Despite the 2008 financial crisis, Wall Street is still full of opportunities for “smart, ambitious, creative” individuals, according to former chief investment officer of Lehman Brother’s Private Equity Division Steven Berkenfeld ’81, who offered students an insider’s view of a Wall Street career on Saturday.

Berkenfeld, currently a managing director of the Investment Banking Division at Barclays Capital, presented the keynote speech in a conference entitled “So You Want to Work on Wall Street? Getting Started on a Career in Financial Services.” His speech was attended by about 170 students in the Statler Ballroom.

Berkenfield’s 21-year career at Lehman Brothers ended when the company declared bankruptcy last year on Sept. 15.

“Through your career, you’ll see a lot of these ups and downs,” he said.

Nevertheless, he came to see his new job at Barclays Capital as an opportunity to work hard and enhance his career.

After a brief discussion of his background, Berkenfeld detailed his observations on the 2008 financial crisis.

“Very few people expected it to crash the way it did,” he said.

Yet, Berkenfeld noted that the crisis may have been for the better due to some of the positive changes that have since taken place. For example, a trend in the financial industry before the crisis was the intense competition amongst firms, which drove down rates and contributed to the credit crisis. Now the trend has shifted more towards helping clients formulate strategy and solve problems. It is now more “interesting” to be a banker or trader than before the crisis, being a banker or trader primarily involved performing perfunctory tasks, Berkenfeld said.

Berkenfeld also examined some other current business trends. He discussed how the rapid growth of China, India and Russia are changing the business strategies of global enterprises.

“You can’t have a global business without an effective strategy in China and India,” Berkenfeld said.

Berkenfeld also commented on businesses’ use of information. Before Internet was available, much of a Wall Street firm’s success depended on informational advantage. Today, however, “with so much information,” what information a firm has access to is less important than what the firm does with the information.

Berkenfeld next discussed some of the most important characteristics that one must have for a successful career. One such characteristic is creativity. He encouraged students to take classes that will test and enhance their creativity and said students should challenge themselves to become creative leaders.

Another important characteristic is initiative. Berkenfeld emphasized that “success is about taking initiative.” In order to grow, one must go out of one’s comfort zone. An example of taking initiative is starting a new club at Cornell instead of joining an existing one, thus showing employers one’s leadership potential, Berkenfeld said.

He encouraged students to identify their strengths and weaknesses and improve on those weaknesses.

According to Berkenfeld, it is very hard to find an organization that is right for an individual. There are many different organizational cultures, but on paper, all organizations emphasize similar points, such as diversity and creativity, he said. Thus, Berkenfeld encouraged students to meet with the employees of the firm that they are interested in and ask them: “Tell me what you think the culture is.”

At the end of his speech, Berkenfeld emphasized the value of relationships for one’s career. Upon graduating from law school, Berkenfeld first worked for the law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson as an associate, but he soon became disenchanted with a career in law and joined Lehman Brothers in 1987. Although Berkenfeld’s earlier responsibilities at Lehman Brothers mostly dealt with the firm’s legal matters, they required less concern with tedious legal processes and thus provided him with the opportunity to gain experience in finance. In 2001, he became chief investment officer of Lehman Brothers’ Private Equity Division. According to Berkenfeld, he got the job through “accumulated relationships” and “a broad base of support.”

“The thing that is the most valuable … is relationships,” Berkenfeld said.

During the question-and-answer session, one student asked Berkenfeld how his educational background helped his career. After receiving his B.S. in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Berkenfeld went onto Columbia Law School and received his J.D. in 1984. Berkenfeld said that his background in ILR taught him about negotiations while his law degree and experience at the law firm taught him “the nuts and bolts of transaction.”

Another audience member asked what Berkenfeld felt was the most challenging issue for bankers today. Berkenfeld said that getting bankers to think more long-term is a big challenge currently faced by the financial industry.

Berkenfeld’s speech was well-received. Audience member David Shippee ’12 said it was very interesting to learn about how the industry changed due to the credit crisis.

Another student, Taskin Rahman ’12, said: “I mostly gained an inside view of the industry. It gave me a broad spectrum of the daily activities of Wall Street and the challenges that the bankers of the financial industry faced.”

The conference was hosted by Delta Sigma Pi Professional Business Fraternity. After Berkenfeld’s speech, the student attendees went on to various business-related seminars, such as “Sales vs. Trading” and “Real Estate on Wall Street,” presented by Cornell alumni and graduate students.

“We are very happy with the way the event went. Our purpose for the conference was to give students a chance to learn about a career in finance, and more importantly, for them to be able to ask any questions and to receive candid and honest answers. I think all the presenters did a great job with that, and we hope that students were able to leave with better insight into the industry,” said Jessica Zhao ’12, vice president of community service of Delta Sigma Pi.