Who's Headed into Finance in 2013?

Cornell attracts its share of Consortium finance MBAs

On your mark. Get set. This week, over 300 new Consortium students will launch their campaigns to earn an MBA by heading to New Orleans for the Consortium's 47th Orientation Program.  As in previous years, they will be engulfed by activity, events, recruiters, school staff, seminars, sponsors and celebratory gestures. For most of them, OP is a festive, uplifting time. They pause and take a week-long breath before embarking upon the frenetic pace of graduate business school. 

Among the new MBAs, who's headed into financial services in 2013?

How many among the 300-plus have expressed an interest in concentrating in finance at school or a career in financial services? As they take new twists and turns over the next two years, what do they aspire to do when graduation comes in 2015?

Let's consider the current environment.  The awful, dreadful financial crisis is receding into memory, although there is a haunting, lingering impact. The crisis and economic recession caused upheaval and changed the landscape at banks, broker/dealers, investment funds, insurance companies and private-equity firms.  Financial institutions are rushing to hire just as many experts in compliance, risk management, regulation and technology as they are in luring investment bankers, brokers, wealth managers, and traders.

With steady improvements in the economy  and with remarkable upturns in equity markets, this year's new MBA students won't need to whisper when they declare an interest in financial services. The job or role they dream of may actually exist in two years. Or the job or role may turn out to be something they never knew existed in their first days of a corporate-finance core course.

The new class of Consortium students, after the OP, will disperse and head off to 17 different Consortium business schools all across the country.  Of the total, over 130 have expressed some degree of interest in financial services, even if it is a tentative or preliminary interest. That number already suggests renewed confidence. In previous years, especially during the morale-plummeting crisis years, fewer than 100 dared to raise a hand to say they were interested in banking, trading or investment research.

Many of them, like other non-finance MBA students, are in career transition. Some are opting for finance after stints in other fields (non-profits, public service, engineering, or marketing).  Some are currently in banking or trading and will use the MBA (and what they learn in class) to leap from one segment to another (from, say, private banking to equity research).

No doubt they understand what they are about to take on.  They know this isn't the 1980s, when an MBA graduate Dartmouth could join Morgan Stanley's corporate-finance unit and plan to be there for 20-plus years and, with confidence, take steady, resolute steps to managing director.  They know it's possible Morgan Stanley may not exist (in the way we know it today) in 20 years. (Drexel Burnham, Bear Stearns, Salomon, and Lehman Brothers, favorite firms for MBAs in the 1980s, don't exist in 2013.)

They know they must plan a career in five-year segments. Even in finance, they know they must reinvent and rebrand themselves all the time and be willing to try something new when pushed against the wall. They know they must explore a variety of institutions, segments, roles, and options.  They know, too, the best opportunity may not be at Goldman or Citigroup, but could be at a regional investment fund, at a financial institution in Brazil or at a futures brokerage in Chicago.  If they don't know now, they will learn that roles in compliance, risk management and financial regulation are more valued by some banks than first-year jobs in M&A or on the currency desk.

MBA students in finance (including those at Consortium schools) tend to head to business schools with strengths in finance, where finance faculty are widely known and where finance recruiters swarm. They also head toward schools that already have a large concentration of students in finance. They want to be with others with similar aspirations or they don't want to be at a disadvantage. Like-minded students want to be with each other.

In this year's class, Cornell and NYU business schools will have the largest number of Consortium finance students. Michigan, Texas, Virginia, Yale and Indiana follow closely behind. These numbers are as expected, because these schools tend to support the largest numbers of Consortium students and some of them have historically attracted many students with an eye on Wall Street, banking, private equity, or investment management.

Students today, including Consortium students, are mindful to keep they must keep options open. When they are asked to indicate an interest before they start school, they will likely show many hands.  Many finance students will say they will pursue finance, plus something else. Often, that will be finance and consulting or finance and marketing.

Consortium students in the Class of '15 are similarly spreading their wings, while they have primary objectives. Over a dozen expressed an interest in venture capital and are likely aware of the difficulty in securing a position in a major venture firm, particularly one that resides on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. Venture-capital firms hire MBAs from top schools and cherish candidates with strong technical experiences (and degrees), but are notably erratic in how they bring on whom they hire.

Another dozen or so are interested in investment banking. That wouldn't be unusual in any class. Despite the topsy-turvy world of investment banking (Who's laying off or reducing staff this week?), investment banking is still an important segment of finance, it will always be here, and there still remains the lure of working for such firms as Goldman Sachs, Lazard Freres, and JPMorgan.

Many more also say they will explore financial management, which captures areas from private banking and asset management to corporate finance at non-financial companies.  Others are interested in finance in specific industries:  real estate and energy, e.g.

The pairing of finance and consulting seems to be as popular as ever.  That might be a result of some students aiming for a particular firm experience (at, say, Goldman Sachs or Booz Allen or Blackstone), hopeful for an opportunity to have a prestigious, meaningful experience in their first few years and not necessarily loyal to a particular industry. Or they wish to be in an advisory function, which is what investment banking and consulting are about.

Not many expressed an interest in community banking, insurance, or financial brokerage.

Students willing to explore multiple concentrations also suggests a few more trends: (a) They know that the optimal dream job for an MBA graduate may not yet exist or is still in the making or (b) They may not yet be familiar with industry details to know they might be suitable for a certain segment. Many MBA candidates will learn over the next two years (or after they are hired by a financial institution) they are best suited for roles in risk management, audit, compliance or research.  The business-school experience is supposed to permit students to explore, get their feet wet in alien territory, and test new fields.

The daunting rat race of the recruiting process hastens the exploration effort, and that's unfortunate. It thrusts the new student into a boiling pot, where they must make career decisions overnight. Students declare where they will go to school in April or May, and by August, before they have sat through one marketing case study, they are swept into the helter-skelter pace of finding a summer internship.

For now, they get to explore, contemplate, and plan.

Tracy Williams

See also:

CFN:  Outlook for MBAs, 2013
CFN:  Consortium Orientation Program, NOLA-Bound, 2013
CFN:  Consortium Orientation Program, Minneapolis, 2012
CFN:  Consortium Orientation Program, 2011
CFN:  Consortium Orientation Program, Orlando, 2010
CFN:  Consortium Orientation Program, Charlotte, 2009

Bound for NOLA, 2013

The Consortium's 47th annual Orientation Program for new MBA students will take place June 7-12 in New Orleans. As usual, the Consortium Finance Network hopes to have a presence there, as it invites new students interested in finance to join CFN.

Registration is now open for Consortium alumni and sponsors. The OP's theme this year is "Upgrading Your Career, 2.0 (13)."

New MBA students from the 17 Consortium schools this year will be assigned to industry tracks in finance, consulting, marketing and general management, permitting students to focus on events, seminars and sponsors that are tailored to their interests.

As in previous years, there will be sessions to prepare for interviews, discuss diversity issues and explore topics in ethics. There will also be ample opportunities to network with other students, schools, alumni and sponsors. The career fair and gala dinner are always culminating highlights at the OP. This is the first year the OP will be held in New Orleans.

In a typical year, when over 300 new Consortium students attend an Orientation, about 80 or more will express interest in finance. The Consortium is still in the process of assembling the Class of '15, as offers for admission go out this month.

For more about OP 2013, go to http://www.cgsm.org. For more about OP sessions in other cities in past years, see the links below.

Tracy Williams

See also:

CFN:  Getting ready for the Orientation Program, Minneapolis, 2012
CFN:  Consortium OP in Minneapolis, 2011
CFN:  Alumni and the Orientation Program, 2011
CFN:  Consortium OP in Orlando, 2010
CFN:  The MBA Class of '12 in Orlando, 2010
CFN:  Consortium OP in Charlotte, 2009

Consortium OP 2012: Getting Psyched!

Hundreds of new Consortium MBA students--beaming with glee and pride after having been accepted by top business schools and, in many cases, after having received full-tuition fellowships--will converge on Minneapolis for the Consortium's annual Orientation Program. They don't go alone.  Hundreds of others, including Consortium alumni, business-school staffers and professors, industry speakers, and corporate recruiters will touch down in Minneapolis, too, and participate in panels, discussions, networks, and career fairs and welcome over 300 new Consortium MBA students to the b-school experience.

The OP, as it has evolved over the past four decades, is more than a celebration of admission.  Programs exist for alumni of all years and experiences.  This year even includes a day-long examination of the consulting industry for those interested in a career in consulting.

The panels, events, and presentations help students gear up for b-school, recruiting, coursework, specific subjects, casework and career decision-making. September looms and all that comes with it (new campuses, new environment, new classmates, challenging courses and swamping workloads) follows behind. The transition from workplace to campus starts now, and the Consortium OP makes sure students are ready. (This year marks the Consortium's 46th annual OP.)

Students and alumni who attend should maximize what they get from the OP.  What a waste it would be if they shrug it off as a short respite away from current work, a brief chance to take a breather before preparing for the move to Darden, Tuck, Marshall or Haas.  This is the time to leap at a gift given--an extraordinary networking event with opportunities to outline what you want most from business school and learn a little something in the process. 

How can MBA students and alumni optimize the week? Many come with an agenda; many come with hopes, while some come crossing their fingers wishing for luck to meet the right corporate representative with arms full of folders and booklets describing real job opportunities.

Consortium students and alumni can make the best of the week, and in years past, many have done so dutifully. They attend the sessions, luncheons, panels and corporate events, even resisting the temptation to sneak away to tour the town or loiter about in local bars.  What can this year's batch do?

1.  Pace yourself, organize your time, and acknowledge that with an onslaught of events, programs and panels, you can't do it all. But if you have a plan, stick to it, and allow for free time, you can do, see, and meet what you design on your agenda.

2. Absorb the knowledge; listen out for and welcome the wisdom shared by experienced alumni, corporate representatives, business professionals, professors and business-school deans.  The talent, wealthy experiences, corporate skills, and intellectual breadth concentrated at the OP are enormous.  Allow as much of that to rub off as possible.

At OP, there are flurries of information, knowledge, and insight that are passed around and shuffled about--during panels, during coffee breaks and dinners, even on elevator rides or during idle chats around the hotel fountain.  Gatherings as big as a hundred or as small as a couple discuss companies, business trends, schools, cities, hot opportunities, financial innovation, marketing ideas, and the prospects of start-ups. They discuss favorite cities, attractive regions and countries (hot spots), and desirable entry-level positions in marketing at a Fortune 500 company.  They discuss how they plan to start their own businesses or non-profits. 


3. Be open-minded: explore other industries.  Go beyond your comfort zone and sample something new. If you approach school stubbornly focused on private banking, step beyond familiar waters and learn something about micro-finance, private equity, community banking or municipal finance.  If you are preparing to concentrate in finance, do something daring and attend a panel on entrepreneurship, industrial management or international business.

Allow yourself a moment of serendipity--being lucky to have been in the right place in the right time because you dared to try something new.

 4. Get to know the companies that swarm the OP, that send dozens of representatives ready to discuss all aspects of their businesses, strategies, expansion and even recruiting. Get a sense of the companies' cultures, people, and management style. Decide whether these are places where you wish to start out (or perhaps invest in or do business with in the future).

At OP, there are many chances to confer with companies, banks, institutions, and other organizations--during receptions, at lunch, during dinner, in the lobby, or at panels. At OP, corporate representatives come yearning to start a relationship or have dialogue with a Consortium student or alumnus.


5.  Make connections beyond your school. Very quickly you will get to know all other Consortium students from your school. The meaningful, rich relationships with classmates will ignite and spark at the start.  Nonetheless, find time to connect with and meet other students and alumni from other schools.  If you are from Olin, Tepper, Darden or Johnson, steal away to meet those from McCombs, Ross, Tuck, Goizueta, or Stern.

Discuss shared experiences and backgrounds; talk about business-related dreams, and devise strategies for how you all will pursue ambitions.  You will have extended your network from the confines of your school to a national tie-in.  When you return to school, you should have campus connections and ongoing communications with students from campuses coast to coast.

6.  Don't ignore professors and staffers who take the time to attend OP. Sometimes they are overlooked, as students and alumni rush to make connections with corporate representatives or stumble to get to corporate-fair presentations from favorite institutions. 

Professors and staffers in attendance from all schools provide advice on how to approach required courses, how to plan a concentration, how to plan a semester abroad, and how to juggle academics while looking for a summer internship. And you get their attention and thoughtful commentary when they are not preoccupied with other campus chores.  There, too, is no rule that says a student or alumnus from Anderson or Stern cannot speak to an official from Yale, Tuck, Kelley, or Wisconsin.

7.  Take a moment to discover the city. Time won't permit you to do this in chunks, but force yourself to allot an hour or two here and there. Minneapolis will put on a happy, welcoming face and will be eager to share with you its cultural offerings and geographic wonders.  It wants you (and the Consortium) to return for business and personal purposes.

8.  Most of all, enjoy the moment. The OP has a celebratory air with many pats on the back,  inspiration from speakers, and encouragement from schools, older alumni, and corporate representatives. There is good reason for all participants to applaud each other. The new students, with their MBA acceptances at top schools and lucrative fellowships, have wrapped up a successful chapter one of the MBA experience and can't wait for the rest of the book to evolve.

Tracy Williams

See also

CFN: OP, 2011 and Consortium Alumni

CFN:  OP Through the Years (June 2010)

Consortium OP 2011: Alumni Are Welcome

Consortium alumni, you are invited, too.

The Consortium's annual Orientation Program is not merely a five-day celebration of the Consortium's first-year MBA students. Alumni are welcome and can get involved in various ways. If they attend, they take advantage of the program's varied offerings--from career-strategy sessions to leadership and development seminars. And of course, the always-popular career fair.

Granted, the OP (including the Consortium's 45th this year in Minneapolis) is intended to be a memorable, festive welcoming event for over 300 first-year MBA students. First-year students get a head start on business school; 17 top business schools get acquainted with students formerly known to them for their GMAT scores, glowing recommendations and pertinent work experience. Corporate sponsors, by the hundreds, get access to diverse talent and get an early start on recruiting for summer internships.

Alumni can join the festivities, too. Consortium MBA alumni often say they want an opportunity to relive the OP experience of  their first years. But  now as experienced professionals, they look for reasons to attend and for programs geared to their interests and spots on the long career path. More and more, the Consortium has responded.

This year's OP will include ample programming for alumni--whether they are first-year associates at Morgan Stanley or team vice presidents at New York Life, whether they are in transition or they seek guidance on how to get the coveted promotion.   Throughout the orientation, alumni will be able to reconnect with their schools, with classmates or with others with similar interests.  Several school meetings and sessions are planned. 

A few workshops tailored for alumni and experienced professionals are scheduled. Alumni may also want to attend other sessions--including career panels and or seminars on innovation, leadership and strategy.  Alumni will flock, too, to various networking receptions and dinners.

Most sessions are intended for first-year students, especially career panels, which provide an in-depth introduction to, for example, corporate finance, investment banking, investment management and energy.  Alumni, however, in the past have appeared at such panels, especially to catch up on industry trends, to provide their own candid viewpoints, or to give feedback and guidance to first-year students. Career panels also attract alumni in transition, who, say, might have experience in marketing, but are pursuing roles in finance sales & trading.

Alumni in the past and certainly those in 2011 treasure the widespread corporate presence at the OP.  First, sponsoring corporations help make the event possible. Second, corporate representatives, officials and recruiters are visible and active throughout the several days. Accessible and approachable, they are eager to start relationships and recruiting dialogue with students and alumni.

This year, as usual, several companies will sponsor corporate receptions. Year in and year out the Consortium's major sponsors, such companies as 3M, Bank of America, Kraft, Colgate-Palmolive, Mattel, Nestle', Pepsico and Walmart will host gatherings.

The culmination of the OP's vast networking experience is the career fair, often held in a large hall with hundreds of company representatives present and willing to discuss careers, opportunities and specific job openings at their respective organizations.  Alumni are welcome, and many in past years have flown in just for this event.

Alumni need not attend the OP just for job search, career switching or transition soul-searching. They may come to help and be involved. The Consortium this year is welcoming alumni who want to volunteer to help in the dozens of program events, receptions, and panels. They may assist in advising or encouraging first-year Consortium students, who brace for the overwhelming tasks ahead of them in business school.

As in the past two years, the Consortium Finance Network (CFN) will have an OP presence (along with other Consortium special-interest groups). CFN will be at the career fair, will invite finance students to join, and will distribute (electronically) its guide for MBA students interested in finance careers.  Alumni in finance can invite students to join CFN and help steer them toward summer-internship offers.

For Consortium alumni, the OP need not be a one-year wonder or a fond first-year memory. There is a spot or role or purpose for all MBAs in Minneapolis.

For more information about the OP's schedule and registration this year, see http://www.cgsm.org.

For MBA alumni interested in volunteering, contact D-Lori Newsome-Pitts at newsome-pittsd@cgsm.org.

Tracy Williams

Minneapolis-Bound: OP, 2011

Minneapolis will host the Consortium's 45th Orientation Program in June

The Consortium's annual Orientation Program for new students and alumni will take place in Minneapolis this year, June 26-29. Minneapolis will be the host city for the third time. This is the Consortium's 45th orientation. The program was in Orlando last year and in Charlotte the previous year.

Depending on sponsors and arrangements with at various locations, the Orientation Program has criss-crossed the country. Dallas, New York, St. Louis, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and San Francisco have also hosted the OP in the past.

The Orientation Program celebrates the achievements of new students and introduces them to each other and to business-school deans and officials and corporate sponsors. Activities involving alumni and others are included. The career fair has always been one of the most popular events during the week. New students also like the panel events on industry sectors from consumer products to investment banking.

Alumni, sponsors and corporate representatives interested in more information about this year's program should go directly to the Consortium website: http://www.cgsm.org.

As at the last two OPs, the Consortium Finance Network plans to have a presence during the week and at the career fair (along with other special-interest groups). It will introduce CFN to new students and other alumni, solicit input about programs and events, and welcome others interested in working with the steering committee.

For the past two years, CFN has prepared a detailed, useful guide for first-year MBA students in finance. The guide will be updated and sent to new students in finance again this year in June. The guide offers advice on what students in finance should do in the summer before business school and how to gear up for recruiting once they get to campus.

The guide offers tools and hints on technical topics (from corporate finance to capital markets) and helps students keep up with the rapid changes and updates in finance.

If you plan to attend OP this year (as an alumnus, sponsor or corporate representative) and want to help CFN and other Consortium special-interest groups (at the career fair), let us know (via Linkedin or separate e-mail). If you're interested in a copy of this year's finance-student guide, we can send you a copy when it is ready.

Tracy Williams

If It's June, It Must Be OP Time

If June approaches, then the Consortium's annual Orientation Program must be around the corner. This year Orlando (above) will host the big event--always a festive, memorable occasion to welcome over 300 new students to the Consortium family.

Orlando last hosted the OP in 1999 right in the shadow of DisneyWorld. The 44th OP is scheduled June 13-16 this year at the Hilton Bonnet Creek Hotel. True to the tradition of Consortium OP's, hundreds and hundreds of students, university representatives, corporate sponsors, and (more and more) alumni and other supporters will converge on the city to participate in one of the grandest and (increasingly) one of the most important business-school and diversity congregations in the land. One of the biggest networking sessions of all--where students and alumni have ample opportunity to connect with corporate representatives from every corner of the country. And where students get a head start on the business-school experience.

Over the years, OP has offered not only corporate contacts and introductions to b-school classmates and professors, but has afforded special experiences and lasting memories. On the surface, OP is a large-scale networking event. Beyond that, it is more than that--an uplifting event and confidence-builder for the 300-plus students, a launching pad to help them take full advantage of the b-school experience.

Students arrive excited about their having been admitted to top schools or having won fellowships. But they come wondering about the decisions they made and the engulfing academic experience they are about to encounter.

They leave OP energized by new friendships and encouragement from every person in sight. Many come away inspired and connected; many devise well-outlined game plans for how to manage the rigors of courses and recruiting. Some actually come away with actual job offers, although that's not a primary purpose.

Often at OP, there has been the perennially popular "Diversity Theater," featuring real actors playing roles in skits with diversity-related plots followed by lively, heated discussion afterward, an event students had to been torn away from. Through the years, there have been the career fairs, the industry panels, the university programs, and stunning speeches that rouse students and reps to standing ovations.

There have been prizes and events to meet whomever you want, to discuss whatever you wish. There have been private meetings, informational interviews, and academic competition.

There, too, have been the chances for a batch of Dartmouth students to convene for barbeque nearby to set strategy for the fall and just bond with each other. Or there are those moments when Michigan students spontaneously shout, "Go, Big Blue" a few dozen times to whomever around. A feel-good time to supplement the meetings, the connections, the business cards, and the we'll-there-for-you messages from mentors, staffers, and university reps.

There, too, have been the parade of colors--the assortment of reds, blues, greens, and oranges(mostly reds!) emblazoned on the students, who wear school attire, wave school pennants, or sit at decorated school tables. The fiery reds of Wash-U, Indiana, Wisconsin, Cornell, or USC. The cool blues of Michigan, Berkeley, UNC, Yale and UVA. The burning orange of Texas. The conspicuous purple from NYU.

In the 40-plus years of this frenetic, adrenaline-filled convention, experiences differ from year to year based on hosting sponsors, the times at hand, the dreams and desires of students, and the host city itself. That city gets to show off; the hosting sponsor gets to present itself as a most attractive prospective employer.

Minneapolis, for example, has hosted twice (the first time in 1997)--thanks to such sponsors as General Mills, 3M, and Target--and shown that a June Minnesota is as comfortable and fun as the visions of a January Minnesota may not be.

In 1998, OP landed in the middle of Times Square in New York City--thanks to host Chase Manhattan and host school NYU--where students could steal away to bustling Broadway in between sessions.

In Cincinnati in 2001, OP resided just down the road from lead sponsor Procter & Gamble, which had dozens of it reps from all over the globe around and about. San Francisco was a host in 2002, when many were at first concerned about travel in the wake of 9/11. Attendance and enthusiasm, nonetheless, were as high as ever. Well-known state politician Willie Brown addressed Consortium students at one luncheon.

It might have been hot, unbearable outside when the OP was in Atlanta and in Dallas (2008). Yet in both places, the 4-5 days were spirited, lively--with much to do and many to see inside. In Dallas, Pepsio-Frito Lay was a lead sponsor, and host school Texas gladly tooted its horns, happy to have been able to lure its Consortium brethren to the Southwest.

St. Louis in 2006 was a special year, as the Consortium celebrated its 40th year, taking time to reflect on significant progress, the organization's growth, and its evolution. Emerson was a lead sponsor. Banking and finance opportunities had peaked, and nearly a hundred students expressed interests in financial services.

Chicago hosted in 2000. In perhaps its last hurrah before its demise, with a proud public face, long-time contributor Arthur Andersen was a major host. In 2007, OP went to Indianapolis, thanks to sponsor Eli Lily. In one keynote addresss, Consortium alum Derica Rice spoke to students and described his career path from Consortium MBA (Indiana) to CFO at Lily.

Philadelphia and Washington have also been host cities over the past 15 years.

Ask just about any Consortium supporter, student, alumnus, corporate rep, or univeristy rep what they like best about the Consortium experience. The answers will vary, but inevitably they snap and admit "OP" is near the top. Ask others who have heard about the Consortium, some will say they are considering being a part of it--because of "OP."

"Make Your Move" is this year's theme for Orlando. So go ahead and make it.

(For more information, see http://www.cgsm.org/op/OP2010.asp.)

Tracy Williams

Networking Resources

• It’s Not Who You Know, But Who Knows You, Presented by Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande - Webinar playback

• It’s Not Who You Know, But Who Knows You - Webinar slide deck

• Follow Dr. Akande on Twitter @Benjamin_Akande and @WebsterU_Biz

• Consortium MBA: http://www.makeyourcareermove.com/

• Follow The Consortium on Twitter @cgsm_mba and @racheldelcau

• Connect with Consortium members on LinkedIn:

      Finance | HR | Energy  | Marketing & Branding | META | Health Care | Social Responsibility

New MBA Students' Interest in Finance

We all know how tumultuous last year was. The economy nose-dived, and popular, highly regarded firms such as Lehman, Bear, AIG, and Merrill collapsed or disappeared. We dare to utter the bad words of finance: derivatives, securitization, sub-prime mortgages, and leverage. And then we wondered if the new crop of MBA students would flee from careers in finance or approach them with less rigor and passion as their elders did in previous years.

However, new Consortium MBA students at this year's 43rd Annual Orientation Program in Charlotte (above) still expressed a broad range of interests in financial services. Of the 300-plus new students, 81 indicated an interest in finance or in a specific sector of finance. That hardly differs from the trends in previous years, where those with similar interests often ranged from 70-90.

That there was not a significant decline in those considering finance could be attributed to the following:

1. New students are confident and optimistic there will be an economic recovery and are hopeful there will be opportunities across the board.

2. Many students were already in financial services, but now want to pursue a specialty. (A student who might have worked in commercial banking may now be interested in private equity. Or one who worked as a financial broker wants to pursue investment management.)

3. Some students were involved in unrelated careers, but want finance to help polish or round out their backgrounds.

4. Some had strong backgrounds in math and engineering and are inevitably attracted to the quantitative challenges of finance--without regard to financial upheaval around them.

5. Some want invaluable experience in finance in the first stages of a career. They want finance as a foundation before moving into other careers 5-10 years later (in, for example, real estate, entrepreneurship, or technology).

6. Those already in finance might have decided that the best time to return to school is when opportunities are scarce and the market is down.

The 81 said they would likely pursue careers across a wide range of opportunities: investment banking, commercial banking, real estate, corporate finance, venture capital, private equity, sales & trading, private wealth management, and asset management.

The number also doesn't account for those who while in business school decide they want to pursue finance after starting with a different interest.

Were there trends from other years? Fewer might be considering some of the roles in generalist investment-banking or in equity research. Few expressed interested in sales & trading or "exotics" trading. More appeared to be interested in wealth- and asset-management positions.

Among Consortium schools, some, as expected, had large numbers with finance interests: NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia, Michigan, and Dartmouth, schools that usually attract many who may have an eye on banking, trading, or investing.

Some smaller schools had more than expected: Emory, e.g. New Consortium school Yale had a large number--more than might have been expected, because of its broad core curriculum and novel approach to management study and because of its public-policy heritage.

The actual numbers, by school, are shown below. In sum, the expected large drop didn't happen. What we should watch for is whether students will divert to other careers if opportunities for internships next summer dwindle more than they did this year.

Tracy Williams

No. of First-Year Consortium Students with Interests in Financial Services:

NYU-13

Yale-9

Virginia-9

Michigan-8

Emory-7

Dartmouth-7

USC-6

Carnegie Mellon-6

UNC-4

Texas-4

Indiana-3

WashU-3

Rochester-1

Wisconsin-1

2009 OP Volunteer Registration Form

Hi Consortium Finance Network members!

This year there are ample opportunities to volunteer during the Orientation Program. Please follow this link to sign up!

This is your chance to help promote the CFN during OP! Please select the volunteer activity that is at the very end of the form and let us know what time works best for you by using the comments box.


I look forward to seeing you in Charlotte!