Jack Stipe Shares Experience in Securing a Career With JPMorgan Chase

Spring 2023 PPE graduate, Jack Stipe, shares valuable insight into securing a career with JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Jack, can you tell us about your academic history when you were a student at Virginia Tech?

I transferred to Virginia Tech during my junior year from Florida State as an economics major. I started with a solid base in economics but for various reasons, I decided to change my major. I also had a solid amount of coursework in political science because of the degree requirements at Florida State, so I figured I would try and find the best possible major to switch to that would maximize what I had already learned.

When I discovered the PPE program, I was honestly so excited, I loved philosophy ever since the first elective I took during my freshman year of college. The combination of philosophy, political science, and economics was almost too good to be true, so I officially made the change to PPE, which for me, ended up being an excellent decision.

Can you tell us a little about your position with JPMorgan & Chase Co.?

I officially start the first day of my job in August, so I have been taking some time to deal with my move to New York City and relax, because I have been either working or been in school every summer since I graduated high school. I will be joining JPMorgan Chase & Co. as a first-year analyst in the Internal Audit rotational program in the New York metro area. I will be working with several different parts of the corporate bank to identify and evaluate risks and controls to essentially ensure everything is functioning smoothly while learning the ins and outs of the company.

Can you provide information about the application process/acceptance process for your current position, and what kind of work you will focus on under your position?

My application process with JPMorgan Chase has been quite the journey. In my sophomore year of college, I received an email through handshake from a recruiter at JPMorgan Chase, inviting me to attend the first session of this program called “Career.edu.”

The Career.edu program consisted of about six to eight webinars ranging from line of business overviews to resume building. While not every session was “required”, in order to be invited to apply for what they call “Early Insight Programs,” I made sure to attend every single one. One of the keys to my success, in my opinion, was that I made sure to ask a question in every session so that my name and face were seen and recognized by the recruiters.

After completing all the webinars, I was invited to attend/apply to the Early Insight Programs. These programs basically give you an in-depth overview of a certain line of business at the bank and the jobs within. Because I completed the Early Insight Program in the line of business of my choosing, my application for my internship was given early/priority consideration.

The job interview for the internship program consisted of a HireVue interview, basically recording yourself answering questions, and a personality test, all leading to my final Super Day interview, which was honestly terrifying. You had to be in a full business professional getup, and you had two thirty-minute interviews with varying higher-ups in the line of business/program you were interviewing for. Usually, it’s 2-3 interviews of about 30 minutes.

A few weeks after my interview I got a call offering me the internship the next summer. I was one of the earlier admits to the internship program, and was lucky to know a year in advance. The internship itself was nine weeks and was practically a nine-week long interview for the full-time offer. At the end of my summer internship, I received an offer to come back as a full-time analyst, and I will be starting in August.

My first rotation will focus on risk management/internal audit within the private bank at JPMorgan Chase and Co. I will be tasked with evaluating the effectiveness of controls and mitigations of risk within varying departments of the bank. The program is rotational and I will be gaining experience in internal audit throughout varying parts of the company. The program culminates in a promotion to Associate once successfully completed.

How did PPE help set you up for success?

PPE was one of the key factors, in my opinion, to my success. Having a background in economics allowed me to be informed when entering the financial services industry. At the same time, political science and philosophy played a major role in engaging my critical thinking and analysis skills, which come in handy in the field I am joining.

One of my favorite things about PPE is how well-rounded the education and major is. It is an extremely flexible degree and has definitely given me the background to set me up for success in my career. The PPE program was also unique, as I was always in small classes for the most part. I enjoyed this as it allowed me to connect with my classmates and professors more closely.

I found working with the PPE faculty, whether it be on a research paper or a project on whether or not trees have minds, to be extremely rewarding. The faculty are engaged in their fields and were always happy to provide me with all the information and answers that I needed when asked.

PPE is also fun, the ability to study three seemingly different fields and find the intricate connections between them was such a fascinating and rewarding experience.

My favorite course though had to be the PPE Capstone course. The capstone course was like a workshop to put together a final paper that brought together all four years of my education in the context of a subject that I choose. My professor, Dr. Miller, was extremely engaging and helped me develop my ideas and knowledge in that class. That was the case with all of my PPE professors, which helped me be engaged in what I was learning, ultimately ending in a successful educational career that has launched me into places I never thought possible.