Students interested in business often dream of working at large firms in global cities. What many people may not realize, though, is that they may not have to travel outside of Charlottesville to launch a successful business career.
SNL Financial is a company that supplies investment professionals with news and data before they decide to invest in various securities. In some respects, SNL performs a similar role to its larger brethren such as Bloomberg. Whereas Bloomberg covers all securities, however, SNL specializes in researching banking, energy, insurance, real estate, financial services, media and communications sectors.
SNL stands firmly by its motto of "accuracy, relevance, completeness and timeliness" to such a degree that it will pay $50 to anybody who can find an error in its database. And despite the recession, SNL Financial has made Inc. Magazine's list of the 5,000 fastest growing companies in the United States for three straight years.
Several University alumni enjoy staying in Charlottesville, and not just for the vibrancy of living in a college town and working with other young professionals. Jessica Fake, who graduated in 2008 and is currently a senior analyst in Capital Markets at SNL, believes that unlike other financial firms, SNL also is attractive because "it's a big company that provides more internal mobility than any other company I am aware of, but you will still know the president and other executives." Similarly, internships with the firm allow for a significant degree of access to various levels of the organization.
Contrary to what you might initially think, the firm is not only for business majors. University alumnus Cory Eicher, who graduated in 2007, recently joined SNL as a senior software developer.
"It's a relaxed work atmosphere - to be able to wear shorts on a hot day is great for a tech person," he quipped.
Eicher is currently building web-based software that allows customers to map data. Although this sounds more like geography than business, this software has many real world applications.
"It's really useful in analyzing a bank merger, for example. You can compare the geographical locations of two banks and drill into the data behind bank branches," he said.
Eicher, who worked as an independent consultant before joining SNL, recommended that if graduates are "given the opportunity at some point to work for yourself, take it. I personally gained a wealth of experience working for myself, and this makes you learn about business, how to make the best use of your time, strengthen networking skills ... It's a terrific opportunity."
Meanwhile, Katie Kelly, University class of 2009 alumna and former intern, said she believes the University trains its students to be successful, particularly at firms such as SNL.
"The nature of U.Va., balancing academics and many extracurriculars, breeds successful people - it breeds leaders," she said.
SNL Recruiter Charlie Boisky and Recruiting Analyst Christine Fritz offered advice from the firm's vantage point.
Boisky advised students to "take interest in the company ... Work on the resumes. They should show results, not just what you have done. Also, tailoring the resume for each firm is important. We can tell if it's generic or tailored," adding that personalized, hand-written thank-you notes are always appreciated.
For students interested in business, or any other field for that matter, certain skills such as being able to work in teams and being able to show results is critical.
"[You have to ] market your personality as much as your skills. You have to bring it."
But what might be even more significant is for students to remember that it is not just in New York that you have to be on your A-game. There are opportunities closer to home, too, that are just as demanding.
Harrison's column runs biweekly Wednesdays. He can be reached at h.freund@cavalierdaily.com.
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