Career Trek brings insights and fruitful networking
Learning and growing outside the classroom through the Office of Professional Development & Engagement program
News
SUMMARY: A group of CoB students with an interest in finance took an experiential learning trip over fall break to New York City and Wall Street to visit high-profile companies and network with JMU alumni.
While many students spent fall break catching up with friends, relaxing at home or traveling for fun, 15 ambitious College of Business students traded downtime for a front-row seat to the world of high finance.
Hosted by the CoB Office of Professional Development & Engagement, this annual NYC Career Trek is a finance-focused experience and of specific interest to Economics, Finance and Quantitative Finance majors. It offered this year’s cohort visits to U.S. Bank, Atlas SP-Partners, Bank of America, NASDAQ, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Forvis Mazars, Morgan Stanley, Citibank and Goldman Sachs. It was also an opportunity for students to connect with the many JMU alumni who work on Wall Street and beyond through networking events and meetings.
Quantitative Finance and Mathematics double-major Ivy Baah opted to go because she wanted to see what the industry is like beyond what she had read online and was excited about the opportunity to meet and connect with JMU alumni in person and learn about their career paths.
The networking events were a highlight for Baah. “They created a comfortable environment where I could have more personal, one-on-one conversations with professionals from different areas of finance,” she said, adding “Even after the trek, I've continued building those relationships through follow-up conversations and coffee chats. It's been one of the most rewarding parts of the experience because I've been able to continue learning from alumni while expanding my professional network.”
Finance and Economics double-major Brogan Kern found the company visits very productive. “Many of the firms gave us a rundown of what they do in a lesson-like setting, which is especially helpful given that JMU sophomores don't generally get to work on finance-related coursework until junior year,” she noted.
Finance and Accounting double-major Niels Merino said one of the biggest surprises was the level of engagement he received from professionals after the trek. While he expected to make connections during the visits, he was impressed by the number of alumni and industry professionals who responded to his outreach and agreed to continue conversations through coffee chats and networking meetings.
Not wanting to understate the value of the experience, Merino said it was “my favorite thing that I have done at JMU so far.”
