Many students entering their senior year wonder whether theskills they learned and the information they absorbed at Tufts willaid them in today's workplace. For many economics majors, the idealpost-graduate employer would be an investment banking firm on WallStreet.
Some students, however, wonder if the B.A. in Economics theyreceive from Tufts will set them up for a successful career infinance.
"[Preparing students for Wall Street] is not the first goal,"economics Assistant Professor Sunghyun Kim said. "We preparestudents in general. The employers are looking for general skills,analytical and writing."
"A liberal arts background is more important than specific[finance] knowledge - you can learn that from your employer," Kimsaid.
Department of Economics Chair Gilbert Metcalf agrees that theprimary objective of Tufts courses is to provide students with astrong background in analytical and communication skills that canbe utilized in any job.
In addition to "analytic ability, the ability to dig into aproblem and focus on the important aspects, quantitative skills,the number crunching skills that most people associate with WallStreet," Metcalf believes that Tufts also prepares students with"communication skills, the ability to explain to others why theyshould (or shouldn't) buy a stock ... and an ethical compass."
However, some students would like to see more finance-specificcourses offered in the department, such as senior David Steen,co-president of the Tufts Economics Society.
"There are fundamental skills necessary for a successful WallStreet career which Tufts just does not offer," Steen said.
Steen lists the lack of accounting courses as one issue thatneeds to be addressed. "The economics department offers one lowlevel elective in accounting, [while] many other schools,especially those with undergraduate business programs, offer atleast several different levels of accounting classes," Steen said."Accounting is just the tip of the iceberg."
Senior James Groth, who is co-president of the Economics Societyalong with Steen, wishes there were courses within the departmentthat delved more deeply into the workings of the financialmarkets.
Students could benefit from courses that discussed "how marketsfunctioned, the background behind specific instruments, and financehistory," said Groth, who would like to specialize in institutionalequity, commodities trading or investment banking in thefuture.
Kim, however, said that the economics department offers severalcourses that can help prepare students for careers in finance,including "Econometrics," "Financial and Monetary Economics,""Uncertainty Methods in Economics and Finance" and "InternationalFinance."
"There are also three or four courses offered in the Ex Collegeabout the stock market and other practical applications," Kimadded.
Nonetheles, Steen believes that the courses offered do notprepare students for many of the analytical positions infinance.
"[Those positions] necessitate a firm understanding ofdifferential equations, partial differential equations, computerprogramming and Excel skills," said Steen, who hopes to work in thefixed income research or trading divisions.
"Most of these courses are offered at Tufts, but they are almostexclusively in the engineering and mathematics departments," Steenadded. "As a result, they are taught with examples from engineeringrather than examples from finance."
Nevertheless, Groth believes that Tufts does a good jobpreparing students for any career.
"Tufts doesn't provide students with preparatory business andmarket knowledge, but instills analytical and social understandingsinto the minds of its graduates," Groth said. "This allows them toquickly learn business and markets operations, and any otherforeign career immersion for that matter."
Some professors find that although knowledge of technical termsand an understanding of finance may give an applicant a leg up onthe competition, it is not necessary for entry-level positions.
Kim lists a student's GPA, internship experiences andunderstanding of current business issues as other factorsinterviewers consider.
Groth believes interviewers are really looking to see ifstudents would mesh well in their firm. "Interviews judge characterand genuine interest," Groth said.
Kim asserts that it is the students' lack of preparedness thatreally hurts their chances of landing a job.
"Senior year GPA doesn't count, so freshman, sophomore, andjunior year grades really matter," Kim said. "Many students don'tthink about GPA their freshman year, and their junior year theydon't worry about it because they're abroad - they need to prepareearly."
Career Services hopes to help students do just that with aprogram entitled "Tufts on Wall Street and Beyond: Careers inFinance," which will be held in Dowling Hall on Oct. 27.
According to the Career Services Web site, the workshop is aimedto provide economics majors with a better understanding of whattheir dream careers entail.
The Economics Society also provides students with career andcourse advice. "[We prepare students by] making them more aware ofwhat's available and providing them with student contacts towardtheir preferred career path," Groth said.
The group also notifies its members of job interviews orrelevant events sponsored by Career Services.
Steen believes, however, that the current efforts of CareerServices do not include enough on-campus interviews forfinance-minded students.
"It is much more effective for Tufts University as a whole tolobby for potential banks to come recruit here than it is for onestudent to go out of their own and risk getting lost in the sea ofapplications that these banks receive," Steen said.
