Students on the Blog: Take-aways from the First Republic Bank Site Visit

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By Ying Helene Wang (MS Accountancy ’17)

On August 5, 2015, the GCMC and Baruch College’s Office of Alumni Relations organized a site visit to First Republic Bank with Baruch alum Basant Kedia MBA '04, Managing Director. Along with his colleague Jason Babb, Senior Managing Director, and Evan Most MBA '10, Performance Analyst, Mr. Kedia invited eight Zicklin MBA and MS students for an informal Q&A and meet-and-greet.

Personally, it was a great experience and opportunity to meet both alums. All three professionals shared inspiring stories and valuable insights about career development in the financial industry, general career tips as well as thoughts on how to stand apart from others when job searching. As a grad student in her second year of school, here’s what really stood out for me: 

Job Searching and Careers:
  • Identify the specific area or areas that you want to work in, and meet alumni and professionals in those fields.
  • Be sure to ask professors, the career center and other school departments whether they have related resources. Talking with people enables you to know more about jobs and industries. It won’t hurt to ask, and you have nothing to lose.
  • Control the interview with the questions and insight you bring.
  • Use a one-page, clean resume that shows what you want interviewers to notice. Interviewers are busy and get tired after reading 5-10 lines, so put yourself in their shoes.
  • Be very careful about exaggerating your experience. You will get caught.
  • Saying “I don’t know, but I am willing to learn” works better than pretending to know answers to questions. Interviewers know their area of expertise, and you won’t win by making up answers.
  • Don’t discuss salary in an interview unless asked.
  • Personality is essential. When everyone is smart and diligent, interviewers want to find out who you are and whether they want to work with you as a person. It’s important because we often spend more time throughout the year with the people we work with than even our family members.

Client Relationship Management and Networking:
  • Be responsive, empathetic and straightforward to clients. Express your understanding, but don’t be afraid to tell them what can or cannot be done. No matter what the process is, clients need a solution in the end. Ask yourself if you are able to resolve their problems.
  • Act on your client’s best interests. Try to think what you can do for the other person and add value to him or her. Client relationship management is like a snow ball - it accumulates and builds on itself.
  • Find out where the clients are and how you network.

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