Finance Students Sit Down with BMO Harris Bank Executive, Marc Romito

Accounting student, Andrew Krueger (left), Mark Romito (center), and Finance student, Liz Aguilar (right).

Throughout Marc Romito’s roughly 30 years working in the Finance industry, he has held positions at companies such as First National Bank of Chicago, Credit Agricole, LaSalle Bank, Fifth Third Bank, and BMO Harris Bank. Currently, Marc works as the Director of BMO’s Commercial Analyst Development Program. However, Mr. Romito’s initial path leading him to the commercial banking industry is not the standard route most bankers take.

As an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, Romito majored in psychology for his first two years. Then, after a meeting with his career counselor where he discovered that medical school was the main career path for psychology majors, he decided to look for a new major. He had always been exposed to business, with his father working as a real estate appraiser and his roommates both majoring in accounting. So, Marc decided to pursue a major in economics.

After working a few years in industry, Marc attended Northwestern University to pursue a master’s degree in education and social policy. Although he enjoyed his work with customer relations, he was unsure if this was something he wanted to do for the rest of his professional career. After attaining his master’s, Marc taught part-time as an adjunct professor for several years until he got his big break managing LaSalle Bank’s training program. This allowed him to couple his banking experience with his interests in teaching and training the next generation of bankers. Marc also displays this passion for helping others by volunteering.

For Mr. Romito, volunteering has two core benefits. First, volunteering allows him and his co-workers at BMO to give back to the community. A sample of different volunteer activities they engage in including painting schools, building furniture, working with the YMCA, and cleaning the Chicago River. On this level, volunteering helps Marc and BMO demonstrate their commitment to the community and exhibit gratitude for their good fortunes.

This leads to the second benefit. Marc also discussed how volunteering helps you to grow as an individual and with your team. Putting the needs of others before yours allows volunteers to become more selfless and grateful for all that life has afforded them. In this way, volunteering not only makes you a more valuable employee, but also a better person. Furthermore, Marc enjoys volunteering with the members of his training program because of the team building aspect. The camaraderie developed from blue collar work like building furniture or wading in the Chicago river is difficult to produce in the confines of your typical commercial bank. Lastly, Mr. Romito talked about how as a recruiter looking for potential interns, he seeks students who are willing to get out of their comfort zone. Thus, volunteering can provide students much greater benefits than just an item to put on their resume.

Having spent time on campuses as a recruiter, Marc possesses many additional insights as to how students can stand out at recruiting events. First, students should take time before going to a recruiting event to do their homework. Learning some general knowledge about the company is an easy way for students to demonstrate interest to recruiters. In addition, students should look to take advantage of opportunities like job shadows and informational sessions so they can continue to learn about the industry and career opportunities. Lastly, Mr. Romito recommends that students always be conscious of how they are presenting themselves and how this will affect their personal brand.

Another issue that Marc acknowledges many students grapple with is not having a stand out internship on their resume. First, Marc tells students not to worry so much about this. Most other students they will be competing against are in this same situation. Rather, they should focus on using the work experience they do have. Working at the same summer job for multiple years demonstrates how management of this company trusts the student. Additionally, students can highlight how they were put in charge of training new employees, took on increasingly difficult responsibilities, received promotions, or excelled in other ways. It is imperative that students focus on the experience they do have and not worry about those select candidates who may have gotten better internships than them.

Once students secure an interview for an internship, Marc advises students to take advantage of the Career Center by participating in mock interviews. In between mock interviews students can do a google search for “behavioral-based interview questions” as they should expect a lot of these types of questions. Then, students can begin practicing their responses with a roommate, family member, best friend, etc. until they can respond with thoughtful yet succinct answers lasting about 2-3 minutes. Practice is the key to acing your interview and getting hired as an intern.

However, Mr. Romito cautions that prudent interns recognize that the real interview process is just beginning when they get hired. Interns that desire a full-time offer should treat their internship like an extended interview process. In their first couple weeks at their internship, students should work with their managers to understand how they will be evaluated and set specific, measurable goals that, if achieved, will illustrate their competence as an employee. Lastly, students should take advantage of their first few weeks to ask questions when they do not understand something. As an intern, you are not expected to know everything right away, however, if you do not ask, senior employees will assume that you understand how to accomplish your designated duties.

Recently, there has been great buzz about young workers spending only 2-3 years with a company, then moving on to a new firm. Although Marc approves of the de-stigmatization of “bouncing around,” as he did the same much to the chagrin of his father-in-law, Marc also understands the career benefits that can only come from staying with one company for an extended period. For example, Mr. Romito detailed how when someone works at a company for a greater time, they begin to cultivate a reputation as a “subject matter expert.” Accordingly, co-workers will be more likely to approach this person with questions and include them in new projects. This ability confers a level of seniority for that employee that extends beyond a rank or title. It is difficult for someone who has only been working at a company for two years to achieve these same relationships with their co-workers. As Marc has been at BMO for 13 years, he certainly understands how advantageous this seniority is.

With BMO continuing to pursue US growth they will be adding new trainees, making training programs like Marc’s of paramount importance to the success of the bank. Working for a company that is growing is something that excites Mr. Romito. BMO recently announced their plans to lease 14 floors in the new BMO Tower that is scheduled to be constructed by 2022. The tower will be located adjacent to Union Station. This will allow BMO to centralize all 3,600 of its Chicago employees into a single location. The BMO Tower will stand 50 stories tall and feature the bank’s logo at the top, adding BMO’s name to the already iconic Chicago skyline.

We asked Mr. Romito what advice he would give to his 22 year-old-self as he was starting his career. Mr. Romito first wanted to remind students how quickly time passes by and cautioned them to remain mindful of this. Next, he encouraged students to prepare for change and be open to it because whether are not they are, change is still going to occur. To go along with this, Marc discussed how the best people at their jobs are always open to learning from anyone. The most intelligent people recognize that they always can learn new things and pursue a lifetime of learning. Lastly, Mr. Romito wants students to take their work-life balance seriously. Despite loving his career, Marc recognizes that there is more to life than banking. So, he advises students to challenge prospective employers about if they truly do take the issue of balancing work and life seriously. Perhaps if students can keep this advice from Marc in mind when they start their careers, they will be well on their way to enjoying a successful and fulfilling future.