Alumni Mocktail Panel: A Reunion To Remember

By Khalid, Khalid, Peer for Career

On a beautiful Thursday evening of March 24^th, the STARR Career Development Center welcomed back six of its former Alumni who were part of programs such as Peers for Careers, Rising Starr Sophomore Program (RSSP), and Passport to Partnership (P2P). This event was possible thanks to the collaboration between awesome SCDC staff counselors and the Alumni Committee. The night was filled with spirited conversation, networking, and chatting with the six panelists who are now successful in their professional careers.

The overall Mocktail Panel was truly inspiring, from hearing the directors speak about the resources of each of the programs to being inspired by the valuable insightful success stories by each of the panelists. Attendees were able to gain and practice networking skills while savoring delicious appetizers and fancy mocktails. As a current Peer for Career, I was personally impressed that a former Alumna like Victoria Rodriguez is still utilizing the very skills she learned as a Peer. Rodriguez explained how Peers for Careers, especially Tier 2, helped her immensely in her professional career as an HR Associate at Johnson & Johnson. Surprisingly, it was not only Rodriguez who has successfully taken advantage of her experiences at STARR; most panelists agreed that participating in STARR’s programs prepared them well for their professional paths.

There are quite a few highlights and takeaways from the event. The one that stood out the most to me was that, no matter what leadership activities or clubs you are participating in, the skills you gain will come in handy sometime in the future. I think this is valuable advice for all students to take greater advantage of the student activities at Baruch and the great resources and programs that the STARR Career Development Center offers.

As the night went on, Alex Ryshina, the moderator, kept the conversation very engaging. Attendees received great insight into how former Alumni reached their professional goals, and what steps and initiatives they took to help them to get there. Afterwards, students had the chance to participate in a Q & A session, where one of the students received valuable tips on how to make the most of her summer internship experience at EY.

The night was indeed wonderful getting to know our successful Baruch Alumni. Before the event transitioned to one-on-one networking, Dr. Ellen Stein give the panelists some beautiful gifts to thank them for their time and their support for aspiring students who want to follow in their footsteps. The event was only two hours, yet full of memories for Alumni and great advice for students.

On Behalf of the Alumni Committee, we would like to thank all the STARR Career Development Center counselors, directors of special programs, staff, and student aides for working tirelessly to put this event together. Also, we would like to extend our thanks to the Baruch Office of Alumni Relations for their support and lovely gifts for our Alumni.

Alumni Interview: Tasvir Hasan

By Jubi Gauchan, Peer for Career

On a beautiful Saturday morning, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tasvir Hasan, an alumnus of
Baruch who is heavily involved in recruiting at his alma mater. Father to two sweet daughters,
husband to a beautiful wife that he has known more than half his life, and a friendly, kind and
awesome personality, he is currently a Vice President at J.P. Morgan. Read on to find out more!

1. What year did you graduate? What was your major and minor?

I graduated Baruch in 2004 with an Accounting degree. At that time, an Accounting major
was not required to have a minor.

2. Where do you work and what is your current role?

I have worked at J.P. Morgan for 15 years, including four years during college, as a Smart
Start Scholarship/Internship participant. I worked full-time in the summer and part-time
during the school year.

Currently, I am the functional head of the North American Multinational Credit Risk team.
We handle inbound requests for the North-American subsidiaries of companies with
overseas headquarters. Clients come to us when they need loans, or other products / services
that have credit exposure.

3. Could you tell us a little bit about your experience in Baruch? Did you participate in
any clubs or organizations?

While attending Baruch, I worked at J.P. Morgan, which did not leave me with a lot of free
time; however, I was in the Honors Program, and I was a Student Academic Consulting Center
(SACC) Tutor for math, accounting, finance and other subjects. I was also a student
counselor.

4. Please name some steps that helped you to launch your first internship/job.

I graduated high school with an Engineering degree and was very involved in extracurricular
activities. I wanted to keep busy and have a good profile for college applications. In addition
to being the Salutatorian of the school and engineering program, I was the Editor of the
Yearbook and Captain of the handball team. Our handball team won the city championship
and my partner and I won the city doubles tournament as well. I even had my story
published in Newsday and another newspaper.

Towards the end of my junior year, I asked my professor and mentor where I could transition
to outside of engineering, and was advised that I should look into business. That is why I
came to Baruch, and then joined the J.P. Morgan Smart Start scholarship/internship program.

With my engineering background, the internship program managers thought doing something
technology-related would be a good first rotation. I was placed in a role responsible for
testing software and web applications for employees. Thereafter, I wanted to enhance my soft
skills, so I went through a leadership and management curriculum training rotation. In this
program, we assessed the internal and external training courses that were made available to
J.P. Morgan employees.

I knew I wanted to be an Accounting major, so I joined the Corporate Tax department for my
third rotation. It was a very good role, but I realized that accounting is too objective for my
personal preference. Since I wanted something a bit more subjective in nature, I looked into
Finance. Fortunately, I was asked to be a summer analyst for Credit Risk, and I submitted
my resume. I was two out of 40 Smart Start interns that joined a group of six Credit Risk
interns in the Commercial Bank. I really enjoyed it. Early on, I presented my views on why
we should lend money to large corporations, using quantitative and qualitative factors
through SWOT analysis, etc.

I then joined as a full-time analyst in Credit Risk. Although I have not worked outside of
Credit Risk in my full-time career, I have rotated through several industry groups in the
Commercial Bank and Corporate & Investment Bank.

5. What are the qualities that are the most valuable for your current position and your
company?

You have to be diligent, inquisitive, a good team player, and commercial. It is easy as a
Credit Officer to say “no.” However, I think the purpose is to find a way that works well for
everyone. It is about the right risk and return. Credit is a foot in the door for the
relationship, providing you with an opportunity to deliver other products and services.

Currently, I also manage people so have to be thoughtful about what is in their best interests,
and think about the team in general. It is good to be humble – knowing that there are a lot of
people who are smarter than you in certain aspects through experiences or simply smarter by
nature. That being said, it is important to keep in mind the importance of EQ, in addition to
IQ.

It is important to keep an open mind, and understand that we are not always right. We have to
be flexible when thrown a curveball. It is important to not to get rattled when surprises
happen; I see a lot of senior colleagues that stay calm, cool, and collected. As a leader, they
are the face of the team. I think they recognize that if we see them calm and focused, we will
feel more comfortable as well.

6. Could you tell us about the challenges you faced when you first started your
internship/job?

The internship started in my freshman year of college. I went from being a laid back high
school student to coming into a professional work environment. For the first couple of days, I
thought it was okay to go with my shirt un-tucked. My manager pulled me aside and said that
was not okay.

Everybody has specific roles and responsibilities, some of which are less interesting, but
you need to remind yourself of the bigger picture. You need to remind yourself that this is
part of delivering solutions to your colleagues and clients, and then it becomes more
meaningful.

Getting adjusted to the business world, breaking out of my shell, and understanding the
bigger picture were important things I learned early on.

7. What are some tips that you would give to students for a successful recruiting
experience?

Come prepared. It will help if you know who you are meeting with, know what they are
doing, and what the hot topics are in that industry/profession. Have your 60-second pitch; and
do not talk too much about yourself unless you are being asked for more information. It is
important to sell yourself in a smart way, but don’t overdo it. Ask the professionals about
themselves too.

Don’t take it personally when people don’t connect with you right away. It sometimes
depends on the kind of day that they’re having, or other things that are going on in their lives.
Always keep a smile on your face.

Don’t be shy in a networking environment. People are there to help you. If things don’t go as
you want them to, don’t take it personally.

I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason, so be yourself, do the best that you
can, be honest, and you will find yourself in a place where you are meant to be.

8. If you were to give one advice to Baruch students, what would it be?

Be yourself and challenge yourself to be the best person you can be. Competition is definitely
big in any job, let alone finance. I think we should just compete with ourselves. Just try to be
better than who you were yesterday and that’s something you should never regret or feel bad
about. I think a fitting way to end this would be to paraphrase a quote from Bernard M.
Baruch himself: You don’t have to blow out the other person’s light to let your own shine.

Alumni Interview: Kamran Malik

By Jiaxin Karen Lu, Peer for Career

Kamran Malik is a Baruch alumnus who graduated in the year of 2005, with a major in Computer Information Systems and a minor in Graphic Communications. He currently works at EY as a Senior Consultant. Please see the following advice he has for students.

1. Could you tell us a little bit about your experience in Baruch? Did you participate in any clubs or organizations?

I was involved in the student leadership team called T.E.A.M. Baruch. I taught Freshman Seminar classes and helped new freshmen get acclimated to Baruch. Within T.E.A.M. Baruch were branches of all kinds, including Peers for Careers. After an intense training on how to make the best possible resume and stand out in front of employers, I assisted Baruch students with their resumes and helped them prepare for interviews by holding mock interviews.

2. Please name some steps that helped you obtain your first full time job.
I was fortunate enough to work at the Starr Career Development Center while at Baruch, so I was very on top of my job search from the beginning of my college career. I started interning at Citigroup after my first year in college. My summer internship turned into a part-time internship. While working at Starr, I saw that Citigroup was interviewing for an Analyst program, which I immediately applied to, and I was offered a position. What helped me most was the motivation from watching other students try hard and take time out of their lives to better their interviewing skills and improve their resumes.

3. What are the qualities that are the most valuable for your current position and your company?
I am currently in consulting, where networking and selling yourself is key. You should be able to speak to different levels of management and establish relationships with those individuals. Also, try to be part of the “best of the best” – this means get certified, or take higher education courses whenever you have availability to do so.

4. Could you tell us the challenges you faced when you first started your full-time job?
My biggest challenge was my lack of industry knowledge compared to my peers, because I was fresh out of school, and working among many senior level people, I felt a little intimidated. I was expected to know a lot because I was an intern there, but I really lacked in that area compared to the rest of the team. Fortunately, I was blessed with a wonderful team that helped me in every way possible and guided me to the right courses to excel.

5. If you were to give one piece of advice to Baruch students, what would it be?
Network. Network with everyone! You never know when you may need them, or they need you. Invite everyone you meet to your LinkedIn list. I like to try to find a common ground with someone and have them remember me that way. Have an “elevator pitch” ready to be able to sell yourself to them. If you are an intern, and are taking the elevator up with the CEO, you want to be able to say something to them, to have them remember you.

Alumni Interview: Cheng (Kevin) Chen

By Jubi Gauchan, Peer for Career

On a chilly December evening, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kevin Chen, an alum of Baruch who graduated in June 2013. He majored in Finance and minored in Natural Sciences. As many stars of Baruch are, all through college life, he was heavily involved in various leadership activities and has interned in many different companies. He was also a former Peer for Careers and is currently working at New York Life Investments. Read on to find out more!

1. What year did you graduate? What was your major and minor?

I graduated in June 2013. My major was Finance and I minored in Natural Sciences.

2. Where do you work and what is your current role?

I work in New York Life Investments, which is the investment arm of New York Life Insurance Company. I am currently an Associate in the Strategic Technology Investments Group, which is essentially the corporate venture capital team at NY Life. My team invests in technology start-up companies as well as venture capital funds. We have a mandate of bringing innovative technology companies into NY Life and we introduce their technology to the firm.

3. Could you tell us a little bit about your experience in Baruch? Did you participate in any clubs or organizations?

I had a great time at Baruch. It is a great bang for the buck!

In freshman year I was still debating on whether to focus on pre-med or go into Finance. Then in my sophomore year, I joined TEAM Baruch and then Peers for Careers. At the same time, I started to explore different clubs. I joined Beta Alpha Psi and became an Assistant Treasurer. I was also in the Bio-Med Society. I also started a non-profit on campus called Baruch Operation Smile. We were a student club arm of the non-profit called Operation Smile, where they provide free procedures for children in developing countries born with cleft lips. I was the President and Co-founder. For my sophomore year, I was recruiting members and building out the operations and then mainly focused on developing it further during my junior and senior year. We originally started with 4 members and then by the time I passed on the baton, we had 40 members. Besides that, I was also the Chief Operating Officer for Financiers without Borders.

4. Please name some steps that helped you to launch your first full time job?

The Peers for Careers program got me started with career development and prepped me with all the skills necessary to get my first internship at JP Morgan in the Baruch Extended Finance Internship Program. I was working there through most of my sophomore year. Then, I moved to Bank of America to explore a wealth management internship. After that, I went back to JP Morgan after finding out about an opportunity from fellow Peers: the Inter-year Operations Program, where I worked as a part-time Analyst for the rest of my college life. In between that, for summer during my junior year, I interned at Société Générale in Emerging Markets Trading. After that, I joined the investment management program at New York Life Investments full-time.
In sum, the Peers program combined with the experiences of club life and starting my own club on-campus built a strong foundation for me that helped me obtain all the internships. Then, all the internships built up the right skills that helped me to market myself as a suitable and competent applicant.

5. What are the qualities that are the most valuable for your current position and your company?

The qualities would be the ability to take initiative, being able to work without being given directions, taking ownership of projects, multi-tasking and developing professional skills such as how to interact with people. All these are important especially at work where I meet with entrepreneurs and have to work with different types of people.

6. Could you tell us about the challenges you faced when you first started your full time job?

It was a new team so there was no procedure to follow. In a lot of big companies, there is always a predecessor before you, who would give you the documentation of what to do and describe your day-to-day job duties. However here, we had to help build the process for it from scratch, which was extremely exciting.

Transitioning into full-time was also different. The transition from Intern to Analyst or Associate where you get more responsibilities and you have to think about where you want your career to go were some things I had to deal with.

Initially, I had wanted to be a trader so all the steps I took in college was to prepare for that role. Thus, getting into the venture capital field was not my original intention. However, when I stumbled upon the job, I found it to be very interesting and enjoyable.

7. If you were to give one advice to Baruch students, what would it be?

Be open to opportunities. Never look down upon an opportunity because it is a job that you do not like. You never know what doors might be opened next from there and where it might lead you to. Thus, jump on any opportunities that you find and do not be afraid to do it.