Programme: MSc Energy, Trade and Finance (2017)
Current role: Business Consultant at BearingPoint
I’m a numbers person, a finance person.
My undergraduate degree at EBS Business School in Germany was an economics course with a specialisation in aviation. Following my degree, I worked for Lufthansa in the fuel efficiency department, evaluating how the airline could save fuel and perform better with technology and through the use of alternative fuels over crude oil. I was therefore fascinated by the fuel and electricity industries and how they are evolving.
When my project for Lufthansa came to an end, I started looking for a degree that would cover all my topics of interest: finance, energy and oil. I was excited to discover the MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance. It is a truly unique course and London is a great place to pursue a career in finance.
the Business School (formerly Cass) and my alma mater have a partnership and some of my fellow bachelor’s cohort had gone on to study at the Business School. I’d heard good feedback from them, so before starting, I already felt a personal connection.
My finance lectures were excellent. I particularly liked the hands-on trading games. I really valued the practical industry experience, such as the Bloomberg terminal and the Excel modelling class. I still find that modelling class helpful in my consulting job today.
I enjoyed the breadth of the studies; I profited from the interconnected way of studying, as that’s the way the world works. For example, I found my module in political risk management eye-opening and one of my favourite classes was the M&A module, which fell slightly outside the core focus of my studies.
In my third term, I travelled to Madrid for an infrastructure project investment course. The subject was directly related to my work in project investment at Lufthansa. I liked the fact that this module was mixed with other courses and found it to be a good bonding experience with fellow students. Plus, who wouldn’t want to visit Madrid as part of their studies?
In my first term, I started investigating my future career options - a module in itself. I joined a few talks and evening events which were helpful in deciding what to do with my career and figuring out which industry I wanted to work in. I spent a lot of time with the careers team. I joined every careers session I could to learn about applications: workshops, assessment centre training and one-to-one sessions. The application process is very different in my native Germany.
Currently, I work as a business consultant for multinational management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint. I attended the Careers Fair in September during my master’s and met one of my current colleagues at BearingPoint there. By December, I had secured a job with them. I love the variety of consulting; it’s more fulfilling and stimulating than working on a single project.
While I no longer work in oil and gas, the modelling, analytics and financial modules still inform my day-to-day practices. I work in the supply chain team and my clients are mostly in retail, but I have also clients in travel and finance.
I look forward to giving back to the Business School. I felt honoured to be invited to talk on a panel for the inaugural launch event of the MSc in Business Analytics at the Barbican… I wish I could come back and study that too!
I didn’t expect the sense of community. Two years on from graduating my master’s, I still feel part of the the Business School community.
