Day Eight: The studying part of studying abroad
Monday, my class was able to visit the Bank of America branch in London. Bank of America’s headquarters were in Charlotte, so the visit was convenient for our professor to set up. I’ll admit that going into this visit, I was a bit of a negative Nancy. I didn’t think Bank of America would be that helpful to my career in PR. Now I have to admit another thing: I was dead wrong. After arriving at the impressive Bank of America building, we were taken into a conference room, complete with microphones at every table, and our choice of still or sparkling water, tea, and coffee. From the start, they had hooked our attention by treating us like we were equals and deserved respect. Then the presentation began, and we heard from two members of the internal relations team, John McIvor and Andrew Todd, about how they found themselves at Bank of America. Both took very different pathways to end up in the communications world, so it was interesting and informative to learn that there’s not one right path to a career.
The discussion included some global public relations challenges, including a major one I had somehow never even considered: a time difference. Mr. McIvor said most of his morning is spent replying to emails from different time zones that were operating a full work day while he was asleep. Another global challenge is creating strong departments at all “pieces of the chain.” The UK global communications department would fall apart if the US or Asian communications department was weak. All the parts depend on each other, yet must be sending one unified message. They also discussed working in countries where America is disliked, which provides additional issues for them because their name automatically associates them with America.
We were also able to visit the trading desk and get a quick tour. It seemed so hectic, and my head was hurting watching men and women sit in front of anywhere from three to seven computer screens. I’m so unfamiliar with the financial world, aside from my very limited understanding of my dad’s job. I’d never even considered the career options in investor relations or external relations for a bank or other financial group. The day’s events were so intriguing and informative that I am definitely interested in exploring more options.
Our first test was the following day, so the rest of the afternoon was spent studying and re-reading my textbook. The “study” part of studying abroad is not as fun as getting to explore this fabulous city!
