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Video Introduction
Major: Accounting
Job Title: Product Manager, Partnerships
Company: JPMorgan Chase
Company Description: Financial Services
Did you have any initial career goals when you entered Isenberg? Were there any key moments or influences (a guest speaker, course, or extracurricular) during your time at Isenberg that changed or confirmed your career goals?
I took my first accounting class in high school and knew I wanted to be an accountant. I majored in Accounting and I had plans to take my CPA and open up my own Tax practice one day. It wasn’t until I met EY recruiters while I was working at the Chase Career Center, who influenced me to help students like myself at the time, achieve their career goals and make the switch to from accounting to recruiting a year later in my full-time career.
Can you share a favorite work assignment that could help a student understand more about what you do?
I remember working a group project for Management 301, that was closely aligned to what I do now which is answering customer pain points and solving problems. In my role, you have to be processed oriented, strategic, and a collaborative partner in order to solve for a better customer experience. For example, if a customer finds that entering their 16 digit card number within a mobile wallet takes a long time, how can we at Chase make that better? Is there a new solution we can introduce such as camera capture or tapping the card to the phone and how will we go about building and implementing this new solution. Management 301 gave me an understanding on operations management, techniques of decision making and control, and strategy that helped enabled me to do my current job.
Now that you’re in this position, what aspects have surprised you that you didn’t anticipate before starting?
Time – time is valuable and it goes by so fast! You have to ensure you enjoy what you do, as you spend most of your time at work, and can become consuming. I always made decisions in my career that I knew would challenge me, stimulate my brain, and have the ability to work with amazing people.
What inspires you about the work you are doing in your industry?
The impact I have on Chase customers inspires me to do my job, especially in partnerships. I am building and maintaining relationships with various partners so that Chase customers have the ability to make payments safely and securely. I always wondered the “how” behind a transaction was made and but never thought about the “why”. I want to ensure our customers have access to their Chase cards to execute against their dreams or goals whether its buying a house, a huge birthday party, or booking a vacation.
What are some daily challenges you experience in your role?
Working in partnerships, you deal with a lot of personalities and it’s knowing how to deal with different attitudes and when to play offense/defense. My role also requires a lot of dependency on the product and tech team to actually build the product so if we are at capacity or don’t have enough resources, I’m delivering bad news to the partner such as timeline shifts/delays or roadblocks which can result in an unhappy partner/escalations.
Is there anything you wish you had done differently while a student at Isenberg?
I loved my experience at Isenberg and wouldn’t change a thing but lately, I’ve been interested in product marketing (promotion of a product catered to a targeted audience) and I wish I had taken more Marketing classes to learn more.
Networking is extremely important but can be intimidating to undergraduates. What tips do you have for getting started engaging with alum or upperclassmen?
Don’t be afraid! As humans, we are learning constantly and networking is great way to bring out your knowledge and skillset. It’s as simple as, “Did you know xyz?” that can start a conversation or even “I’m from that town too!”. I always tell people to exude confidence and be yourself. Throughout your career, you are going to meet people who will advocate for you (sponsor) and people who will support you (mentor). You need both in your career and people usually find them by networking.
