The post-graduation shift from classroom to workplace can be jarring, but Chris Goings ’19 is more than prepared for the adjustment. The economics major is heading to Virginia to work for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), where he will enter as an analyst in the Portfolio Management and Capital Markets Program. The program features a revolving setup that will give him experience in several different roles over its two-year duration.
“I look forward to working on the various initiatives Freddie Mac has introduced to function in its mission to provide liquidity, stability and affordability within the United States housing market,” he said.
Two years of occupational experience at a hedge fund close to campus lead Goings towards this particular area of economics. Specific classes that he took in the department have also helped narrow his focus.
“I began research on commercial banks during my junior year, which began my interest in credit markets,” he said. “This research started in [Visiting Associate] Professor María Olivero’s ‘Fiscal Policy and the Macroeconomy’ course. I continued this research through to my senior thesis, where I studied the impact of federal credit programs on commercial bank lending and liquidity.”
Though he’ll be in a field directly related to his major, Goings, a true student of the liberal arts, hopes the breadth of his entire academic experience—he also minored in global Asian studies—will inform his future work.
He believes that his broad range of classes have prepared him uniquely for, as he said, “taking on new roles within an organization and contextualizing information. Participating in all seminar courses, regardless of discipline, will follow me into the professional world,” he continued.
If four years of varying academic study and work experience in tandem has given the recent graduate anything, it’s a handful of developed perspectives to view the complex problems he’ll be facing from.
“I see my time at Haverford as a step to involving myself in complicated, challenging economic and policy issues and joining others to address those issues,” he said.
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series reporting on the post-collegiate plans of recent Haverford graduates.