Junior Business Fellows gain valuable career insights during trip to New York City

By Erin Manchuso ’19

Eighteen junior Business Fellows traveled to New York City Oct. 22-24 to network with employers, explore diverse industries and gain recruitment insights.

The fellows visited a number of companies including Omnicom, Bloomberg, BlackRock, Rockefeller Group, Credit Suisse, Richard Bernstein and NASDAQ Marketsite in Times Square. The company visits included office tours, presentations from executives, networking opportunities, and question and answer sessions.

Students benefitted from exploring a variety of industries and gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of each company. “As a student interested in Accounting and Finance, it was beneficial for me to see firsthand what a career in financial services would look like,” Lauren Ramos ’20 said. “We learn a lot about Wall Street and asset managers in class, so it was a great experience to hear from professionals who have careers many of us aspire to follow.”

The company visits exposed the fellows to networking and unique professional development opportunities. “The trip connected us with Elon alumni, allowing us to broaden our networks and increase our professional exposure,” Brett Scott ’20 said. “While we can all prepare for the professional world through networking and classes here at Elon, it is really difficult to beat direct feedback from executives. We got to pick their brains on strategy, current economic conditions and what they look for in a candidate.”

Scott also noted the changing needs of business and what major companies are doing to react to changing industry expectations. “Bloomberg terminals can calculate any financial ratio imaginable and are continuously offering customers access to new ways to view their financial information,” Scott shared. “BlackRock is changing their structure as passive investments, eliminating the need for high fee investment products, and Omnicom is placing an emphasis on AI to develop interactive platforms for their agencies to interact on. While in the educational world we know about many of these changes, it is great to hear it from the ‘front lines.’”

The fellows were accompanied by Tina Das, Lincoln Financial Professor of Economics and director of the Business Fellows Program; Wonhi Synn, Wesley R. Elingburg Professor of Finance and chair of the Department of Finance; Cindy Sweeney, associate director of career services for the Love School of Business; Brooke Buffington, associate director of corporate and employer relations for the Love School of Business; and Tom Brinkley, executive director of the Student Professional Development Center.

The Elon Business Fellows program blends classroom learning and real-world experience to prepare emerging business professionals to take on leadership challenges in their professions, organizations and communities.

The program adds an extra dimension to fellows’ studies through dedicated team projects, specialized cohort classes, a Winter Term study abroad experience, company site visits, a four-year professional development plan and senior seminars involving managing a $250,000 portfolio or consulting for a company.