Student Spotlight: Senior Economics Major Cassidy Schiff Takes Advantage of Virtual Job Opportunity

Maura Keary ’22

Features Editor

Senior economics major Cassidy Schiff has been taking advantage of the almost completely remote working and schooling environment that the world has adapted to over the past year. Since November, Schiff has simultaneously been taking courses at Trinity and working remotely for a company called Strategies for Wealth. Strategies for Wealth is a small financial planning firm based in Rye Brook, New York. 

Schiff joined the team at Strategies for Wealth to gain experience in the field, which she hopes will aid her in the near future following graduation from Trinity this spring. While at Strategies for Wealth, Schiff has been working with business support professionals in order to help organize the company’s Client and Pension Lists, so they are cleaned up and ready to import over to the customer relationship management (CRM) software the firm prefers to utilize called SmartOffice. Since Strategies for Wealth is undergoing a long, overdue transition to digital services, Schiff was hired to help make the transition smoother for the firm, as CRM programs hold ceaseless amounts of data and contacts. 

As a student-athlete on Trinity’s varsity softball team, Schiff does not always have much time to spare, which is why sometimes she only works a couple of hours per week. Even working part-time, Schiff is still able to gain valuable skills that she can utilize in college and in her post-graduate career. “If we could take one good thing from the pandemic, being able to work remotely and effectively would be it.” Schiff explained. Because of the remote nature of the job, Schiff can be a full-time student, Trinity athlete, and a Strategies for Wealth employee all at once. “I think we underestimated the ability to use technology before it became a necessity throughout the pandemic,” Schiff added. She continued, observing that she has “been able to advance my path toward a career right from my house on campus, so it ended up working out well.” 

Schiff picked up this job in November of 2020. Because of Trinity’s three-month winter break, she thought it would be a good idea to apply for a position while she had the time. Schiff initially expected the gig to follow a hybrid model while she was off from classes, but that changed when the spread of COVID-19 showed no signs of slowing down. “It was supposed to be a combination of virtual and in-person work. That got switched to strictly virtual when COVID-19 continued to spread during the winter months so we’ve resorted to mostly emailing in terms of communicating,” Schiff mentioned. As expected, it was not easy to get acclimated to a virtual work environment, especially when Schiff was not able to meet and discuss with coworkers in person. “It was tough in the beginning to make sure I was organizing their spreadsheets exactly as my coworkers wanted, but once we developed a routine, it was smooth sailing from there.” 

Although web communications can be difficult, Schiff was able to pick up several essential skills during her time at Strategies for Wealth. In particular, she has furthered her time management and prioritization skills, which are both extremely important when maintaining a balance between jobs, schoolwork, and collegiate athletics. With the combination of Schiff’s economics courses at Trinity and this experience with Strategies for Wealth, she is feeling prepared for life after graduation and getting started with her career. “Plus, extra practice in Excel is good for any student, no matter their career path,” Schiff added.

After graduation, Schiff is planning to pursue a job in wealth management or, alternatively, the financial services industry. She concluded that these career goals of hers motivated her to find an opportunity to practice necessary skills that these fields require. To this point she commented, “I thought any way I could get exposure to the field while I was still in school would be beneficial to post-graduate me.”