Jin Yu Zhou

Questrom & CAS 2011 | MBA Candidate - NYU Stern

Jin studied finance and accounting during his time at BU, with a minor in Chinese. Upon graduation he went on to work in the finance field at Eze Software Group and soon decided to pursue an MBA. He is currently attending NYU Stern as an MBA candidate

What did you major in and why? I majored in Finance and Accounting while minoring in Chinese Language at CAS. I believed that Finance would give me insights into the world of how money moved and worked in the market while Accounting would give me the structural approach needed to make meaningful analyses of firms and securities. The Chinese Language minor reflected my heritage and my desire to eventually work with Chinese firms or equity markets someday. (Also didn’t hurt to have one heck of a GPA booster!) Questrom students often complain about all the required classes they must take. Have you found that these questions were relevant? If so, how have these classes helped you in your career? I think that the required courses at Questrom are actually fairly valuable in a lot of respects. It gives you a well-rounded and holistic view of business at a whole. For instance, being required to take business law with Professor Spooner in my sophomore year opened my eyes up to a lot of issues I had not previously considered and helped me to navigate some interesting issues in my previous job and my MBA. What is your biggest critique of Questrom? CORE makes no sense in that it will not allow you to use a service model-still predicated upon old manufacturing company models. The concept itself is sound, but it needs to be brought into line with the new reality we live in. VC firms are NOT looking to give you money or valuations because you make an alarm clock with a weight sensor attached to it (YES, that was my CORE plan. The Weight-N-Wake.) that MIGHT break $1M in sales after eight years. What were the five (or so) most defining steps you took to get where you are now? Oh boy, five? That’s tough. I’d say that playing football in high school (toughness and discipline), getting the first C+ of my life in PH-160 (learning to deal with failure), leading LOCK for two years (leadership and organizational skills), NOT quitting my job after one of the roughest months of my life (sheer stubbornness in the face of adversity), and kicking the living daylights out of the GMAT after six months of studying 10 hours every weekend while working 60-hour weeks (building for success). What was your “Aha!” moment when things either fell into place, you realized what you wanted to do, etc..? I think I’m still at that stage in my life where I’m not entirely sure what I want to do in life (outside, of course, of making enough money to buy the New England Patriots off of Bob Kraft), but I’m in a position to explore a lot of options and also gain the tools needed to be successful wherever I may go. Who knows-maybe I’ll be a professor asking QST undergrads what THEY want to be doing one day. (The sound you just heard was every professor who ever taught me at Questrom/QST gasping in abject terror) What is the most valuable lesson you have learned that isn’t taught in school? If you don't love what you're doing, then regardless of the benefits, the perks, the money – you won't last forever in it. Many of us will never find something we love to be our career-but you should at least find a job in which you can be pleasantly indifferent and find joy in your family, your friends, or Sunday afternoons with football and wings. In your field, what are some ways that one could compliment a business degree? Finance and mathematics/psychology. Mathematics to understand the models you build, psychology to know what the man/woman on the other side of the trade is thinking. An appreciation for history and economics is also valuable to know what are the more macro-level drivers behind why money behaves the way it does. How do you manage to do what you love? It’s tough! Many of us don’t get to do what we love as a living. The key is to do what you do in your job well enough that you can create the time or monetary resources needed to do some of what you actually LOVE. What was your concentration? How does it correlate to what you are doing now? I concentrated in Finance and Accounting, and Finance (along with Global Business and Strategy) are my concentrations at Stern as well in my MBA. In your opinion, what is the most underrated course, concentration or minor? Financial Statement Analysis by Professor Menon is an INCREDIBLE course that doesn’t get enough credit for the sheer amount of knowledge it teaches you. It’s a tough, methodical course that doesn’t take prisoners, but if you go through it, you will be able to dissect financial statements like a pitmaster carving up a brisket. Five years after the course, I am still applying things I learned towards Valuation and Private Equity courses here at Stern. What was your first job after college? What path did you take to get where you are now? I was a Connectivity Consultant at Eze Software Group. Studied a lot for the GMATs, then applied to B-school after working for three years. What were you involved with in college? How did you get involved and where did it take you? I was part of the Honors Program as well as LOCK. The Honors Program connected me with a lot of great people that I still try and keep in touch with to this day, and LOCK taught me a lot about leadership, responsibility, team dynamics, personality analysis, and patience in general. What are/were your passions and how did you pursue/find them? I love to cook, read history, and watch the Patriots. While they don’t relate directly to my career, they are definitely passions of mine and I try and make time each week to give a little time to them. In particular, I like to learn to cook one new dish each weekend and expand my repertoire in that manner. Describe a day in your work life. What is the culture like? At my previous job? Frantically trying to keep abreast of all the issues that are happening while the markets move around us and calls come in regarding trades and positions. Constantly taking heat and dealing it back to the guy on the other end of the phone or email chain. Then staggering out after ten or more hours in the office and having a few drinks with friends or just riding the T home for a few hours of sleep. It was a fast-paced, high-intensity place with a lot of emphasis on quick analysis and action. There was tremendous solidarity among the key performers at work, but also a lot of stress each day, especially around heavy trading days when issues would come in faster than the Patriots could ring up points on the Colts. What do you wish you knew in college? Your career, and your life, are not sprints. They are marathons that require year after year of grinding and hard work to achieve success in. Start too quickly, and you will often find yourself running short of breath when you need it most. Pace yourself, realize the importance of your personal health and well-being, and learn to stop once in a while and just do something you love.