Fowler College Class of 2020 Career Spotlight: Sam Litrenta
Finance Graduate Applies Classroom Skills to Private Equity Career
Intrigued by investments, stocks, and real estate, Sam Litrenta dove into his interests by majoring in Finance. Litrenta took advantage of the real-world industry experiences his professors shared through projects, while simultaneously growing his ability to collaborate and be a team player.
Sam Litrenta, Class of 2020
Litrenta credits his time management and critical thinking skills as essential to securing an opportunity before graduation with private equity firm, StepStone Group. He encourages current students to gain internship or job experience within their industry of interest while they are in college, ensuring a competitive edge when they seek employment. Litrenta is thrilled to launch his career in the private equity industry and reflects on how his time at SDSU prepared him for this journey.
Q: Can you describe a little bit about yourself and how/when you decided to pursue Finance as an area of study?
I have always been a very analytical and math/science savvy person. Throughout high school I pushed myself to get into some of the top schools for Aerospace Engineering. I ended up at the University of Washington in Seattle my freshman year, but quickly realized both the school and major was not for me. I wanted to end up in a career field that I actually enjoy.
Fast forward to some time at community college deciding what I wanted to major in and I landed in the area of finance. Investing, analyzing markets/stocks, and real estate have always been aspects of business that intrigued me. I figured between my passion for investing and my analytical mindset, pursuing a degree and later career in finance would best suit me. While working full-time for the San Diego Padres, I completed my transfer requirements and transferred to SDSU in Fall of 2018. I thoroughly enjoyed every single business/finance class. The curriculum and professors challenged me to think in new ways and I learned a lot of great life lessons – both in terms of personal finance and general work ethic.
Q: Describe the position you will begin after graduation (job functions, key role).
I am working as an intern for a private equity firm, StepStone Group, in the portfolio analytics and reporting team. My main role is to analyze and report on both the performance of funds and the exposure of the underlying investments in different markets/economies. In addition to this portfolio analysis, I report on various aspects of cash flows and real estate investments.
Q: When did you receive your official job offer and what was your reaction when you received the offer?
I received the office job offer in February and began working a week after graduating while completing my final and most challenging class concurrently. I was over the moon when I received the job offer. Not only had I been striving for an opportunity to enter the field of private equity, but StepStone is a company that really stands out in the PE industry. I had been hoping to secure a job with them for a long time and I am so grateful that I now have the ability to learn and grow with the company.
Q: How did you get connected with this company and position?
I have two contacts who work or have worked for StepStone. Both have had great success in their careers and rave about how well StepStone treats employees and how important/interesting the work is.
Sam Litrenta at his home office, with his custom PC set-up that he built and installed himself. He uses this set-up to analyze stock charts and trade stocks/options.
Q: Are there specific skills you learned at SDSU (in class or otherwise) that helped you with the role’s qualifications?
There are some specific skills that I learned at SDSU that helped me to be qualified for this position. Managing both my time and work load is something that I quickly had to learn how to deal with once beginning upper division finance courses. Critical thinking and problem solving are also two huge components that apply to the job. These skills are essential to making sure the work is done well. The field of finance as a whole is extremely competitive and fast-paced, and when you get into private equity or investment banking, it only increases. Knowing how to quickly learn and adapt to new concepts or problems, all while understanding the material, is something that I greatly improved on during my time at SDSU.
Q: What advice do you have for fellow students, regardless of their field, looking to jumpstart their career and land their first job post-graduation?
I have two pieces of advice that I think are most important to get started in your career. The first is to try to land an internship early on in your college career. Work experience is becoming increasingly more important to employers. Whether you get the job or not, you gain some great interviewing experience – an important skill to have – and you have your foot in the door of the company. The other piece of advice I have is to focus on a handful of things that are important to you. Make sure not to spread yourself too thin with extra-curricular and other obligations. While these might look good on a resume, employers would rather see growth and long-term commitment to a few things that are important to you.
Q: What is it that you are most looking forward to as you kick start this next chapter?
I am most excited to grow in my career field and put my degree to use. Private equity is something I am passionate about and I am thrilled to be able to learn first-hand and move forward with work that I enjoy.
Q: What experience at SDSU has changed your life the most?
I would say that the relationships I built and lessons learned from some great professors have helped me to get where I am today. After taking four classes with Professor Andreev, I enjoyed how he pushed the class to embrace the challenging material instead of finding a way around it. Professor Massamiri made his international finance class extremely collaborative which helped to develop teamwork skills, and I learned a lot about how finance flows across the entire world economy. Finally, Professor Haddad’s class was full of real case studies that forced me to recall everything I learned at SDSU and apply it to my work. This is a skill that will be extremely helpful moving forward in my career.
Q: What is the best advice you have received during your time at SDSU?
The best advice I received during my time at SDSU is to adapt to new situations and take the time to analyze a problem. It is important to utilize all your resources and face challenges head on. It is important to fail. Otherwise, you never learn from your mistakes and grow.
