Lily Teevens '17 never expected she would be able to secure a full-time job offer, but when she heard about the “From Arts & Sciences to Stocks & Finances” Immersion Experience, Teevens thought she’d apply anyway in hopes of making some new connections with professionals in New York City. And it made a lot of sense to the senior economics major, given her desire to work and live in the city after graduation this May.

The immersion experience is an annual opportunity for students with non-business majors to explore the corporate sector in New York City. The trip is open to all undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students gain knowledge about marketing their skills and talents in the business world, identify internships or job opportunities that may be a good fit, and learn more about specific industries.

Last fall, students visited Axis, Bloomberg, Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley on the two-day trip. Teevens and the rest of the group stopped first at Ernst & Young, which held a panel with employees from the three possible programs to which Arts and Sciences students, both undergraduate and master’s, could apply.

Next was JPMorgan Chase, where students met the man who funded the trip, alumnus Tom Toomey ’95. Afterward, the group visited Federal Hall and made their way to Morgan Stanley. The day concluded with a casual networking dinner at Max Brenner with a group of recent Syracuse alumni—most of whom themselves had participated previously in the immersion experience. On the final day, the group visited Goldman Sachs, Axis and lastly, Bloomberg.

“When I would first arrive at the companies, it was a little intimidating because I was not sure what to expect, but once the employees would start talking it was much more relaxed than I anticipated,” Teevens recalls. “The sessions were always extremely informative because employees would be telling you about the challenges they face in their industry, what they do on a day-to-day basis, what skills they think are necessary to be successful in their role, what professional journals we should be reading and more.

“It was like nothing I had learned in the classroom, and it made me excited about applying to jobs because now I knew so much more about the possibilities I had as an economics major,” she says.

Teevens received a few different job offers from the trip and was in the process of interviewing for more before she decided to accept a position as staff in the Advisory Consultant Program-Business Advisory Program in Ernst & Young’s Financial Services Organization.

“From the beginning, I was really interested in EY. Everyone I had spoken to was so personable, smart and genuine,” Teevens says. “On the trip, one man on the EY panel said to choose to work somewhere where you would enjoy staying late with your colleagues to finish a project, because the talent is pretty much the same at all reputable companies, but the values and ‘vibe’ are different.”

Details for the fall 2017 trip will be available later this spring and can be seen here.