Business Boot Camp: Succeeding in a Competitive World

June 23, 2008

The high-pressure environment on Wall Street can be intimidating to college students seeking jobs or summer internships. But not for University at Albany senior John Conway. He's been through UAlbany's School of Business Boot Camp.

Last fall, the University at Albany-SUNY School of Business launched an intensive, voluntary career program to prepare financial analyst students for jobs and internships with high-level investment banks and financial institutions. The year-long Boot Camp provides career-focused training, including resume writing and interview skills.

"Boot Camp definitely helped prepare me for the daunting task of obtaining an internship," said Conway, a summer intern at the global financial services firm Lehman Brothers in New York City. "Boot Camp gives UAlbany students an edge in the competitive job market."

"In the banking and financial industry, every detail during the interview has to be flawless. Boot Camp gives you industry-specific interview and resume tips," said senior Israel Moljo, a summer intern at the global financial services firm UBS in Stamford, Conn.

UAlbany's business students are certainly getting a leg up on the competition. Overall placement of School of Business graduates has been consistently high, with about 85 percent employed within three months of graduation and 12-15 percent headed to graduate school.

�We�re in the business of preparing students for careers. Part of that is the academic side, and part of that is professional skills. That�s what this Boot Camp is all about,� said Professor of Finance Paul A. Leonard.

At Boot Camp, students receive hands-on training through classes in corporate valuation and financial modeling from the Wall Street training firm, Training the Street. Last year, students visited Boston-based financial services company Eaton Vance, where three UAlbany alumni provided an overview of jobs in finance.

"We received Excel program training at my internship that I had already gone through at Boot Camp, so I was ahead of the curve," said Moljo, of Putnam Valley, N.Y. "It gave me an advantage over other students who might not have be exposed to it."

Boot Camp is also designed to help students fine-tune their career goals. Most importantly, the program illuminates the realities of an analyst's job, including working 12-20 hour days in a room of 700 people.

But it's not just Boot Camp that has prepared Conway, Moljo and other aspiring UAlbany investment bankers and analysts for the industry.

"The Financial Analyst program helped boost my confidence to take on the challenging fast-paced atmosphere at my internship," said Conway, of Sparkill, N.Y. "With rigorous course work and tight deadlines, the Financial Analyst program definitely helped prepare me for the working environment."

Related Links:
Financial Analyst Program
School of Business

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