Shane Berkley flew in from Hong Kong on Friday to help students’ career plans take flight.

Berkley, executive director of investment bank operations at JPMorgan Chase & Co., was one of four speakers at an event organized by the student-run initiative Work In Asia to help students find job opportunities in Asia. The event, called ‘Your Direct Flight to Asia,’ occurred Friday in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

Berkley, who is currently working in Hong Kong, has worked in Australia, New York and London. He stressed the importance of recognizing and adapting to changing trends in the global marketplace and cited a versatile skill set as a valuable asset in today’s unpredictable market.

‘Today we work in a global marketplace,’ he said. ‘The great thing about working in business is that if you pick the right role, there are global opportunities.’

JPMorgan Chase is expanding rapidly on a global scale, Berkley said. The company is aggressively moving its technology and operations into countries with growing economies, such as China and India, he said. JPMorgan Chase currently has 70,000 employees across the globe and operates in more than 60 countries, Berkley said.

Berkley said international revenue constitutes 30 percent of JPMorgan Chase’s total revenue, which means a wealth of employment opportunities are available overseas, especially in countries with developed economies, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Japan.

Recruiting for internships and job positions is a common practice at JPMorgan Chase, Berkley said, and the company takes in as many as 30 graduate students for its full-time program in Asia each year.

Because the marketplace is constantly changing, many companies like JPMorgan Chase are looking to hire people who can work in a demanding and changing climate, Berkley said.

‘You need people who can look at different markets, at different products and are very adaptable,’ he said.

JPMorgan Chase is currently offering internship programs in New York. Interns who fare well will be eligible to apply for the full-time program offered in Hong Kong and Singapore. The internship position for spring 2012 will be posted on OrangeLink, SU’s online job and internship database, Berkley said.

Students interested in working in Asia or the United States can also apply for internship and job positions through the JPMorgan Chase website, Berkley said.

As more companies grow internationally, employers’ expectations are starting to change with the market, he said. More employers are looking for people with the ability to adapt their skills to a dynamic marketplace. And this may be handy — not just in international organizations but in all jobs, he said.

‘You find that people who have that ability to adapt can work very successfully and progress very quickly in an organization,’ Berkley said.

Berkley said the two most important qualities JPMorgan Chase looks for in potential recruits are a willingness to work hard and genuine interest in the profession. Students should look for something that really interests them but should also be prepared to move on to something else when the market changes, he said.

Chung Chen, professor of managerial statistics in Whitman and one of Friday’s speakers, said it is important for students to know and understand their strengths and seek a profession that plays to these strengths.

Rafael Balbi, a senior economics major who studied abroad in Spain last semester, said he attended the event to learn more about job opportunities in regions he has not visited, especially China.

Said Balbi: ‘I want to look outside the box and see what else is out there, what else is going on around the world.’

atanying@syr.edu

 

 

 

 

Published on February 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm