Spotlight on Terry Xu, IBD Graduate Student Instructor
The IBD Program is thrilled to have Terry Xu, Berkeley Haas MBA ’24 candidate, join the IBD team as this year’s Graduate Student Instructor. Terry comes to IBD with a wealth of knowledge and experience in investment/asset valuations, senior stakeholder management, and hypothesis driven problem solving, holding a Bachelor’s degree from NYU with a focus on Mathematics and Economics.
We interviewed Terry recently to learn more about his background prior to attending Berkeley Haas, his IBD experience last year, advice he has for current IBD students, and his future plans.
Please enjoy our interview with Terry:
Tell us about your background and what you were doing before coming to Haas to get your MBA?
I graduated with a degree in Math and Economics from New York University. I started my career as an Actuary at EY, doing mostly pension valuations, before joining McKinsey as a consultant, serving primarily FinTech, tech, and banking clients.
Outside of work, I volunteered with New York Cares, leading projects to bring educational resources to underserved communities.
What was your biggest takeaway from the IBD experience? Did anything surprise you?
My experience really highlighted the strength of our alumni network and reinforced my desire to work on projects with an international scope. We got so much help and support from Berkeley’s alumni that ultimately contributed to our success.
The biggest surprise came outside of the project, where I accidentally signed up to learn hip-hip dance from the coach of the Philippines national team thinking that it was a lowkey workout class. Some details got lost in translation there.
Why did you want to be a GSI for the IBD program this year? What do you think the biggest challenge or opportunity of the position will be?
I had such a great time last year and the position sat at the intersection of my previous IBD experiences, my consulting skill set from McKinsey, and my interest in education, so it felt like the natural next step to get involved and give back.
The biggest challenge is finding the right balance between providing input/guidance/direction and letting teams figure things out on their own. Each team will have a different scope, so that balance will vary drastically between teams.
What advice do you have for current IBD teams and students?
Don’t be afraid to push back. Whether it’s managing your scope, re-orienting your stakeholders, or anything in between, exercise your obligation to dissent!
What are your plans following graduation? How will you be able to utilize the skills or experiences you gained from IBD?
Long term I want to have a career that spans across the globe, so I’ll be on the lookout for opportunities to work with teams (or personally) in other countries, especially countries I haven’t been to before! The experiences from IBD (and Whitney’s Global Leadership class) will definitely serve as a foundation as I progress throughout my career!
