Located in the heart of Times Square in New York City stands the largest American electronic stock exchange, NASDAQ. The tech-savvy company is known for selling data within their stock trading system. Unlike the New York Stock exchange where they operate by selling stocks through a trading floor, NASDAQ buys and sells stock through an electronic market. Some of NASDAQ’s biggest clients include, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, and Amazon.
When first arriving to the company, our group was greeted by alum, Devin McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2009 with a degree from the Journalism school. He first started out as an intern at NASDAQ and later was hired where he helped to support the sales team. Since his internship at NASDAQ, he has continued to further his career within the company by learning NASDAQ’s roots and gaining more knowledge.
Mr. McCarthy gave our group a tour of the whole company where we got to meet a public relations representative and had the opportunity to watch NASDAQ’s live closing bell ceremony. When meeting the PR representative, he discussed his everyday work life with our class. He explained that his morning consists of reading a good amount of news, so he can check if any companies are trending. If he sees an interesting article, he would send it to his colleagues to see if the PR team could use this information to their advantage. His main goal and objective is to try to make sure other thriving companies want to be a part of the NASDAQ team. He continued to explain whenever the company deals with a crisis, the first statement Is the most important statement. It’s crucial to make sure to check all of the facts and to make sure your statement reaches reliable news sources.
After talking to the PR representative, our class had the opportunity to look inside the set of their closing bell ceremony. The ceremony takes place inside of the company in Times Square, where someone pushes a button to close their stock market for the day. The most intriguing and exciting part about the ceremony is that the ceremony is projected outside of NASDAQ’s big screen in New York City. The day that we watched the event, The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation guessed stared during the closing ceremony. A representative of the foundation spoke a few words before the closing, raising awareness about the issue of type one diabetes for children. At the end of the ceremony we all had the opportunity to take pictures of the set with the University of South Carolina School of Information and Mass Communications logo in the background.
Having the opportunity to dive deep and explore what makes NASDAQ was a surreal experience. The company definitely has a vibrant and technologically advanced environment within the office space. From talking with both Mr. McCarthy and the PR representative it was interesting to see how their career paths have taken off. From exploring the company’s makeup, the company has much to offer to graduated students.
