Provided for Illinois State University Finance students by
Larry A. Lonis, CFA ®, CPA
Senior Vice President, Bank of America
ISU Finance Advisory Board Member
The following information is provided by Larry Lonis, an experienced investment manager who serves on the Finance Advisory Board that advises Illinois State University's Finance program. He is currently Senior Vice President, and Market Investment Executive, for Bank of America in Chicago. He holds a B.S. in Marketing and an M.B.A. from Northern Illinois University, and is both a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA ®) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
During a long and distinguished career, the Aurora, Illinois native has managed investment portfolios not only of traditional stocks and bonds, but also of commercial real estate assets. He has taught financial statement analysis and financial ethics for organizations that have included DePaul University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the Investment Analysts Society of Chicago .
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To build a good foundation for a Finance career you must know the process, know yourself, and know what you can and can not control.
Understand the Process
- Become familiar with good job search books, such as What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles and 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions by Ron Fry.
- Research jobs through company web sites, professional organization web sites or printed materials, job description listings in newspapers, and personal contacts.
- Determine which industries are growing, and which companies offer the best opportunities for ongoing learning and personal development.
- Use each job interview not merely to seek a position, but also for the purpose of learning more about the job being discussed and other jobs available through the employer.
- If you are not suited for a position, tell an appropriately qualified friend or classmate about it. Both your colleague and the employer may benefit, and you will have built goodwill with important networking partners.
Know Yourself
- Map your educational background and work experience against your interests. Be prepared to discuss, with potential employers, how what you know from specific classes or job duties is pertinent to positions in which you are interested.
- Make special note of successes you have enjoyed in school and work settings, and especially in internships, which blend the classroom and workplace. Your demonstrated interests and abilities are good signposts for appropriate job choices.
- Keep your resume updated with key accomplishments from your school, work, and volunteer activities.
- Know your tolerance for short-term pain in the interest of long-term gain. To build a strong career foundation you may have to accept a first job with heavy travel or other features that people sometimes find unpleasant.
- Recognize that while your first position will be an important stepping stone, effective career planning can occur only if you take a long-term view.
Control What You Can
- Be genuinely enthusiastic in your search. Going from college to the professional world is an exciting time of your life, and potential employers should be able to sense your strong desire to learn and contribute in their organizations.
- Write a brief “story” for each major resume item that you wish to talk about, or that you think interviewers may question you about. During an interview you do not want to have to deliberate before answering important questions.
- Seek as many mock interviews as you can, through the University or other sources, to practice telling the most important parts of your story in a realistic setting.
- Control your ego, and be honest and realistic with yourself. Young people too often believe they have already learned all there is to learn about a particular position, and are ready to move into a company's executive suite. You have to build from the ground up.
- Maturity is an important characteristic in the professional world; try to achieve it while you are young enough that it can help you build a stronger career foundation.
Deal Effectively with What You Can Not Fully Control
- Be sincere in expressing your desire for a position. Employers try to minimize the likelihood of the costly turnover that occurs when they hire uncommitted people.
- Be open to a range of company and industry possibilities. You may not be offered your “dream job,” but some of the happiest people in the professional world hold positions they would never have dreamed, at age 22, of one day holding.
- Be patient, persistent, and resilient. Finding a job can actually be more difficult, and certainly more stressful, than doing a job each day.
- Look at issues beyond money. A position that pays a very high salary may be accompanied by longer hours, higher risk (transfer, job loss), or other unattractive elements.
- Perhaps the most important contributor to personal development in a first professional job is a manager who is not threatened by your education and abilities, and who focuses on developing your job skills so you can advance to more responsible positions.
