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...

Adapted from a soft skills workshop led by Tanuja Ramchal “Hey, are you free later tonight?” “Sorry, I have too much to do. Maybe next time.” The above conversation is one we’re all too familiar with. We have packed schedules in an effort to be productive. But, is that really efficient and does it add to your well-being? Productivity is not about getting more done and being caught up in the busy trap . Instead, it’s getting the important things done consistently by asking, ‘Does this activity take me closer to my goals or further away from them?' According to the famous 80/20 principle, the majority (80%) of the activities you engage in on a daily basis provides very little benefit (20%). The rest contributes to your happiness and productive results. With this in mind, you need to focus your attention on the important activities and automate, delegate, or eliminate the rest. For example, an hour of exercise versus an hour of scrolling through Facebook aimlessl...