Breaking in, the Broad School way

Attitude, initiative make inroads for Broad alumni in finance industry

Think you need to be a corporate CEO to make a difference for current Broad School students who want to follow in your footsteps? Think again.

That’s the attitude of recent alumnus, Jeff Thelen (BA Finance ’04), who wasted no time putting his reputation on the line for former classmates. Thelen joined the investment banking analyst class of 2004 at Banc of America Securities (BAS) in New York City last June and quickly realized he wasn’t meeting a lot of Spartans in his new position. He decided he could change that.

“I called a few current students I knew were really good and told them to send me their resumes. Then I went to the vice president of recruiting, gave her the resumes and urged her to consider the students,” says Thelen.

Thelen was just getting started.

New York to Chicago, through MSU

Good news travels fast and it wasn’t long before Robert F. DesMarais (BA Accounting ’93), a BAS vice president in Chicago, heard about Thelen’s efforts in New York. After talking with him, DesMarais determined that a more organized recruiting effort at MSU was long overdue and the pair collaborated to set up Broad School interviews in the firm’s fall 2004 recruiting cycle.

From his network of current students, Thelen identified eight students he felt represented the school well and scheduled on-campus interviews with DesMarais.

“I coached the students about what to expect in the interviews, and answered their questions about the industry and dayto- day job responsibilities,” Thelen says.

Out of the eight interviewed, five went to final round interviews and four were extended offers in the firm’s investment banking division. “All four accepted. That is just a great result,” he says.

Why aren’t there more Broad School graduates on Wall Street? DesMarais suggests that it’s driven by the resources available for recruiting. “Wall Street firms generally focus on a limited number of schools with a track record of producing high quality candidates for the industry. Those are the schools that will get the recruiter’s time and travel resources,” says DesMarais. “Recruiting at non-traditional schools may need to be a personal commitment by an alumnus, willing to invest his or her own time.

“Many highly qualified students miss out, and then when they do find out about the business, it’s too late. They either have the wrong background, or miss the window,” he adds.

According to DesMarais, there are two key windows to join the investment banking industry, either right out of undergrad or post-MBA. “Some firms are willing to take candidates (analysts) who have worked in a related field for a year or two (public accounting or consulting, for example), but they may need to start at the bottom (as first-year analysts),” he explains. “Nonetheless, many people recognize that a lateral move is worthwhile, not only because the industry pays extremely well, but it’s truly a springboard into a variety of other fields (hedge funds, private equity).”

Alumni commitment pays forward

So who was the generous, loyal Spartan who gave Thelen his opening at Banc of America Securities? It turns out that Thelen had to be his own mentor: When Kelley Bishop, director of MSU Career Services and Placement, told him that Banc of America Securities was interviewing students at the University of Michigan, he got in his car and drove to Ann Arbor. He ended up with an offer to join the firm’s healthcare team in NYC as a first-year analyst.

It was hearing about Thelen’s experience that sealed DesMarais’ commitment to bring more Broad School students into the investment industry. “When I learned about the effort required by Jeff to join my firm, I felt slightly embarrassed that a fellow Spartan had to drive himself to Ann Arbor and work his way into our event. I connected with Jeff after he joined the firm, and we set out to focus on MSU during next year’s recruiting season (2004).”

Just last month, BAS made good on that commitment by holding an information session for MSU juniors and seniors. The session was called “Life as an Investment Banker” to help students understand their career options more fully.

Thelen hopes that sharing this story of recruitment successes with the entire Broad alumni community will encourage more alumni to make a personal commitment to interviewing graduating seniors from MSU. “All it takes sometimes is a simple phone call.”