In this semester’s Meet the Firms trip to New York City, twenty Ithaca College students from the School of Business, myself included, were given the opportunity to meet and learn from successful IC alums in leadership roles at some of the biggest firms in the world. The students, along with faculty members Mejda Bahlous-Boldi, Associate Professor and Director of Investment; Dr. Chee Ng, Assistant Professor; and Jonathan Chalmers Career Engagement Specialist from the Office of Career Services, visited four finance and accounting firms in Manhattan: BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, PKF O'Connor Davies. We were hosted by IC alums and we got the chance to peek into their lives, learn from their journeys, and ask questions.
The cohort’s first stop was BlackRock, and we were hosted by Adrian Guenther ‘07, Director at BlackRock - Portfolio Management. BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with US$10 trillion in assets under management. Adrian welcomed us and walked us through his journey from graduating from IC and becoming the director of the biggest asset management firm in the world.
Professor Bahlous-Boldi was impressed with how smart and curious IC students were. “I am very impressed by how much the alumni have grown since they left college. IC has had an amazing impact in their personalities and their lives. When students graduate from IC, they are prepared for the most competitive jobs in the world,” she added.
Adrian shared his journey and answered questions ranging from the recruitment and hiring process to technical ins-and-outs of portfolio management. He advised the students to work hard and his education at IC had prepared him to work at a firm like BlackRock. He also asked us to be humble and make as many connections as we can along the way.
Our next stop was J.P. Morgan where the students were hosted by Camila Neves ’13, Mortgage Specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Camila and her team, including IC graduate Binnur Dogan, illustrated behind-the-scenes aspects of the mortgage process and explained how a mortgage from J.P. Morgan Private Bank differs from a more traditional mortgage offered through one of the bank’s commercial branches like Chase Bank, for example. Sophomore Finance and Accounting student Leena Asim found the visit to J.P. Morgan to be highly informative and helpful in deciding her career path. “Seeing a female alum in a leadership position in one of the biggest banks in the world really motivated me. Getting to know the culture and work environment of the firms was very insightful for me in deciding what career path I want to follow. I loved to learn about how it is to be in an actual workspace, and it will help in choose between different career roles.”
Ithaca College has a very tight-knit community, and it seems that everyone associated with IC wants to help each other out and give back to the community. During this trip, students and faculty were impressed with how influential yet humble our alums were when interacting with current students. Saif Ur Rehman, MS in Accounting student at Ithaca College, said he is very impressed with how alums are willing to help students out. “Alumni relations are very strong at IC. Alums inviting current students and sharing their experiences shows how much they love IC, and they are willing to do everything they can to give back”
Day 1 in Manhattan ended with students and faculty recaping the day and sharing their insights over some of New York’s famous pies at John’s Pizza of Times Square.
On the second day of the trip, we visited Goldman Sachs and PKJ O’Connor Davis. At Goldman Sachs were hosted by Scott Ruffrage ’08, MBA ‘09, Vice President – Senior Compliance Officer. At Goldman Sachs, Scott shared stories about his time at IC as an undergraduate and graduate basketball player to interning at Goldman Sachs to begin his career. Now VP of Compliance at Goldman Sachs, Scott was happy to answer questions about his career and gave loads of advice to students on how they can best prepare to excel in the job market.
The last stop of our trip was at accounting firm PKF O'Connor Davies. Campus recruiter Kayleigh Donnellan gave us an office tour which was followed by an info session and Q&A with auditing accountant Rory Hannigan, CPA. Students were exposed to different fields in accounting, and they learned about the culture and work environment at PKFOD. Sophomore Daria Flegontova found the trip to be a very valuable experience. “It was an amazing opportunity that helped me expand my network and decide my concentration,” she said.
Many finance and accounting majors dream about working at places like Blackrock, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and PKF O’Connor Davies. Getting a peek inside each company was exciting and helped me picture what it might be like to work there. Learning from the journeys and experiences of past IC graduates will inspire students to continue to work hard and to be the best version of themselves. This trip was a very valuable experience for me and I’m grateful to the School of Business for providing this opportunity.
Career Engagement Specialist Jonathan Chalmers, who planned and organized the trip, said that that he loved seeing what our alumni have achieved. He felt that the students were motivated by seeing themselves in the shoes of the alumni. He also found it interesting to hear directly from employers what they are looking for in new hires. “Every company we visited emphasized that they are looking for candidates with skills in technology, programming and computer science, Students looking for a minor should consider these essential skills to add to their résumé and make themselves more marketable to employers.” Jonathan also said, “Students should take advantage of networking opportunities and the alumni base, such as the multiple Career Connection events hosted by the School of Business every semester, which are amazing networking and learning opportunities.”
