May, 2003
Contact: Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
sray@middlebury.edu
Posted: May 6, 2003
MIDDLEBURY,
Vt.-While some college seniors are just beginning to think about their
search for a job, those interested in finance have already discovered
how hard it is to find positions in a shrinking industry and a sagging
economy. For the last several years, in response to the continued slowdown
in recruitment among financial services firms, the staff of the Middlebury
College Career Services Office has given students an edge over the competition
with Wall Street 101-a student program that draws on the insider expertise
of alumni in the field, offering tips on everything from interview skills
to table manners.
Just how tough has the job market become for entry-level
positions in finance- In a September 2002 survey by the National Association
of Colleges and Employers (NACE), respondents overall expected to hire
3.6 percent fewer college graduates in 2002-2003 than in 2001-2002. Financial
services companies in particular were among the group most likely to expect
to trim college hiring with estimated reductions of 11.2 percent.
When the economy worsened in 2001, Jaye Roseborough,
executive director of the Middlebury College Career Services Office, visited
Middlebury alumni who work in senior positions in the finance industry
and sought their opinions. With this input, she and colleague Donald Kjelleren,
associate director for recruiting, designed the Wall Street 101 program.
“Fortunately we have alumni who are willing
to give their time and advice. This year, for the first time, parents
of students participated as well,” said Kjelleren. “Faculty
involvement has proved important, too. Scott Pardee, the Alan R. Holmes
Professor of Monetary Economics at Middlebury, has worked in finance and
is able to provide valuable advice to students who want to break into
the field.”
Kjelleren organized the program by grouping together
events that the career services office had offered in the past with new
activities. To coincide with the investment firms’ interview schedules,
he promotes the program to students immediately after they arrive on campus
in the fall, and works closely with the student investment committee,
a co-sponsor of many of the events.
Wall Street 101 began in September with a three-person
team of Middlebury alumni from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Approximately
70 students listened as the three speakers, two participating by speaker
phone, reviewed each discipline in the field from mergers and acquisitions
to private banking, and the particular skills and personality needed for
each area of expertise. Speakers emphasized that job candidates need to
be even better at selling themselves during interviews than in the past
as competition for a tightened analyst pool intensifies.
Later that month, the career services office held
“Super Saturday,” the same name that investment banks use
for the day that the second round of interviews takes place during the
college hiring process. At Middlebury, “Super Saturday” began
with a financial services panel of alumni. In past years such firms as
SmithBarney Citigroup and Deutsche Banc have participated. According to
Kjelleren, this year’s panel consisted largely of representatives
from off-Wall Street firms instead, including Adams, Harkness & Hill,
a research and investment firm; UBS PaineWebber; BMIA, a securities and
investment firm; Beck Mack and Oliver, a financial planning firm; and
Trafelet and Company, a hedge fund. A student who had just completed an
internship at Lehman Brothers also addressed the importance of this experience.
“With opportunities being so limited, students
are looking at the off-Wall Street firms with new interest and alumni
are emphasizing the opportunities there, too. These companies, which sometimes
had a hard time attracting attention from top college graduates in the
boom economy, are benefiting from the downturn,” said Kjelleren.
Alumni offered detailed advice on many subjects,
including paying one’s dues as a first-year financial analyst, and
the value of referrals in a contracted job market.
Following the panel, a luncheon featured both a
talk on corporate ethics and the opportunity to practice new networking
skills with several Middlebury alumni. “Super Saturday” concluded
with alumni conducting mock interviews with about 45 students.
In November, the program’s final event took
place—a “mocktail” party followed by an “etiquette
dinner.” At the party, complete with non-alcoholic piña coladas
and martinis, Jodi Smith, president of Marblehead, Mass.-based Mannersmith,
an etiquette consulting firm, counseled students on how to network in
a social setting. According to Smith, students should conduct conversations
five to eight minutes in length, refrain from gravitating towards friends,
and avoid controversial topics, including sex, politics and religion.
During the “etiquette dinner” she suggested ordering mid-priced
food items, and taking small bites so the conversation about business
can flow freely.
Roseborough said, “Along with participation
in Wall Street 101, this year we’re stressing to all students that
internships are even more critical than in the past. For example, all
three of our students who accepted positions at Lehman Brothers had interned
there, as did another student who accepted a job at Goldman Sachs. Also,
to save money, many firms conducted initial interviews over the phone,
which require somewhat different skills than when people meet face-to-face.
“We’ve encouraged students who are interested
in finance to consider opportunities at outside New York as well,”
she said. “The events of Sept. 11 and various corporate scandals
at several of the top banks have made this an easier sell.”
The in-depth training provided by Wall Street 101
has paid off. In December, senior Lindsay McPherson accepted a job as
an analyst in Morgan Stanley’s San Francisco office. McPherson said,
“There are still opportunities but you have to be flexible. I had
always pictured myself in New York or Boston so I had to change my thinking
about that but now I’m excited. Also, all my interviews for this
job were done over the phone, which is odd in a way because you can be
in your pajamas but you have to sell yourself based totally on your voice.
It was hard to monitor when to end my answers because I couldn’t
rely on visual cues.”
Senior Dave Greiner, who worked at J.P. Morgan Chase
last summer, hasn’t been as lucky-yet. He has made four trips to
New York to have multiple interviews with three large banks, as well as
additional visits to the same city for interviews with other firms. He
currently has two more interviews scheduled, and is reviewing his options.
One possibility is teaching at a private school in Connecticut where he
taught in the summer after his freshman and sophomore years at Middlebury.
Still, he considers his interactions with alumni in finance, including
practice interviews, to be invaluable. “I talk to some alumni now
regularly that I didn’t know before. During my free time when I
was a summer intern, I could visit them in their offices, introduce myself,
and learn more about their side of the business.”
As of February 18, the career services office had
confirmed that at least 10 members of the class of 2003-roughly 3 percent
of approximately 550 students-had accepted offers to work in banking and
finance. Kjelleren expects that by May this figure will be closer to the
roughly 13 students from the class of 2002 who accepted such jobs. “We’re
pleased with our results given the fact that approximately one third fewer
finance companies recruited at the College in 2003 versus 2002,”
he said.
According to Kjelleren, the 2002 estimate is based
on a voluntary student survey completed in May and therefore does not
include those students who accepted finance and banking jobs but failed
to complete the survey.
“It’s a shame to lose a job offer in
this economy if you have the right skills, but aren’t prepared for
an interview or aren’t comfortable in a certain social setting.
Wall Street 101 doesn’t guarantee that a student will get a job
in finance but it helps decrease the chances that other obstacles will
overshadow a student’s qualifications, especially in this competitive
climate,” said Roseborough.