September/October 2011

by Terresa Ling, Jason Wang and Ryan Meltzer
EOC MAP Kicks Off with Summer Picnic
The Mentee Alumni Program (MAP) successfully launched at the EOC’s 10th anniversary celebration on May 5th, 2011. To move forward with our organization, MAP kicked off summer in style with our first event, a picnic on June 5th at Madison Square Park with some delicious picnic food and casual sports activities for the alumni.

Alumni enjoyed homemade guacamole and chips and fresh cut fruits as they networked with each other. Participants agree that they were glad they attended. Danish Kapur said, “The last EOC event was well attended by the recent graduates working in different sectors and industries and it certainly helped in making me aware of the latest corporate trends and how companies are positioning themselves in response to the current economic conditions.”

Another student is glad to be a part of EOC MAP. She said, “An important part of the Baruch education/experience is the relationships we build with our peers and professors. EOC MAP allows us to extend this experience by giving us the opportunity to further build on the network of awesome students, present and former. It is fun and it’s good for our career development.”

Attendees are excited about attending more EOC MAP events. If you have an idea for a future event or would like to organize one, feel free to email us at [email protected].

What’s Next Up for MAP?
MAP will be hosting our first workshop, “Managing the Corporate Ladder Series” on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 7PM in NVC 14-275 (55 Lexington Avenue). Long time Baruch mentor and newly anointed MAP Consiglieri, also an Executive Director of Finance and Planning at Thomas Industrial Network, Jeffrey Goldstein will be holding an hour-long interactive discussion about:

• understanding your place on the corporate ladder
• learning how to “manage up the ladder”
• lateral career moves and why they might be an overlooked strategy
• how to begin to take control of your forward momentum up the career ladder by effectively understanding your role in managing yourself and your boss

Space is extremely limited on a first-come-first served basis! RSVP NOW to EOC Alumni! Light snacks and refreshments will be served.

MAP to Support Current EOC Mentees
Executive Student Partnership (ESP) Mentoring Program of 2013 kicked off with their launch event on September 15th. The next step is matching mentor and mentee pairs and both parties are waiting enthusiastically and nervously to find out who they have been matched with. In order to prepare the mentees for the mentoring program so they can make the most of their mentorship, Ryan Meltzer from J.P. Morgan and Jason Wang from Citigroup, Baruch alumni, former ESP mentees and current board members of MAP will be conducting a mentee orientation on Tuesday, October, 25, 2011 during club hour at 12:45PM in room 14-245 in the Vertical Campus. Jason and Ryan will share their experiences during their tenure with the program, share tips on how to build an everlasting relationship with their mentors and ways and techniques to reap the benefits to its fullest out of the year-long program. Mentees are encouraged to attend where they will have the chance to ask questions and gain insight from their peers.

by Nick Passarelli
When I began with my former firm, Kellogg Group LLC, in 2003, I was hired as the Director of Human Resources, but was told that my help was needed in other areas, specifically compliance. I knew about regulatory compliance from my days at Prudential Securities, but never considered it as a career. Here I am starting a new position and immediately was asked to get involved in an area where I have zero experience. Since I was new and the company was small, I agreed to help.

The experience in compliance began primarily in areas such as registration and continuing education. As I became more familiar with the different areas of the firm, my manager gave me greater compliance-related responsibilities. Six months into the job, my day was split between 50% HR and 50% compliance. I’m not sure if many people would be happy doing something other than what they were hired to do, but I actually enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed compliance more.

In 2005, I was named the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of Kellogg Partners, the Institutional Sales division of Kellogg Group. The experience really helped me grow professionally into a compliance role. At a small firm, there is a lot of baptism by fire. I made mistakes, but I learned from them quickly. As I began to understand the business in detail, it only helped me develop further into the role.

I stayed in compliance at Kellogg Partners for over four years. In 2009, I accepted a position as the CCO of Hilliard Farber/Dealerweb in 2009. My current firm has a different business model, but the responsibilities remain the same. When you work in compliance, you are the liaison between your firm and the various regulators who oversee you. It’s important that regulators understand what your firm does and that you’re compliant with their various rules and regulations. There’s a delicate balance between being compliant and tying that into the firm’s business. If you say no to everything your business wants, they will never make any money. At the same time, giving the business free reign on everything will inevitably lead to issues. It’s my job to work closely with my business people and help put them in a position where they can be as successful as possible while satisfying our regulatory responsibilities.

I am a graduate of Baruch’s MBA Program and always appreciated my experience at the school. My professors were excellent. They always made you think and tied everything into real-life scenarios. I also believe that attending part-time at night while working full-time during the day enhanced my experience. We always discussed general work items in class and the professors were always appreciative of it. It also helped the full-time students get a better understanding of topics in terms of their real life applicability.

I have always enjoyed mentoring younger people and will continue this fall as a mentor in the Executives on Campus program. There were so many people who gave me their time when I was younger and I was always appreciative. I made myself a promise that I would do the same and share my experiences and advice to those who are just getting started in their careers.

For the mentees who are reading this, here’s some advice from my experience: When it comes to starting your career, your biggest obstacle is lack of experience. It’s something you’ll overcome in time, but you need to be patient. Also, people with certain personality traits tend to be more desirable to employers. If you are willing to roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty and handle the grunt work, it shows me that you’re not above anything and I respect that. I learned a lot about HR by starting in an administrative on-boarding position. While it wasn’t what I envisioned in HR, I learned how the on-boarding tied in with the different HR functions at the firm. The experience was great.

Even after 15 years of experience, I am still amazed at how some people have difficulty working with others. I don’t care what you decide to do as a career. If you don’t know how to work with all types of people in your field, then your upside is limited. You don’t have to be friends with everyone, but you do need to find a way to work with them and get the job done.

One final piece of advice for the mentees in the program which I think is important: Network!! I cannot begin to stress the importance of networking. Create an account on Linked In, exchange information with people you meet and keep in touch with those in your network. You’ll be amazed at the amount of people you meet who may know someone that you do. I always tell my interns that what you know helps, but who you know will lead to more opportunities for you.

by Cheryl Fleisher
Baruch College’s Continuing and Professional Studies (CAPS) Division offers courses and seminars covering subjects from Accounting to Zumba and describes itself as “The College of Possibilities.” For Executives On Campus members, participating in CAPS courses and one-day business seminars makes it possible to enhance or update management techniques or communication skills, improve a golf game, relax in a pool or on a yoga mat, or indulge lifelong interests that diverge from day-to-day concerns.

All EOC members receive a 15% discount on most CAPS courses. Furthermore, working with the CAPS Corporate Learning Services team, EOC members can build customized business training programs and workshops for their companies or extend a 10% discount on specific CAPS courses conducted at Baruch to their employees.

CAPS designed its wide-ranging roster of Friday intensive seminars to meet the varied needs of time-pressed executives, inquisitive job changers and seasoned employees confronting knowledge gaps as technology advances or new responsibilities alter their job descriptions. All CAPS programs are led by working professionals, insuring that recognized best practices and relevant business cases form the basis for classroom interaction. In addition to the seminars listed on the CAPS website, dynamic corporate management classes focused on negotiating and managing conflict, creating effective teams and partnerships, developing and providing leadership, assessing interpersonal management styles, strategic planning, evaluating performance and setting objectives have been conducted for executive groups and are available on demand.

How can EOC members best explore their own possibilities for life-long learning and corporate advancement using all that CAPS offers? To enroll at a 15% discount, just call CAPS at 646-312-5104 and let their enrollment representatives know you are an EOC member. To provide your employees with the CAPS advantage at reduced cost, outsource your training to CAPS or have an intensive seminar conducted exclusively for your team, contact CAPS Corporate Learning Services Director, James Ratigan at 646-312-5124 or Associate Director, Kimberly Maybar, at 646-312-5125.

by Diane Harrigan
photo by Franklyn Roa
Over the years, I have had pleasure to communicate with many of you and learn firsthand about the amazing opportunities that Executives On Campus has afforded Baruch’s student body.

From you I have heard stories that were so compelling that I lobbied to include them in the alumni magazine – and won (the Financial Women’s Association mentor-mentee Q&A, for example). In fact, there hasn’t been one issue of the magazine since the formation of EOC that hasn’t covered the EOC’s activities in one form or another. And now with the online companion alumni magazine www.baruch.cuny.edu/bcam, I can all but guarantee that this tradition will continue.

If you didn’t catch Diane Baranello’s article in BCAM Online, why not read it now. Her advice may improve your job prospects – or at least start you thinking about your personal brand.

Throughout the years, your messages have highlighted common themes, especially the sense of reward EOC service provides and the gratitude of Baruch students.

Your activities constitute news all alumni want to hear! So, alumni, please feel free to reach out to me with:

•News for Class Notes (including new jobs, promotions, marriage, births and adoptions)
•Personal remembrances of your student days and favorite faculty
•Article ideas for upcoming issues
Hoping to hear from you,
Diane Harrigan
E-mail: [email protected]

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!!
Summers has ended and school is back in session. This fall is going to be an exciting and busy time for EOC. This year we are welcoming more than 85 new mentors to our year-long mentoring programs; one of those new mentors, Nick Passarelli, has contributed an article in this issue. If you don’t have time to mentor a student for a full year, don’t worry! Our fall Mentor for a Morning events (November 1st and 10th) just take up a morning while giving mentors the opportunity to help Baruch students. If you would like to be a mentor for a morning or contribute a news item or article to the EOC Newsletter, please email at [email protected].

J. McLoughlin, Director, Executives on Campus