Leaders in Investment Banking held a workshop at Columbia University over the weekend. The nonprofit organization, founded in 2010, aims to help current students and recent graduates secure job opportunities in the financial world by offering free educational workshops at universities all around the world. More than 700 students were in attendance at the event, which took over six months to plan. Students from NYU, Columbia, Fordham University and other city universities attended.
Event organizer and Columbia senior Siddhant Bhatt was pleased with the conference and the turnout.
“It was great to see not only [over] 700 students in attendance, but also the various backgrounds they all in came in with,” Bhatt said. “We even had individuals that flew in from Canada and hope to continue growing this event and reaching out to any individual that is looking to learn about breaking into the industry.”
The workshop focused on creating an effective resume, a cover letter and preparing for a finance job interview.
Sherjan Husainie, the founder of LIB, was the main speaker and led the different parts of the workshop. Husainie encouraged the attendees to make the most out of their time at school. He particularly emphasized the need for networking and encouraged all the attendees to start their own business while in college.
In addition to workshops, LIB offers a Leaders Candidate Program. The program is competitive — 50 students are selected from thousands of applicants to join a network and work closely with a mentor. Feroz Qayyum, one of the senior mentors in the program, said the goal is to build a worldwide network of leaders, not only in the investment banking industry, but also in all kinds of industries.
Stern freshman Roy Brooks said the program’s wide focus was appealing.
“I like that the workshop was so practical and that the speaker linked much of the content to his own experience,” Brooks said. “It was definitely interesting.”
Johnny Chuang, a graduate student at the Columbia Business School, said the workshop provided interesting opportunities for students.
“This workshop serves as a much needed confidence boost,” Chuang said. “It’s a great opportunity to refresh the skills before all of the job interviews.“
Maria Verbaite is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].