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For Kaci Burkholder (BBA ’07), the decision to come to SMU Cox was an easy one.
“I chose SMU because it was in the middle of the Dallas business district,” she said. “I come from a small town in Kansas, and the connections and internships available in Dallas were a huge bonus for me.”
After graduating this spring with a degree in finance, Burkholder plans to work at Lehman Brothers for a few years and then go to a top graduate school to pursue her MBA. She had always wanted to work for a top financial institution after college, and she was able to land the job at Lehman Brothers through hard work, good grades, and a key internship.
Many of her courses at Cox included group projects that helped Burkholder learn to work with a variety of personalities, but she credits Finance Professor Jeffrey Hart as a key part of her success at SMU, and for helping her get in contact with key executives at Lehman Brothers.
“The Cox professors are a huge benefit to students since most of them are respected in the Dallas community,” said Burkholder. “But his [Hart’s] teaching and networking skills have been more than I could ask for from any professor.”
The Cox school’s strategic location in Dallas allows students to intern while going to school. And that’s exactly what Burkholder did during her junior and senior years. “Having valuable work experience to put on your resume really helps you get the leg up on the competition,” she said.
Getting into private equity is not an easy task, but Burkholder made it happen through her hands-on experience in the industry.
“My biggest advantage going into job interviews was that I had worked at an investment bank for about a year and a half all through college,” she said. “I was able to demonstrate my work ethic and time management skills by staying at one institution over a period of time. If you can show how hard you are willing to work, the job is yours.”
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