Hokies on Wall Street event helps students bridge the classroom and careers
From networking with finance alumni at the Hokies on Wall Street event and stepping onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, to getting advice from football team leadership, a multi-day trip to New York City immersed Pamplin College of Business students into aspects of their future careers.
In March, the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Business Law hosted its Hokies on Wall Street event in New York City. The annual event serves as the meeting for the Finance Advisory Board members to plan the strategic future of the department where they discuss the finance industry and how to best prepare Pamplin students for success. For students, the event was an opportunity to explore internships and careers all while presenting their involvement with student organizations, leadership projects, and professional experiences directly to board members.
The culminating panel and networking event functioned as a proving ground for discussion around growth, inflation, and the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for global monetary policy.
An experience like no other
The trip immersed students into banking companies and investment firms to learn about careers in finance. Hokies at firms including Piper Sandler, Greenspring Advisors, Invesco, Goldman Sachs, and EY opened their doors to the next generation of finance professionals, offering a glimpse into the realities of the industry.
“We talked with analysts from a few different sectors at Piper Sandler and we talked about all kinds of opportunities they have and how they're all unique,” said Grace Miller, a rising senior in investment management and chartered financial analyst. “It was super interesting for me as a junior getting ready to go into an internship and starting to search for jobs post-graduation.”
For Miller and her peers, these company visits were a glimpse at the path to top-tier internships. They were able to observe the industry by actively identifying the skill sets and networking strategies required to turn their classroom knowledge into a career in finance. At each visit, Pamplin alumni provided candid career advice, explaining what it takes to secure competitive internships and how to navigate a career in finance.
The students who went on the trip were all involved in student organizations such as Finance for Females and Friends, the Financial Planning Association Student Chapter, and the FinTech Club. For many of them, the trip opened their eyes to what it takes in securing an internship in finance.
As part of the trip, students also presented their student organizations to members of the Finance Advisory Board.
A meeting of the minds
After the Finance Advisory Board meeting, attendees transitioned to a panel on monetary policy that was kicked off by Pamplin College of Business Dean Saonee Sarker, head football coach James Franklin, and former defensive coordinator Bud Foster.
“Whether it is college football or working on Wall Street, when the rules change, you need to change with the rules and be bold and aggressive,” Franklin said. He shared his perspective on how to change the Virginia Tech football program and emphasized the drive to build trust and healthy, positive relationships as a lesson for students beginning their careers.
The spirit of change while remaining bold and aggressive continued with a panel of finance experts speaking on “Growth, Inflation and AI: Implications for Monetary Policy.” Among the panelists were Steve Pierson '90, managing partner at Lovell Minnick and a member of the Pamplin Advisory Council; Dan Rodriguez, chief risk officer at ARK Invest; Sarah Wolfe, executive director and senior economist at Morgan Stanley; Anna Wong, chief economist at Bloomberg; and moderator George Morgan, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech.
Panelists discussed how the AI adoption has increased in speed, leading to new applications in the military and in banking. There was also a general consensus that AI is increasing productivity in the workforce. However, the panel emphasized that while AI is being rapidly adopted across the industry, there are still many human traits that it cannot replace.
