On February 9, the Finance, Investment Banking, and Advisory (FIBA) club held its inaugural meeting. According to an email sent out by the School of Business on FIBA’s behalf, FIBA is “a student-run club meant to help like-minded Stevens students in their career journey to land competitive financial analyst roles in careers including, but not limited to: Investment Banking, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Equity Research, & Sales & Trading. FIBA will emphasize growing Stevens’ student body awareness around high finance opportunities, interview prep, recruiting timelines, networking opportunities, and more.”
The club is run by upperclassmen who shared their experiences in high-level finance positions during the first meeting and are well aware of how “front office finance recruiting can be challenging. Students frequently feel directionless, misunderstand the process, and never hear back from the application portal. We’ve been there before, and we’re on a mission to change that.”
The first meeting consisted of a comprehensive presentation called “An Introduction to Wall Street Careers.” This presentation first gave a brief overview of possible careers in the financial world and introduced terminology to show prospective new members that this club is open to all skill and knowledge levels. Throughout the presentation, numerous Wall Street careers were introduced and their similarities and differences were discussed. The presenters also made sure to note important characteristics of these careers, including work-life balance, the types of skills needed, and the recruitment timelines and processes for each career path.
Toward the end of the meeting, FIBA’s club members made sure to discuss the financial modeling bootcamp, which was hosted on February 18 in collaboration with Adventis. According to another email sent out on behalf of FIBA, “Adventis is a professional financial modeling organization used by students at some of the best business schools around the country. Financial modeling is a key skill used in industries such as investment banking and private equity, and a certification from Adventis will allow you to stand out in interviews! Many certified students have gone on to have successful careers at some of the most high-profile and well-paying banks, such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Centerview Partners.”
The bootcamp ran from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Babbio Center and offered hands-on training as well as instructional videos and content. It consisted of “having students build financial models and analyses entirely from scratch, while explaining key concepts along the way.” A few of the bootcamp’s highlights included performing a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis and building a leveraged buyout (LBO) analysis.
At their second meeting on February 16, FIBA provided a resume and cover letter review, where students could get specific feedback on their resumes. Their third meeting, hosted on February 23, offered a workshop about how to answer common interview questions. The presenters shared examples, their own experiences, and offered advice and constructive feedback.
At all of their meetings, FIBA has stressed that the meetings to come will involve even more events aimed at taking action to directly help students. As their LinkedIn mentioned, “FIBA is currently a club in development at Stevens, close to achieving probationary status for the upcoming Fall 2023 semester.” However, FIBA’s members emphasized how they want students to know that their club wants to take action right now to help its members grow and become successful.
For more information about FIBA, follow their LinkedIn group page and follow their Instagram page @fiba_stevens for more information. Also, be sure to attend their general body meetings (GBMs) on Thursdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
