Meet the MBA2 Career Mentors

MBA2 Career Mentors are student leaders who are excited to work closely with first year students. MBA2 Career Mentors partner with our office to review resumes and conduct technical mock interviews. During the fall, MBA2 Career Mentors also lead small group sessions discussing best strategies for recruiting including what to expect at networking events, informational interviews and how to tackle tough interviews. Many of the MBA2 Career Mentors hold leadership positions in student clubs and are involved with other activities at Stern.

Learn more about our MBA2 Career Mentor and their recruiting advice below.

Adam Bunk Providence College ab3271@stern.nyu.edu	Prior to Stern, Adam spent seven years growing a boutique technology consulting company located in New York. His experience was a blend of internal strategy, client service, and sales. He consulted for clients across a range of industries, including financial services, consumer goods, and retail. Adam received his BA in Economics from Providence College. This summer, Adam worked in the Strategy & Operations practice at Deloitte Consulting. Adam's recruiting tips: Try to speak to a wide variety of people who are familiar with the firms you are interested in – current employees, MBA2s, people in your network. You will start to pick up on consistent themes and language that you can leverage when you are formally applying to those firms. You will also get feel for the type of people you may be working with. Also, take OCD’s advice and “cast a wide net” – meaning do not be afraid to explore opportunities outside of your core recruiting focus. As much as recruiting is about “getting a job,” the process is also a tremendous opportunity to learn about what you might be interested in now or at some point later in your career.

Andrew Gouge University New South Wales apg351@stern.nyu.edu	Andrew is an Australian born engineer who has spent the last 7 years working as an engineering consultant. During this time, he engaged public and private clients, spanning mining, transportation, city infrastructure, energy and utilities sectors in both Australia and the United States. Andrew is at Stern to expand his skill set in order to transition from engineering consulting to management consulting. Andrew completed his summer internship with Bain & Co in their Sydney Australia office.
Abhijit Gupta Indian Institute of Technology ag4693@stern.nyu.edu	Abhijit grew up in India and graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 2008 with a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering. Prior to Stern, Abhijit worked at Capital One as business analyst at their Bangalore (India) and Nottingham (UK) locations covering the full spectrum of credit card life cycle functions from acquisitions to risk operations. At Stern, Abhijit recruited for consulting and spent his summer at The Boston Consulting Group, based at their Washington D.C. office. Abhijit's advice for those who are recruiting for consulting is to start casing early, and case hard! (oh, and enjoy casing too!).

Kaitlin Ofman Middlebury College ko505@stern.nyu.edu	After graduating with a degree in International Studies and Political Science, Kaitlin moved to Berlin, where she developed and rolled out a fundraising strategy for a start-up organization dedicated to furthering development around the world through soccer. She then returned to the US to join the Population Council, an NGO that conducts biomedical and social science research all over the world - there, she helped bring a new contraceptive technology to market internationally. She joined Deloitte's NY office this summer, in their Strategy & Operations practice. Biggest tip for consulting recruiting: as cheesy as it sounds, be yourself! It's important to join a firm you are a good match with. Also, get in as much casing practice with second years and current consultants as possible - and integrate their feedback!

Lauren Panariello New York University lmp379@stern.nyu.edu	Lauren graduated from NYU undergrad in 2011, after studying journalism, English, and dramatic literature. Prior to beginning her MBA, Lauren was a women's magazine editor, last at Cosmopolitan, a member of the Hearst media group. Lauren returned to NYU for her MBA last year to pursue management consulting within a firm that would allow her to focus on retail and/or media work, as well as consumer strategy and experience. This summer, Lauren interned with Deloitte. She is a passionate foodie, theatre lover, and curator of an almost entirely black wardrobe (the idiosyncrasies of being a native New Yorker.) Lauren’s tip for consulting recruiting is to do a personal brand audit and emphasize the one or two talents you possess that you'd like to explore as a consultant. Unique and differentiated candidates too often feel like their most valuable traits are weaknesses because they do not resemble the "typical" consultant profile. In reality, the field has so many different client demands that any business-relevant skills and passions are weapons a consulting firm will want in its arsenal. Additionally, NEVER underestimate the power confidence has on an audience. If you're confident when speaking with recruiters, they'll believe it's for a reason and feel confident about you too.

Jonathan Smyrl Taylor University jss762@stern.nyu.edu	Jon grew up in Santiago, Dominican Republic prior to moving to Indiana to attend Taylor University, where he double majored in International Business and Computer Science. Prior to Stern, Jon worked at several boutique IT consulting firms that specialized in business intelligence and data warehousing, on projects that spanned the Logistics, Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing, and Financial Services industries. During his time at Stern, Jonathan plans to specialize in Strategy, Management, and Finance. He will interned with Deloitte’s Strategy and Operations group this summer, based out of the New York office. Jon's recruiting tips for the incoming class include: Be realistic in your aspirations, and devise a personal strategy that provides you with a range of high- to low-risk options, based on the unique attributes you bring to the table. Then, have the courage to stick to your strategy even if all of your classmates are chasing something different. Also, look for easy wins at the very start of the semester that you can use to buff up your resume. For example, Cognizant hosted a case competition starting at the end of August last year, and only a single team from Stern entered. Most of your classmates won’t even bother paying attention to opportunities like this, so if you are diligent and proactive you can pick up a few bullet points that will help you stand out.

Christopher Kelsch
Princeton University
ctk231@stern.nyu.edu

Chris graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Economics and Finance. Prior to Stern, Chris pursued a career in the sports industry and worked for the National Basketball Association and the New York Red Bulls in finance roles.

This summer, Chris interned with Thomson Reuters.

Jonathan Scott University of North Carolina jas1443@stern.nyu.edu	Jon is a second-year MBA student at NYU Stern, specializing in Marketing and Entertainment, Media, and Technology. Prior to Stern, Jon worked at General Mills for five years in their Sales division as part of a sales management rotational program. This past summer he worked at PepsiCo in their Chicago office as a Marketing MBA Intern on Gatorade. He was tasked with determining the short-term innovation pipeline and go-to market strategy for their Gatorade Recover platform. He hopes to leverage this experience in his pursuit of working full-time at the intersection of brands and sports. Jon was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, and is an alum of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. Jon's recruiting advice: Try to determine if you're seeking brand management roles or more specialized marketing roles. Brand management immerses individuals into a general management role, with many cross-functional responsibilities. This is the traditional "hub and spoke system", where a brand manager sits at the center of many decisions - very common amongst most CPGs. On the other hand, marketers can pursue more specialized areas, such as digital marketing, consumer insights, entertainment marketing, brand strategy, etc. Network with MBA2s and alums who have experience in both spaces to determine which fits you best. However, try to be open-minded to both!

Evelyn Zhang United States Military Academy at West Point ewz203@stern.nyu.edu	Evelyn graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and went on to serve five years on active duty as an US Army Information Technology officer. During that time, she was stationed in Texas, North Carolina, and served in Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom. Within telecommunications, she had roles ranging from project management to operations to strategy. Last spring, Evelyn interned at the Walt Disney Company under the Disney-ABC Television subset in New York City. This past summer, Evelyn interned with Showtime Networks under their Business and Product Development team.

Whitney Adiar
Harvard University
wea221@stern.nyu.edu

Whitney is a 2017 MBA-MPA Candidate at NYU Stern and NYU Wagner School of Public Service. Whitney received a B.A. in History and Science from Harvard University, where she was a premedical student. Before coming to Stern, she was a program manager for a direct-to-consumer marketing firm in Connecticut, where she managed the marketing analysis, product development, inventory management, and vendor relations of over 60 consumer product lines. She then returned to her roots in healthcare as a Research Associate for Columbia University's Center on Medicine as a Profession, where she researched transparency, and policy issues in the medical field and published an article on conflicts of interest in continuing medical education in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

At Stern, Whitney's dual degree is in Health Policy and Management, and she serves as the Co-President of the Stern Healthcare Association (SHA), an MBA2 Career Mentor, a Social Impact Internship Fund Fellow, and is a member of the Community Service Committee. Over the summer, Whitney interned at NYU Langone Medical Center in their Strategy, Planning, and Business Development department.

For new students, she recommends taking advantage of the experience of the MBA2's by asking questions, doing coffee chats, and doing research on companies even before talking to recruiters at on-campus events.

Nicole Andrew University of Melbourne nla252@stern.nyu.edu	Nicole graduated from the University of Melbourne with degrees in Geomatic Engineering and Planning and Design. Prior to Stern, Nicole was a consultant with Booz & Company (now Strategy&). At Stern, Nicole is specializing in Finance and Accounting. She is a Batia Mishan Wiesenfeld Faculty Scholar and is a member of the Graduate Finance Association and Stern Women in Business. This summer, Nicole interned with Goldman Sachs in their investment banking division.

Michael Bonistalli University of Maryland mdb552@stern.nyu.edu	Michael graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a B.S. in Finance. Prior to Stern, Michael worked in financial services and is now completing his MBA at Stern to pursue a career in investment banking. This summer, Michael interned with Macquarie.
Eduardo Garcia Fernandez Universidad Europea de Madrid egf243@stern.nyu.edu	Hailing from Spain, Eduardo graduated from the Universidad Europea de Madrid with a degree in civil engineering. Prior to Stern, Eduardo founded two companies, Coolbackers, an online retail platforms for entrepreneurs in the textile industry, and Frescosfam Clothing Co., a casual t-shirt and sweatshirt retailer. At Stern, Eduardo is pursuing a career in investment banking. He is a member of the Graduate Finance Association and the European Business Society. He spent his summer in the investment banking division at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Anand Goplan Wesleyan University ag4897@stern.nyu.edu	Anand grew up in Singapore and is currently pursuing his MBA at the Leonard N Stern School of Business at New York University. Anand began his career as a Trader Analyst at WH Trading, a proprietary trading firm in Chicago. After working at the firm’s desk at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, he transitioned to algorithmic electronic trading at the firm, focusing on Foreign Exchange, Interest Rate, Commodities and Equity Derivatives. He spent the last 3 years concentrating on Asian and European markets. Anand received his Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from Wesleyan University, where he was both a Freeman Asian Scholar and a Davis Foundation Scholar. He spent his summer interning with the Financial Institutions Group at Credit Suisse, New York.

Ryan Leeolou James Madison Univeristy srl316@stern.nyu.edu	Ryan graduated from James Madison University with a degree in Finance and spent six years working in the financial advisory and consulting division of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC.) Before starting at NYU Stern in 2014, he was a manager in PwC's New York office specializing in banking and capital markets advisory, due-diligence and transaction structuring. Additionally, he holds a Certificate in Accounting from the University of Virginia and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA.) For his summer internship, Ryan will be joining Barclays Capital within the Investment Banking Division and will be covering Financial Institutions. He believes the best advice for recruiting is to begin the process well-informed and prepared in addition to not focusing too much on a particular firm.

Alexis Rodriguez University of Florida aar509@stern.nyu.edu	Alex was born in Venezuela and moved to the US to attend college at the University of Florida. After graduating with an Electrical Engineering degree, Alex worked for Siemens Energy in the engineering department, spent time in the construction and commissioning department and finally in the sales department. Alex is headed to Credit Suisse during the summer in the investment banking division. Alex's recruiting tips include: Learn how to dust off quickly. Recruiting it's an emotional roller coaster ride. We are here to help and to listen. If you have problems remembering names, a contact tracker will help. You do get ask who have you met from this bank. Lastly, remember to bend your knees while in recruiting circles to minimize the back pain the next day.

Jill Gramolini University of Richmond jeg531@stern.nyu.edu	Jill is originally from the Boston area. She graduated from the University of Richmond, where she majored in finance and marketing. After college, she spent four years working in management consulting at Deloitte, based out of first the Washington, DC and then the Boston offices. She is pursuing her MBA at Stern to transition into the retail industry, and is planning to specialize in Luxury Marketing, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Jill will be spending her summer interning at Gap Inc. in Global Strategy and is looking forward to getting to know the incoming class!

Katie Ressmeyer Northwestern University kr1388@stern.nyu.edu	Katie grew up in sunny San Diego, California before attending Northwestern University to study Journalism and Political Science. Prior to Stern, Katie worked in Advertising and Media, first on the Mars Chocolate account at Digitas and then on the Jaguar Land Rover account at Mindshare. She is at Stern pursuing a career in brand management, specializing in Marketing and Luxury Marketing. This summer, Katie interned at L'Oreal in Marketing. Outside of school and work, Katie enjoys running, traveling, exploring NYC restaurants, and wandering in the West Village.

Ayesha Abbasi American University ata322@stern.nyu.edu	Ayesha graduated from American University with a Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration, specializing in Finance & Marketing. Prior to Stern, Ayesha worked at a boutique shopper marketing agency called IN Marketing Services on the Unilever account for 3+ years. During her time in consumer packaged goods client services, Ayesha served a variety of roles including campaign execution, strategy development, and collaboration with brand, sales and customer teams. Ayesha will be spending her summer at Johnson & Johnson working as a brand manager on the Aveeno team. Ayesha's recruiting advice includes: Be a sponge! It sounds cliche, but leverage all the great resources at your disposal and be an active listener to understand the opportunities available. Secondly, speak with as many MBA2s as possible - they just went through the same process and are extremely genuine and candid with their insights. Lastly, be yourself when telling your story and experiences - most of all, employers want to see your true personality to understand how you would fit on their team (as do you!)

Deborah Lewis Washington University in St. Louis dml507@stern.nyu.edu	Deborah grew up in the beautiful suburbs of Northern New Jersey. She got her BA from Washington University in St. Louis in English and Psychology. After undergrad, Deborah moved back to the East Coast to work at Macy’s. Her role as a Product Assistant in the Executive Development Training program involved analyzing sales reports and coordinating product development from conception to production. Following her love of marketing, Deborah returned to Global Beauty Group (GBG). She most recently served as the GBG Marketing and Product Development Manager for their HSN cosmetic brand ybf beauty. At GBG, Deborah launched the brand in QVC UK and spearheaded bringing 72 new products to market every year in four countries. At Stern, Deborah is excited to continue in her roles as the GMA VP of Conference and SGov VP of Communications. She is looking forward to being a Career Mentor next semester. She also served as a team lead for the Luxury Retail Consulting Corps and is a member of the Leadership Development Initiative. This summer Deborah is thrilled to be working as a Summer Associate at Johnson and Johnson on the Band-Aid Brand. Outside of Stern, Deborah loves running, skiing, scuba diving, and traveling. Deborah's advice for marketing recruiting includes: attending the GMA Knowledge Management Sessions. These sessions are incredibly helpful to prepare you throughout recruitment. Also, speak with MBA2s to find out about their internship experiences and start to narrow your target company list early. And lastly, be yourself. You are looking for a fit as much as the company is so try to look for cultures that reflect your values.

Derek Riemenschneider
Indiana Wesleyan University
dhr258@stern.nyu.edu

Derek graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with a degrees in Finance, Economics and Marketing. After completing his undergraduate education, Derek held several finance roles at Pedcor Companies. He is a CFA charterholder.

At Stern, Derek is a member of the Stern Real Estate Club and the Graduate Finance Association. Derek interned with Credit Suisse this summer in their real estate investment banking division.

Ethan Ellison University of Vermont ece252@stern.nyu.edu	Ethan is a rising second year MBA student at NYU Stern. This summer, Ethan interned at Morgan Stanley as an Equity Research Associate. Prior to Stern, Ethan was a decorated member of the U.S. Air Force, where he served for six years. His most notable role was as a Satellite Operations Analyst, in which he safeguarded multibillion-dollar satellite constellations, while leading a five-member team in a top-secret security setting. Ethan earned his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Vermont, holds a M.S. in Financial Analysis from the University of San Francisco, and is a CFA Level II Candidate.

Owen Gilmore Colby College owg202@stern.nyu.edu	Owen double majored in Economics and Mathematical Science at Colby College After graduating from undergrad, Owen worked as a trader in the Global Fixed Income division at Eaton Vance and an investment analyst with Boston University's Investment Office. He is a CFA charterholder. At Stern, Owen is a member of the Stern Investment Management & Research club and as a MBA1, he won the Cornell Stock Pitch Challenge. This summer, Owen interned at Manning & Napier.

Sarah Janowsky Sarah Lawrence College scj278@stern.nyu.edu	Sarah is a dual MBA-MPA candidate at NYU Stern School of Business and Wagner School for Public Service. She grew up in Portland, Oregon and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. Sarah spent five years as a political consultant at Benenson Strategy Group before joining the class of 2016. Last summer she interned at Citi Group evaluating and innovating its Community Reinvestment Act strategy. This summer Sarah joined charity: water in the finance department. She focused on business strategy, providing insights into the health of the business. Sarah served as both the Chair for Think Social Drink Local and the President of the Social Enterprise Association. She is an avid Classpass member and proud Brooklyn resident.

Candace Lee Princeton University cml406@stern.nyu.edu	Born and raised in Nashville, TN, Candace is a third-year MBA-MPA student specializing in Finance and Policy. She graduated from Princeton University in 2006 with a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Upon graduation, she moved to New York and began working at Orion Consultants, a market research and consulting firm specializing in Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange. She has completed summer internships at both the Tennessee Department of Education and Accenture. Candace enjoys reading and talking about education policy issues, a nice glass of wine, and hanging out in Brooklyn with her 8-year old dog named DJ and her younger brother.

Letian Feng University of Hong Kong lf1402@stern.nyu.edu	After Letian graduated from the University of Hong Kong, he worked as an analyst at Deutsche Bank in the equity technology team. Prior to beginning his MBA at Stern, Letian served as an associate at J.P. Morgan, where he was responsible for managing the technology infrastructure of a global electronic trading data and analytics system. His areas of expertise are management of large scale technology infrastructure, big data analytics and operational efficiency / process improvement. This summer, Letian will be working as a Senior Product Manager – Technical Products Intern at Amazon, focusing on cloud computing services. Letian's two recruiting tips for the incoming class are: Start networking early. Technology firms don't follow traditional process (with the exception of Amazon, and maybe Google) and usually start late. However you need to setup coffee chats with alumni and friends early on, and ask for internal referral closer to the resume drop date. Secondly, you don’t have to be a hardcore software engineer to work in a technology firm, but you do need to have a certain level of technical proficiency. Learn SQL + another language (Python, Ruby, C++, Java, etc) and demonstrate that you are comfortable working in a technical environment. (Hint: Amazon requires all recruits to know SQL before onboarding.)

Abhay Krishna Washington University in St. Louis ak4492@stern.nyu.edu	Abhay grew up in Chapel Hill, NC and studied Economics at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to Stern, he was a consultant at Deloitte where he worked in the construction services and oil & gas industries. At Stern, Abhay is exploring his career interests in startup and mature tech while specializing in Finance and Strategy. He is a member of EMTA, EEX and EMA and loves everything going on in the NYC tech scene. He interned last semester at a mobile commerce startup and a clean-tech startup and spent the summer interning at American Express as a Digital Product Manager. Outside of class, Abhay enjoys skiing, golfing, doing crosswords and watching Jeopardy.

Office of Career Development | Meet the MBA2 Career Mentors

Meet the MBA2 Career Mentors