Students organize finance networking opportunities
A series of lunch talks that aims to expose Rice University students to various networking opportunities in the field of investment banking and finance began Jan. 24, according to hosts Victoria Alvarez-Arango and Adrian Celaya, both Will Rice College sophomores.
"[The Investment Banking Brown Bag Lunch Series] aims to bring in prominent alumni from the Rice community from around the world in order to educate our students about the world of finance," Celaya said.
During the talks, the next of which will take place in early March, students will learn how to succeed in interviews, how to network and how to use Rice as a vehicle for networking, Celaya said. In addition, the organization is working towards hosting a future trip to New York to take students on a tour of Wall Street to meet professionals in the field.
This organization, in partnership with the School of Social Sciences, does not aim to lecture students but, rather, to provide them with an opportunity to connect with alumni and find out how to excel in their future jobs, Alvarez-Arango said.
According to Alvarez-Arango, alums from around the country are expected to join Rice for an hour-long lunch seminar every month. These talks will be either in-person visits or Skype video conferences.
"We first found a need for this type of organization when both [Adrian and I] were looking for internships," Alvarez-Arango said. "Ryan Tull, a managing director at Credit Suisse, approached us because he noticed that Rice students are underprepared in such interviews when compared to other top universities. We spearheaded this initiative to improve Rice's community."
Alvarez-Arango and Celaya hosted their first conference on Jan. 24 and invited Tull and Paul Arango, also a managing director at Credit Suisse, to speak at the event. Future seminars will be geared toward specific topics within investment banking.
According to Celaya, each talk will last around 90 minutes, with an opportunity for students to interact with professionals during the reception.
"We were very excited by the turnout for our inaugural event," Celaya said. "We had about 30 students attend who were genuinely interested and engaged in conversation."
These talks are open to the entire Rice community but are aimed towards freshman and sophomores who are interested in finance, Celaya said.
Wiess College freshman Ben Tour said he attended the series to learn more about investment banking.
"I came to the event because I didn't want to pass up the chance to learn from experienced individuals in the field who can teach me invaluable knowledge," Tour said. "The talk really opened my eyes to the world of finance and sparked my interest in sales and trading. The speakers gave a detailed explanation of the various aspects of investment banking and gave insightful tips on how to excel in [investment banking] and have a fulfilling career."
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