Tags: Students in Finance

To All College Seniors: Please Reach Out

Taking Stock

by Jim Toes

The Graduate is an American classic based on the novel of the same name by Charles Webb. The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock, (played by Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate who has no idea of what to do with his life and is constantly being asked by his parents about his future plans. The film was a box-office success and the closing shot of Ben riding off with Katherine Ross, having just save her from the alter with the Sounds of Silence playing in the background, is forever etched in our memories.

Luckily for its Hollywood producers, the Graduate was released in 1967 and not 2020, as it is doubtful people would view it as its intended romantic-comedy.

This week and next, college students across the U.S. and Canada are finishing up their spring semesters, most, if not all, completely online. Seniors, who normally would be donning their caps and gowns, and gearing up for all the pomp and circumstance of graduation, have basically seen their college experience flatline. The impact to college students from the decisions made in response to COVID-19 have been nothing short of traumatic.

As parents, it is natural for us to want to protect our children from these types of situations, even when they become young adults. Unfortunately, reality only allows us to do so much; we cannot take their place. Instead we provide support and guidance with the hope that they recover stronger with the wisdom that comes from overcoming a challenging life experience. 

As an association composed of individuals who serve individuals, STA has a personal sense of what many of you are going through right now, and we are offering to help.

Recognizing that for the foreseeable future, interviews for full-or part-time jobs will be conducted almost exclusively virtually, STA has set aside time each week for 30-minute virtual conversation with ANY college senior, regardless of major.

While it goes without saying that young people are quite comfortable socially engaging with friends via Facetime, Skype or some other virtual means, a structured interview presents unique challenges and as such, the experience and feedback we are providing could be beneficial. 

Recognizing that for the foreseeable future, interviews for internships and full-time jobs will be conducted almost exclusively virtually, STA has set aside time each week for 30-minute conversations with ANY college senior, regardless of major.

Details on how your child can participate are provided below. Again, this offer is open to any college senior. If you have a graduate with non-finance degree, please make them aware that within every financial firm there are individuals performing jobs in technology, law, government policy, marketing and communications. So, their time will not be wasted.

If your student doesn’t have a polished resume, a brief paragraph describing themselves will suffice.

We realize these are strange times, to say the least. Our offer is simple and sincere, and we hope your recent college graduate takes us up on it. 

Details

  • 30-minute conversations will take place over Zoom between 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. EDT every Wednesday, beginning May 13 through June 24, 2020. 
  • Include your resume (or a brief description) along with dates and times that you are available. 
  • Appointments will be scheduled on a first come, first serve basis. We will do our best to accommodate all requests.

We look forward to speaking with as many of you as possible!

College Student Home for the Holidays?

CEO's Desk Taking Stock

New Year’s Eve usually marks the beginning of when parents start counting down the days until their college students return to school. While it’s wonderful to have them home for the holidays, a return to normalcy is something we start to crave after a few weeks of late evenings, extra laundry and things gone missing like: remotes, phone chargers, razors, hairbrushes, car keys, food, beer, clothes and basically anything else that isn’t nailed down.

If you are fortunate enough to have a college student with some free time over the next few weeks, and they’re interested in working in the financial services industry, have them read this short article on how to stand out, and how to be informed, when applying for an internship.

FINRA’s SIE Exam

FINRA recently introduced a new exam for prospective securities industry professionals called the Securities Industry Essentials or SIE Exam. This introductory-level exam assesses a candidate’s knowledge of basic securities industry information including concepts fundamental to working in the industry such as, types of products and their risks; the structure of the securities industry markets, regulatory agencies and their functions; and, prohibited practices.

The SIE Exam is open to anyone 18 or older, including college students who are interested in demonstrating basic securities knowledge to potential employers that are offering internshhips within the financial services industry. For more information on the SIE Exam, visit FINRA’s website here.

SEC’s Investor.Gov & FINRA’s Broker Check® 

Obtaining an internship in financial services is a highly competitive process, and students seeking these coveted positions generally lack the knowledge to determine the difference between an internship that will present a good opportunity from one that does not. In almost any industry when strong demand is coupled with uninformed buyers, the potential for those buyers to be exploited rises.

Our concern is acute to those internships whereby the student is paying the university who, in return, grants the student credits toward their degree upon completing their internship. In these situations, a student who may discover that the internship is not what they signed up for is less likely to quit due to the fact that failure to complete the internship results in a loss of credits and money.

With that in mind, STA will be circulating a letter to university career and planning placement officers that mentions our concerns regarding the potential for students seeking internships to be taken advantage of by those less scrupulous. In our letter, we recommend that career placement officers employ the SEC’s Investor.Gov and FINRA’s Broker Check® online portals to screen firms and individuals who offer student internships in the financial services industry. Our concern is acute to those internships whereby the student is paying the university who, in return, grants the student credits toward their degree upon completing their internship. In these situations, a student who may discover that the internship is not what they signed up for is less likely to quit due to the fact that failure to complete the internship results in a loss of credits and money.

Paying It Forward

CEO's Desk Newsletter

Last week, while most folks in the financial services industry were focused on their NCAA Basketball brackets, Quinnipiac University from Hamden, CT held the largest student-run financial conference in the world.

Taking place in New York City, Quinnipiac’s Global Asset Management Education (G.A.M.E.) IX Forum attracted students from 160 universities, representing 54 countries and 48 states, and offered them the chance to discuss and debate financial best practices with renowned industry leaders such as: Abby Cohen, Goldman Sachs; Bob Doll, Nuveen Asset; David Kelly, J.P. Morgan Funds; Kate Moore, BlackRock and more. The three-day event, with its more than 1,500 participants, was a clear demonstration on the breadth of our industry and the vital role it plays in the world economy.

More importantly, it was a reminder of the awesome responsibility that we all share in leaving our industry better for the next generation. Recognizing that responsibility begins with an appreciation for the generations who came before us. Even today’s brightest minds and biggest egos must admit they did not create the financial services industry. We all had something to work with, or disrupt, when we began our careers. While the responsibility of leaving it better for the next generation can be fulfilled in many ways, Quinnipiac’s annual event was a testament to paying-it-forward as industry leaders shared their time, wisdom and personal experiences with tomorrow’s professionals. 

More importantly, it was a reminder of the awesome responsibility that we all share in leaving our industry better for the next generation. Recognizing that responsibility begins with an appreciation for the generations who came before us.

On behalf of STA, we wish to congratulate Quinnipiac University and Dr. David Sauer, Professor of Finance and G.A.M.E. Founder, Executive Director and Program Chair, on the success of this year’s event and their contributions to our industry’s future. 

Quinnipiac GAME Forum

See STA March Newsletter here

Protecting our student interns

CEO's Desk Newsletter
Protecting our student interns.
by Jim Toes

In order for our industry to compete on a global scale it needs to attract and retain the brightest minds of every generation. Ensuring that a young person’s first experience in the financial services industry is a positive one helps achieve that goal.

Student internships,  which are often an individual’s first experience in the workforce are a good area for us to look at for improving our ability to attract tomorrow’s leaders. As we are all aware, obtaining an internship in the financial services industry is a highly competitive process.   In addition, we also know that some students seeking internships lack the knowledge to determine one that provides a good opportunity – from another one which does not.  In almost any industry when strong demand is coupled with uninformed buyers, the potential for those buyers to be exploited rises.

With that in mind, the STA has begun circulating a letter to university career placement officers which mentions our concerns regarding the potential for students seeking internships to be taken advantage of by those less scrupulous. In our letter,  we recommend that career placement officers employ FINRA’s Broker Check® to screen firms and individuals who offer student internships in the financial services industry.

To be clear, we are not claiming any laws are being broken, nor are we calling for a congressional hearing or a new regulation on this topic. We are however hoping that our letter causes career placement officers to consider the policies and procedures they have in place for choosing which firms are allowed to offer internships to their university’s students. Our concern is acute to those internships whereby the student is paying the university who, in return, grants the student credits toward their degree upon completing their internship. In these situations, a student who may discover that the internship is not what they signed up for is less likely to quit due to the fact that failure to complete the internship results in a loss of credits and money.  Scenarios like these are a poor and non representative reflection on our industry at large. So if you are directly working with a career placement officer, please encourage them to do their due diligence.

A copy of our letter is HERE

Please feel free to share it.

See June 2015 STA newsletter HERE