Tag Archives: McCombs School of Business

Internship Spotlight: Lisa Kao – BHP Junior

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Company: Northern Trust

Position: Hedge Fund Services Intern

When Lisa Kao started her internship with Nothern Trust, she never imagined how drastically work experience would change her career aspirations. Discover how Lisa found a laid-back, friendly community in a large, conservative organization.

 

What steps did you take to secure your internship?

I found out about this internship at the McCombs Spring 2013 Career Expo. After getting to know the recruiter a little better, I decided to apply for the job through OCR. There were two rounds of interviews. A few weeks after my second interview, I received a phone call notifying me I had secured an internship position with Northern Trust.

What were the responsibilities for this role?

Within the Hedge Fund Services (HFS) division, I worked specifically on the Cash & Collateral Management team. My daily responsibilities included: providing quality control on overnight batches for OTC margin monitors, issuing and responding to clients’ OTC margin calls, and creating productivity tools for increased client coverage and efficiency. I also had the opportunity to help lead college information sessions for underprivileged children in the Chicago area on behalf of Northern Trust.

Describe the culture within the organization.

My experience with Northern Trust might have been a little different from the other interns’. Northern Trust itself has a conservative culture; it is a bank with over 120 years of history. However, the division I worked under, HFS had a relaxed, fun culture. Many employees were only a few years out of college and were very relatable to college interns. The relationship I had with my manager was easy-going and friendly, although still professional. HFS encouraged its employees to get to know each other on a personal level and hosted several networking and social events throughout the summer. Dress code in the HFS division was not quite as strict either; instead of suits on a daily basis, employees could wear jeans and Sperry’s. I truly enjoyed my time as an intern in HFS and am grateful I was placed in that division!

What was the most surprising or unexpected during your experience?

Coming into this internship, I thought most of my learning would be done through the work I was assigned. However, I learned the most about my career interests and about myself as an individual through talking to the people around me. The principles I thought I valued in my future career are no longer the same. It is both exciting and scary to realize that there is no “right” career path for me to follow anymore.

What advice would you offer your peers in the Honors Program about getting the most out of an internship?

I would say the most important thing is to truly get to know the people you work with. Every employee and intern comes from a different background, and you can learn something from each person whether or not you may think so on first impression. Make sure you ask many questions and take advantage of the resources around you. Another important piece of advice is to enter your internship open-minded. You should never go into your internship thinking you MUST like/dislike your experience there. Your internship is your opportunity to grow and discover your interests. It’s okay if the internship does not end up being how you expected it to be, good or bad. In the end, it is always a wonderful learning experience!

How did you find your classes in the Business Honors Program at the university to be applicable during your internship?

Definitely. I personally find it a little exciting whenever I’m given a task at work that requires me to apply skills and knowledge I’ve previously learned in class. Honestly, working helps you learn the concepts you learn in class on a much deeper, more thorough level. A concept you may not have understood in your accounting class can suddenly make sense once you are given a real-life financial statement to analyze.

How did this organization ensure you got the most out of your internship experience?

Northern Trust has a very well developed, well-structured internship program. A highlight of the program is the weekly “Lunch & Learn” session. During these sessions, executives from different divisions throughout the company would come speak to the interns about his/her career background and current responsibilities. Everyone in the company, even high-level executives, were generally very willing to make time to meet with interns and offer advice to those who reached out. In addition, Northern Trust hosted several service and social outings for the intern class.

What are the most valuable lessons you gained from this internship?

Although this was a finance internship, the most valuable lesson I gained from this internship was not finance related at all. Being a student in the business school, I think it can be very difficult to block out all of the artificial expectations society sets for you and to truly ask yourself what you value in a career. This summer, I met so many people who have completely changed their careers to pursue their passions and have become happier people because of their decisions. You will be successful in your career as long as you are doing something you are truly passionate about. I am grateful to realize and understand the importance of this now rather than later.

Alumni Spotlight – Marialena Rivera, Class of 2007

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Alumni Spotlight – Marialena Rivera, Class of 2007

Marialena Rivera graduated in 2007 with a BBA in BHP and marketing and a BA in government. She then went on to earn master’s degrees in teaching from Pace University and public policy from UC Berkeley. She is currently working towards a PhD in policy organization, measurement and evaluation at UC Berkeley. She has served as a policy analyst, taught middle school in the Bronx, and started a non-profit called B.R.I.D.G.E. with her BHP classmates Pegah Javidpour, Sarina Hickey, and Melissa Pons. Most recently, Marialena delivered the keynote address at Subiendo: The Academy for Rising Leaders, a program sponsored by UT Austin, where she inspired high school seniors to get involved in public policy and become leaders of positive change.

You have 3 bachelor’s degrees, 2 master’s degrees, and are working on a PhD. What has motivated you to keep going?

I have always loved school and have always been a very curious person. I am lucky that I have been able to keep going. When I finished my undergrad, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Opportunities presented themselves to me at different times, like Teach for America (TFA). When you are doing TFA, you are doing a master’s at the same time, so that is how that degree came about. I met a professor when I was doing my public policy master’s, who talked to me about my growing interest in research and doing a PhD.

You were a teacher for two years in the Bronx as part of the Teach for America program. Why did you apply for Teach for America and what insight did you gain from your teaching experience?

When I was a senior, I felt I wanted to do something meaningful with my life. My parents sacrificed a lot so my siblings and I could go to college. I wanted to do something my parents would be proud of and something to give back, since they gave me so much. My roommate in college was working for TFA recruiting college students and the more I learned about it, the more interested I became in the program. After five weeks of training, I was placed in a high needs classroom in the Bronx. I found that there was a wide variance of skill levels among the students, and I didn’t really have enough training for how to address the variety of academic and emotional needs. We had some successes and I was doing the best I could, but I really saw a need to fix some of the deeper issues I had seen in my classroom at a policy level. I decided to go to public policy school to study some of the root causes of the problems I was seeing.

Public policy is a passion of yours. How do you define public policy and how do you encourage people to get involved?

I define public policy as people recognizing problems in society and figuring out how to use laws, regulations, etc. to fix those problems. I think people have to come to public policy out of a personal motivation. The people working in public policy that I know are very passionate about something, which usually came from a personal experience or something they saw that really bothered them. For me, it was my experience in the classroom that prompted my work on education. Everyone has gone through something difficult or knows someone who has. No matter what your issue is, know that you can do something about issues that bother you. There are so many problems right now and we need as many people as possible working on these issues.

What research are you currently conducting?

I am working on a couple different projects with faculty members at Berkeley. I am working on a study of Teach for America, exploring how TFA has affected participants’ career trajectories. I recently worked with a team looking at the Oakland School District and the community schools model that they are implementing. I am also working on my own research. I was recently awarded a fellowship through the Social Science Research Council to help me develop my research for my dissertation, which will be on public financing for school districts. I am looking at the impact of tax policy on equity for students and am looking at bond election data and debt instrument usage. Data collection includes interviews with private organizations, state officials, and school district employees. I hope to make recommendations on how tax policies at the state level can be improved to make them more equitable, and improve the student experience.

You have received multiple awards and fellowships over the years. What are you most proud of having accomplished?

Of all of the things I have done, I am most proud of teaching. I don’t think I have ever poured my heart and soul as much into something. When I was a finalist for the Sue Lehman Excellence in Teaching Award at the end of my time with Teach for America, it was just a small token of appreciation for my work and the work of my students, but I was proud of that accomplishment. Still, I felt like I wasn’t as good as I should have been, and I believed the kids needed more. All of the work I have been doing the last few years has been motivated by my desire to help kids like the ones I taught in New York have a better classroom experience.

Tell me more about the non-profit you started with fellow classmates and what it was like getting that off the ground.

It was an amazing experience. I worked with three other BHP students and we started with just an idea based on a problem we saw. We knew there were migrant farmers’ children who weren’t graduating high school at the same rate as others. We entered the LBJ School’s Social Innovation Competition and won $10,000, which got us started. We applied for non-profit status, set up a board, started meeting with community leaders and other non-profits. A lot of other organizations were willing to help us. We were chosen to go the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference. We met Bill Clinton and his staff and got a lot of great ideas from them. We also participated in two other competitions, for which we were runners up. We developed a summer program, where we organized service projects related to the migrant farmer population in South Texas. We have done that for 4 years now and have partnered with other organizations for that. I have stepped away for a bit so I can focus on my PhD. My partners are still working very hard on it and are setting up a mentorship program and a college fund.

What do you see yourself doing after you complete your PhD?

I want to continue to work in education policy. I see myself either going the academia route and becoming a professor, or working at the state level for the department of education or for state legislators.

What advice do you have for current BHP students?

Be open to options inside and outside of business. So many of the people I graduated from BHP with are using business skills in ways that we might not have thought of. Business skills can be applicable in non-traditional career paths. I would also encourage students to get involved and make a change in their community, even if they are starting small, they can still accomplish great things.

Student Spotlight – Doug Daniels, Class of 2013

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Student Spotlight – Doug Daniels, Class of 2013

BHP class of 2013 graduate Doug Daniels is taking a different path than most of our graduates. Doug was selected to receive a prestigious Fulbright research grant to conduct research at The University of Cologne in Germany. Doug will spend the next year researching Germany’s perception of risk and lending practices for Germany’s Mittelstand. We recently spoke with Doug to learn more about his planned research.

Where will you be and what will you be researching?

I will be researching how the recent financial crisis has affected Germany’s perception of risk and its lending practices for the Mittelstand – a  term used to refer to small and mid-sized German enterprises. Since the financial crisis, Germany has created new legislation that could restrict several Mittelstand companies from refinancing their loans with the original bank. My research will examine alternative refinancing options for these companies. I will conduct my research under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Monika Trapp at The University of Cologne in Germany where I will also be enrolled in finance and German courses to supplement my project.  I also plan to keep a blog to document my research progress and cultural experiences.

Why are you interested in researching this subject?

The research is an extension of my senior thesis, “Refinancing the German Maturity Wall.” McCombs students are able to receive credit for writing a thesis by enrolling in an independent research / study course.  My thesis was under the supervision of Sandy Leeds and was submitted as a part of my Fulbright application.

In the U.S., leveraged loans are priced and sold according to credit quality and institutional investors’ appetite. However, German loans are much more controlled by local banks which often hold the entire loan. New legislation in Germany has increased regulations for local banks which will restrict lending practices. Mittelstand companies need to refinance billions of dollars of loans and many will have to find new lenders.  I am interested in exploring potential international lending opportunities for the Mittelstand.

What was the process like to receive the Fulbright grant and how competitive was it?

Last summer, I interned for a specialty lending group that funded leveraged loans for private equity deals. While the bank made me an offer to start full time after graduation, I declined the offer to take a year to go to Germany and research. It was a difficult decision because I truly enjoyed my job but moving to Germany has always been a life goal of mine. To make the decision harder, I had to turn down the offer before I even started applying to grants for Germany. Luckily, the German government offers several different grants for foreign researchers.

I applied to three grant programs, each with its own application. UT has a very strong program for Fulbright. Applicants first apply through the University where a panel conducts an interview and critiques the research proposal. After the interview, applicants are assigned a mentor to help redraft their proposal. My mentor, Dr. Jane Lincove, was extremely helpful as I rewrote my proposal. Applications are then sent to the U.S. State Department who select finalist that are forwarded to the German Fulbright Commission in Berlin. The German Commission selects the final 80 grant recipients.  The most difficult part of the application is finding a German affiliation. All applications need to have the written support of a German university and professor. I sent my thesis to dozens of universities and ended up affiliating with The University of Cologne and Prof. Dr. Monika Trapp who specializes in credit research.

When did you find out you received the scholarship and what was your reaction to the news?

I submitted all of my applications in October but did not hear any response until the following April. It’s a very long and stressful wait, especially after turning down a full-time offer. I was very excited to receive multiple grants and ended up selecting Fulbright because it gave the most flexibility for my research.

What would you like to do once the grant has ended?

I plan to spend a year at The University of Cologne conducting my research. When I return, I hope to join the specialty lending group where I interned last summer. I believe that my research will provide an interesting perspective to my work.

I want to encourage other business students to apply for a Fulbright. It is a great opportunity to have a paid year abroad. The program lets undergraduates of any field study in any country. While the program is popular in the liberal arts college and engineering school, few business majors apply at UT.

 

For more information on Fulbright, please visit http://us.fulbrightonline.org/ or email Doug Daniels at DougDaniels@utexas.edu.

Student Profile: Jed Cole and Phillip Niels – Owners of Cole Niels & Co.

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BHP seniors Jed Cole and Phillip Niels started their own custom apparel business, Cole Niels & Co., together in 2011, and have printed close to 50,000 shirts since then and continue to bring on new customers. There were some bumps along the way, but their business has expanded significantly since that time and so has their knowledge of what it takes to run your own business. Jed will go to McKinsey after graduation and Phillip has one more year in the MPA program, but both plan to continue growing Cole Niels & Co. We sat down with them to learn more about the challenges they faced and the lessons they learned.

What is Cole Niels & Co.’s niche?

Phillip: We have positioned ourselves to serve student organizations, fraternities and sororities. They could get the same deliverable from other vendors, but our service is unique and valuable.

Jed: Leadership in student organizations and Greek organizations turns over each year. Our value proposition is that the new person coming in to handle orders won’t have to start from scratch. We tell each girl from the beginning that they can be as creative as possible, and we will take care of everything else. Because we know what they need from their previous orders and have a very high level of service, it is very easy on them to hit the ground running.

How did the idea for this come about? Had you always been interested in starting your own business?

Phillip: BHP brought the two of us together. We both had talked about wanting to start a business. We were on a train in Scotland, studying abroad the summer after our sophomore year, and that is when we really started talking about the business and how it could work. I had familial ties to screen printing shops and there was clear need, so it made sense. Jed got us our first client that August to do a print job for OU weekend.

Tell me more about how you got the business off the ground.

Jed: I called a girl I knew who was the apparel chair for her sorority and asked if we could lighten the burden on her by making their shirts and she agreed to let us do their OU shirts. On our first order we made some mistakes with trademark issues and therefore didn’t get to print all of the items. We learned a valuable lesson with that order to promise less and deliver more. From there I started connecting with other sorority apparel chairs and asking if we could work with them. The first quarter we had only worked with two sororities, but by the end of our first year of business, we were serving more than 10 groups, including fraternities and other student orgs.

Phillip: The business is very seasonal, so in the fall it is a bit slower, but by that spring we had a lot of orders. We have grown pretty drastically.

How did your coursework and BHP community help you in starting the business?

Phillip: Being in BHP, you are surrounded by natural entrepreneurs. The coursework along with the social aspect of it was inspiring. We have learned to be analytical and thoughtful in our decisions.

Jed: We started it in our junior year, so we had built a lot of the skills we needed in our classes. It felt very natural and comfortable to us.

Phillip: We also had to learn a lot along the way about how to start a business – things we hadn’t learned in a classroom. We had family and professors support us and offer advice.

What advice do you have for other students wanting to start a business while also managing school and other commitments?

Phillip: My attitude is that although as a student you will spend a lot of time in class, if you manage your time properly, you can accomplish pretty much anything. We did a lot of planning, and kept each other accountable. It is also crucial to be flexible. I think any student in BHP can accomplish whatever they set out to do, if they really set their mind to it, stay disciplined, and are passionate.

Jed: One of my favorite quotes is “don’t let school interfere with your education,” said by Mark Twain. I think that is very applicable. Starting our business has been an education in its own right. I think it is really fun and exciting and it is great working with a friend. It is like the greatest group project ever.

What were and are the biggest challenges you faced?

Jed: Being able to balance the line between friendships and customers. Our business revolves around the fact that we are friends with our clients and when something doesn’t go right, it is more personal because we feel like we have disappointed our friends. It makes it harder to leave work at work and not take it home with you.

Phillip: Being an entrepreneur, there is never a moment of the day when my work is not on my mind. I am always thinking about what needs to be done next for the business, so that has made it a bit harder for me to manage my time and give time to other projects and organizations.

How do you plan to keep the business growing after you graduate and leave campus?

Jed: Phil is MPA so he will be on campus another year. I will have to take on more of a supportive role since I will be in Dallas. We are going to try to bring a sophomore BHP student into the business next year to keep it going  while we can help facilitate forming relationships with the new apparel chairs before we leave. We hope to then pass off some of the workload to them once Phil graduates. We will always want to be involved, even when we move to other cities.

Phillip: We have done a good job of streamlining our process, so I think we can pass that on pretty easily. With our oversight, I think we will continue to grow and refine our services.

When you reflect upon your time in the BHP and on the 40 Acres, what do you think will stand out most to you?

Phillip: I was so excited when I got in to the program, but didn’t really know what it was going to mean to me. Now, I feel very fortunate to have been in the BHP and received such a strong education. I don’t think we would be where we are with the business without BHP. We are used to doing things at a high level. More than anything, the friendships will stand out along with having created a business that is successful. It is fun walking around campus and seeing everyone wearing a shirt that you helped make. We have made more than 50,000 shirts now.

Jed: It has been fun to start a business that meshes so many of our interests. We have gotten to meet so many new people, make new friends, and help organizations. It is the same thing we are doing in other orgs we are involved in, but it is also a business. It is also fun to see people happy when they receive their orders.

What are you most looking forward to about this new phase of your life?

Phillip: I am excited about starting another business in the future that is bigger, but also merges my interests like this one did.

Jed: We are both going to see what it is like to work for large businesses. I am going to Mckinsey and Phillip is interning at Bain this summer. I am excited to get back together after we have worked in this new big business environment and look at starting a business through a new lens. I think we would both like to start another business together again in the future. I never imagined that I would have a business capable of putting me through college and so it’s exciting to think of how high the ceiling can be 4 years from now as we expand our horizon’s and ambition’s.

Student Spotlight: Jeff Stevens – Senior BHP and Finance Major

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Student Spotlight: Jeff Stevens – Senior BHP and Finance Major

Senior Jeff Stevens was recently honored with the Barbara Jordan Business Leadership Award, the BBA/MPA Alumni Advisory Board’s Rising Star Award, and the BHP’s top honor, the Doenges Award. What has set Jeff apart this year is not only his stellar leadership, service and academic accomplishments, but also the fact that he stepped up and took on several additional service and leadership positions in his senior year. During a time when most seniors take a step back, Jeff kept pushing himself to give more and have more of an impact before graduating. This year he lead the BBA Legacy campaign, headed marketing for the BHP Make-a-Mark campaign, served as a BHP recruiter, joined the Financial Analyst Program Advisory Board, and coordinated the BHP senior newsletter. We visited with Jeff to get some final thoughts on his time here before he leaves.

You have said that being a recruiter for the BHP was your favorite thing you did. Why?

Yes, there are two things that stick out to me about the experience. Being a recruiter has really made me feel like I am giving back to a program that gave me so much. I like to recruit the type of students who are going to make this program and the value of my degree even better. I also like interacting with the students. It gets me excited about school and has helped me push through all I do for my classes and extracurricular activities. In order to recruit the best students, I have to be on top of my game too. In order to sell BHP to them, I have to be able to tell them what I love about the program and all of the things I am doing.

How did you find your path of which organizations to be involved in?

I was drawn towards the people in the Undergraduate Business Council from the start. That was the vehicle through which I got involved in a lot more at McCombs. I had to pick and choose what was most meaningful and which I could give back to the most. I got involved in things my mentors were involved in. Michael Daehne and Bhargav Srinivasan were probably my greatest mentors in terms of how to be a leader and connect with people and how to choose which organizations to get involved in. My work this year on the Legacy campaign was motivating and I felt I could really make an impact on that campaign and improve it. I had a wide range of experiences at UT, which helped me explain to people why giving back to McCombs is important. A lot of the success of this year’s campaign was due to the strength of the committee and their network. We hit 28% participation, which was more than double the rate of any past campaign.

What lessons have you learned from all of the leadership positions you held? Were there any common themes?

I have always been good at managing tasks and getting things done, but I learned how to better manage people. Leading by example is very important, especially when interacting with underclassmen. I never approached them with the idea of me mentoring them, but I found that if I was open to learning from them and was open to answering any questions they had, that sort of mentorship relationship naturally progressed. I think it is important to always been kind to people and take time out of your day to develop relationships, and not just constantly ask people to do things.

What will you remember most when you look back on your time at UT?

Being a part of the VIP Distinguished Speaker series was amazing. I got to hear from C-level executives, including Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo. I learned so much from them. I have also really enjoyed being involved in Make a Mark and reconnecting with all of my classmates who I haven’t had classes with in a while. Going to the football games is great and I have also enjoyed checking out the Austin food scene.

What are you most proud of and why?

I am most proud of the relationships I have built with not only those in my class, but also underclassmen. I have really enjoyed the mutual opportunities for learning from these relationships. Being a cheerleader for other’s success is so much more rewarding than just being successful yourself. I really enjoy helping people succeed and again, I think that is part of why I enjoyed being a BHP recruiter and helping students see how BHP can help them accomplish their goals.

If you could go back and give advice to yourself as a freshman, what would you say?

I would say not to give up anything that you are passionate about.  I was really passionate about band and music in high school and that is my greatest college regret that I didn’t pursue it further once I got here. I probably would have joined Longhorn Band if I had it to do over again.

What are you going to be doing after graduation?

I will be working for Exxon Mobil in Houston. My role is yet to be determined there, but I did my internship there last summer in their Internal Audit Division and really liked it. I feel confident in saying that I will stay with the company for many years. I hope that will afford me the opportunity to live and work in other countries. The travelling and study abroad experiences I did in college really opened my eyes and I would like to continue to broaden my world view and experience how business is conducted in other countries. I am actually going to be travelling this summer before I start my job and will be doing an internship in Shanghai, China. I found a program through the UT International Office and decided it would be a great opportunity. I will be working for an energy think tank, the China Energy Fund, doing research about the energy needs of China. That research will then be passed on to oil and gas companies operating in China. I am excited to start a new phase in my professional and personal life, but am also looking forward to staying connected to UT through my involvement with the BBA/MPA Alumni Advisory Board.