{"id":20675,"date":"2012-12-19T14:08:24","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T14:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=20675"},"modified":"2014-11-14T15:29:11","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T20:29:11","slug":"alumna-entrepreneur-community-professionals-pave-the-road-to-jobs-for-fiu-finance-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2012\/12\/alumna-entrepreneur-community-professionals-pave-the-road-to-jobs-for-fiu-finance-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna entrepreneur, community professionals pave the road to jobs for FIU finance students."},"content":{"rendered":"

After getting a master\u2019s degree in finance at Florida International University\u2019s (FIU) College of Business and completing several internships, Sofia Bitela (MSF \u201910, MSHRD \u201908) thought it was time to strike out on her own. From her experience transitioning from the university into the workplace, she saw how important it was to be proficient in the hands-on analytical skills employers were looking for. To meet this need, she created Wall Street to Main Street, with then-classmate Joshua Emory (MIB \u201910), now an investment banker. The firm teaches discounted cash flow and other financial modeling skills that companies look for in potential financial analysts.<\/p>\n

As one of the first students to participate in FIU\u2019s Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), Bitela credits the experience with giving her a real-world perspective on investing. In addition to teaching classes on campus, she now returns to FIU as a member of the SMIF Advisory Board, and visits Finance and Real Estate Department faculty member Helen Simon\u2019s class to share her perspective.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sofia Bitela<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA lot of what I\u2019ve gained comes from FIU and SMIF,\u201d Bitela said. \u201cWhat I teach is not in the traditional academic curriculum. There\u2019s not a separate financial modeling course. They will be applying the accounting and financing concepts they learn to what they will be doing on the job, and our course helps them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speakers provide insights into the next step after graduation. <\/em><\/p>\n

In helping them prepare for the world of work, \u201cI tell students to be persistent, realistic and understand your strengths and weaknesses,\u201d Bitela said. \u201cIf you know yourself, you\u2019ll recognize the perfect job when it comes your way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon said that in addition to providing training for her students, Bitela offered an insight into what life is like as an entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents need to know that sometimes, you can make your own niche instead of being hired,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jorge Padilla, Jonathan Cameron and Glenn Downing of the Financial Planning Association of Miami spoke about financial planning and investment management as professional options, and the benefits of becoming a certified financial planner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bitela\u2019s visit is part of an ongoing effort to provide students with a perspective on career options after graduation. During the fall semester, Simon\u2019s class also heard from members of the Financial Planning Association of Miami, and representatives from Bloomberg, Wells Fargo Advisors, Cross Keys Capital, State Farm, JP Morgan and Cumberland Advisors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After getting a master\u2019s degree in finance at Florida International University\u2019s (FIU) College of Business and completing several internships, Sofia Bitela (MSF \u201910, MSHRD \u201908) thought it was time to strike out on her own. From her experience transitioning from the university into the workplace, she saw how important it was to be proficient in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":20681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3,4,13],"tags":[619,2787,1805,1808,1952,2447,2788,2506],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20675"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20675"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23707,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20675\/revisions\/23707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}