The Tufts Office of Career Services co-sponsored an on-campus informational event with the student-run Tufts Financial Group on October 6. About 100 students attended, along with seven alumni volunteers whose experiences represent a broad range of jobs and areas of expertise within the financial industry.
In a speed-networking format, students broke up into seven small groups. Every 12 minutes, alumni rotated among the groups, answering first a kick-off question provided by the sponsors and then fielding questions from students. The goal was to expose students to the multitude of career options available within the field of finance, while also helping to prepare them for entry into the field during challenging economic times.
Offering their ideas and advice were:
- Bill Bradley, A84, Managing Director, Investment Banking, Credit Suisse
- David Chang, A01, Commodity Portfolio Manager, Wellington Management
- Bruce Grossman, A85, Founder and CEO, Dillon Hill Capital; co-chair of the Tufts Financial Network
- Shikha Gupta, A07, Associate, RBS Sempra Commodities
- James Kang, A06, Research Associate, Aite Group
- Dave Turkington, A05, Vice President, State Street Global Markets
- Rick White, A76, Managing Director, Private Equity and Special Products, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
For Shikha Gupta, the primary objective was to explain the vast array of professional options available in the financial sector. “I hope students were able to see how many different types of jobs and fields exist within the broad industry of finance. I also hope they were able to see that they have a ton of resources and contacts to go to with questions,” she said. Rick White felt that the format was particularly effective. “I thought the speed-networking setup was an interesting way to help prepare students,” he commented. “It was a great opportunity to speak to small groups, in which students could hear each other’s questions and also hear from different alumni.”
Before the session began, student board members from the Tufts Financial Group and alumni had an opportunity to meet one another during a dinner sponsored by the Tufts Financial Network.