work experience for undergraduate students before going for a master’s degree in business. They unanimously agreed upon the benefits that the work experience provides, in terms of the exposure to the corporate work environment, practical learning experiences and the opportunities for growth that would open up post graduate school if they have had work experience.

At the end, White asked the panel for the most important career advice they had for the students. On this, the panel recommended the students to be flexible and be prepared to work on any assignment related to their field, to keep their eyes and ears open for any kind of opportunity which might add value to their profile, to network and be willing to take risks amidst uncertainty besides being committed, without thinking much about the payoff. “This will definitely lead to incredible outcomes, much better than the students could have ever imagined,” they said.
 
Siddhartha Jain, MBA Candidate 2010, Smith Media Group