Leavey Ambassadors Program Blogs

Coming into college as a first-year, you may be confused or extremely overwhelmed with an abundance of professional development resources and opportunities. I felt the same way as a first-year, not knowing where to look or what to ask. The biggest resource I utilized was SCU’s upperclassmen – all SCU upperclassmen have been in your shoes and have had to navigate academics, internship applications, interviews, and extracurriculars. Reaching out to them and asking any burning questions on your mind or specific advice for careers can give you better clarity on your SCU journey. As a finance major, I’ve been highly interested in the Wealth Management, M&A, and corporate finance industries – having chats with seniors in dream roles of mine with real experience in the industry was insightful.

When starting off your internship search, SCU’s career center will help you build fundamental skills – resumes, cover letters, networking, and more – essential to being a successful candidate. I optimized my resume with seniors at the career center, spoke to Noel Kreidler about using Handshake and LinkedIn’s alumni feature, and was taught how to network effectively. Further, the events the career center puts on for students are absolutely phenomenal – coffee chats with employers (a place to network with recruiters who are looking to hire from SCU) and career fairs to learn about various opportunities can help you get ahead of the competition. Speaking to small business owners at the start-up career fair helped me get my first internships–fund acquisition intern at The OhZone and Business Development Intern at GoDutch–which became integral to my experiences over the summer at Northwestern Mutual.

Extracurriculars on campus can help provide you with practical experience, leadership opportunities, industry connections, and interpersonal skills that many employers look for. For me, the ACE leadership program and Finance Association have been most valuable in connecting me with the finance industry. I was lucky enough to speak to the Market Director of BMO and one of the best in-state wealth advisors from Rockefeller Capital Management – these chats helped me figure out my career interests, ultimately pushing me toward Asset & Wealth Management. Other organizations, including the Santa Clara Investment Fund, Santa Clara Consulting Club, various Business Fraternities, and more have helped friends of mine find internship opportunities, build connections with alumni in their dream careers, and receive hands-on experience to complement their SCU education. Outside of that, I was able to combine my passions for finance and social impact by joining the MicroFinance Association – financial literacy and inclusion have been a passion of mine since high school, and having the platform to help underprivileged entrepreneurs around the world has been highly rewarding.  With a plethora of niche communities on campus, I’m certain you’ll find something that clicks with you – my best piece of advice would be to put yourself out there to the fullest extent and explore all the clubs SCU has to offer. Then, focus on quality over quantity as you commit to clubs you feel the best connection to.

The Finance Major has provided me with a strong mix of coursework, extracurriculars, and internship opportunities to set me up for future career success – taking advantage of all the resources Santa Clara offers is crucial, especially since being in a small school allows you to have better personalized resources and opportunities for your personal and professional growth.  Make sure to connect with faculty in your chosen major as their industry experience and insight are highly valuable – they can share more about the ins and outs of their industries, strategies to boost one’s success as a college student looking for experience, and introduce you to professionals they may know in their network.

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