Building Bridges: Collaboration At Boston University Questrom School Of Business Elevates Finance Career Preparation

Questrom School of Business

Students who engage with their career center see a return on investment. According to research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), students who use career services receive more job and internship offers and are more satisfied with their career preparation. Lightcast data show that alumni who access career support are more likely to feel their degree was worth the money. But getting students to engage with career services isn’t always easy. 

“We ask students to do hard things,” said Misty Start, Executive Director for Career Services and Strategy at the Boston University Questrom School of Business. “We focus on the importance of networking even when that may make them uncomfortable, or we ask them to rework a resume multiple times.”

Perhaps because of this tension, students are more likely to go to their faculty or peers for career advice. Rather than engage in a tug of war for student attention, career services staff at Questrom form alliances, collaborating with faculty and student organizations on a holistic approach to supporting students’ career aspirations. 

“We recognize that we all have the same goal,” said Start. “We all want our students to develop a clear picture of their own career journey, and to be as prepared as possible to succeed on that journey. Faculty provide expertise on how academics align with career interests, and student club leaders understand student perspectives and needs.”

Collaboration between faculty, student organizations, and career services has many benefits. Student club leaders provide valuable feedback that informs career services offerings and initiatives, and faculty bring subject matter expertise that supports the development of specific skills and competencies important to employers. And perhaps most important, partnerships with student organizations improve student engagement. 

An example of the success of this model is the collaboration between the BU Finance Club (BUFC), the BU Financial Modeling Club (BUFMC), the Feld Center, and Questrom faculty members. While the student finance clubs have long offered helpful skills-building workshops to their members, including sessions on financial modeling and Super Day preparation, faculty were concerned that this format lacked the rigor and professional insight needed to meet the demands of a hyper-competitive industry where recruitment begins as early as sophomore year.

Recognizing an opportunity for improvement, BU faculty member and BUFC advisor Louis Salemy, a Dean’s Teaching Fellow and lecturer in the finance department, proposed a different approach. Working closely with club leadership and leveraging support from the Feld Center, Salemy developed a rigorous financial modeling and valuation extracurricular series. Unlike the peer-led structure, this initiative involved weekly evening sessions taught directly by Salemy, blending academic expertise with real-world applications to ensure students were fully prepared for recruiting season. The Feld Center was able to support the administration of the program and provided career advising to students to ensure that they could articulate their new skills on resumes and during job interviews. 

Another example of a successful collaboration is the Wall Street Trek, a collaborative effort between the BUFC, faculty, alumni, and the Feld Center, that provides sophomores with invaluable real-world exposure. Targeting students aiming for highly competitive internships, the trek offers an immersive experience in New York City, where participants engage directly with BU alumni working in finance.

The trek features firm visits, presentations, panel discussions, and networking events designed to introduce students to the realities of working in investment banking, private equity, and asset management. By visiting top firms and interacting with alumni, students gain firsthand insights into the skills and mindset required to succeed in these fields.

What makes the trek particularly impactful is its alignment with the early recruiting timelines of top finance firms. For sophomores, this is a chance to ask informed questions, showcase their passion for the industry, and establish meaningful connections with professionals who often serve as mentors throughout their career journeys. Questrom’s Industry Relations Managers Joe Saunders and Jeff Grossman play a critical role in connecting students with top finance firms and leveraging alumni networks for student visits. Faculty ensure that students are prepared to engage meaningfully, and student club leaders liaise with alumni, organizes logistics, and provide peer mentorship to guide participants. Together, these efforts ensure that students are not only academically prepared but also professionally polished and confident.

“We have alumni working in finance who are eager to bring Questrom talent to their firms,” said Martha Day Sanford, Executive Director of Industry Engagement at Questrom. “Collaborations with faculty and student clubs enable us to get everyone on the same page in terms of accelerated recruiting timelines and interview readiness.”

Empowering Students Through Collaboration

For students concentrating in finance, these collaborative initiatives are invaluable. The careers they pursue demand a unique blend of technical expertise, analytical rigor, and interpersonal skills—qualities that are best cultivated through a combination of classroom learning, real-world exposure, and professional development. Collaborations with faculty and career services provide students with a distinct competitive advantage.

Questrom Dean Susan Fournier has made career readiness a key priority throughout her tenure, allocating resources and encouraging faculty and staff to think creatively about how to best support students to be “Day One Ready” in their careers. Partnership models involving faculty, career services, and students foster a culture of collaboration and innovation and empower students to have agency in their own career development, which has enabled Questrom to build a pipeline of talented, prepared, and driven graduates ready to excel on day one of their careers.

As Associate Dean of the Feld Center, Monica Parker-James leads the industry engagement, career services, career operations, and alumni engagement teams at the Boston University Questrom School of Business. Parker-James is an accomplished leader with 30 years of experience in formal and informal education, including 10 years in higher education and 20 years in museum education.  Her areas of expertise include organizational leadership, change management, strategic planning, quality improvement, program and event development, and project management.  Parker-James holds a BS and MS in Mass Communication and a Graduate Certificate in Fundraising, all from Boston University, and an EdD from Northeastern University, with a concentration in Organizational Leadership.

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