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Master in Finance in terms of market conditions for recent graduate (salary, job placements)

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Toliss
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Continental Europe: Master in Finance 09 Jul 2017, 06:51
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Hi,

I am a recent Economist form Greece and I would like to continue my studies with a master in Accounting and Finance or Finance. I think the latter is going to be my option.

My profile is:
Economics Graduate (with distinction - 1st) in a greek university
IELTS score 7
Previous volunteering work experience in a Student Association (AIESEC in sales department), organising events (debate championship, conferences) BUT no related finance work experience/internships
AWARDS: Best paper in Finance and in Human Resource Management in my university, semi-finalist in a Business Simulator Competition
Research in Finance - Risk Management
GMAT: not attempt
Spoken languages: Greek, English, willing to learn a new language
Previous Exchange programs (ERASMUS) for 6 months at KU LEUVEN

So, my options about a master in continental Europe are:

KU Leuven MSc in Business Engineering Major in Finance (Belgium)
KU Leuven MSc in Financial & Actuarial Engineering (Belgium)
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Advanced MSc in Finance and Investments (Netherlands)
University of Amsterdam MSc in Finance (Netherlands)
Tilburg University MSc in Finance (Netherlands)
University of Vienna MSc in Banking and Finance (Austria)
WU University MSc Quantitative Finance (Austria - I think is waste of time)


The question that is raised is: "Which uni I should opt for my Master in terms of good employability after my graduation“ if you bare in mind that I can't afford an expensive UK master with 20k+ fees. Additionally, I know that you are planning to do a master in the country which you would like to work and live, but in terms of market conditions (salary, job placements) which country should I choose Belgium or Netherlands? Do you know any other uni with a good potential in terms of the above?Deliberately, I didn’t put on the list St. Gallen University (Swiss) and SSE (Stockholm) due to high living cost.

Finally, do you think my profile with a decent GMAT score is going to be able to secure a scholarship/tuition wavier from UK top school?

Thank you in advance for your time
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Continental Europe: Master in Finance 09 Jul 2017, 14:06
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Moving your post to the appropriate forum. Thx.

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jxav
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Continental Europe: Master in Finance 09 Jul 2017, 20:49
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Hi there,

I think among the unis that you have listed as your options, RSM is the most reputable one. I never really come across to RSM Advanced F&I alumni myself due to its very recent and small class. Based on the curriculum I saw, it seems that Advanced F&I students enjoy the privilege of being exposed to companies due to its curriculum putting on emphasis for practical experiences, and thus seem to enjoy the advantage of higher chances on securing job even before graduation if they prove themselves to be capable.

Workers in Benelux area are generally interchangeable (assuming they work in companies that operate in all 3 countries), however, presuming that you do not speak Dutch, your safest choice will be Netherlands due to their high level of English fluency in general. Keep in mind that although knowing Dutch might not be compulsory in your work, a certain degree of fluency will be very helpful (around A2-B1 level) in your job search.

I think French universities such as ESSEC and EDHEC enjoy a very good reputation for their Finance programmes and really have good placements (you will need to speak French to get a job in France though as they generally do not have a very good command in English). Getting a job in UK from university such ad ESSEC is not impossible, but it will be much more difficult.

It is very hard to secure scholarships from UK B-Schools such as LBS, Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial or Warwick due to their applicants generally have good credentials & academic performance. I think your best best on getting scholarships will be at Warwick (I think 720+ GMAT might give you a fair chance).

Hope this helps!

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Continental Europe: Master in Finance 15 Jul 2017, 07:27
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jxav
Hi there,

I think among the unis that you have listed as your options, RSM is the most reputable one. I never really come across to RSM Advanced F&I alumni myself due to its very recent and small class. Based on the curriculum I saw, it seems that Advanced F&I students enjoy the privilege of being exposed to companies due to its curriculum putting on emphasis for practical experiences, and thus seem to enjoy the advantage of higher chances on securing job even before graduation if they prove themselves to be capable.

Workers in Benelux area are generally interchangeable (assuming they work in companies that operate in all 3 countries), however, presuming that you do not speak Dutch, your safest choice will be Netherlands due to their high level of English fluency in general. Keep in mind that although knowing Dutch might not be compulsory in your work, a certain degree of fluency will be very helpful (around A2-B1 level) in your job search.

I think French universities such as ESSEC and EDHEC enjoy a very good reputation for their Finance programmes and really have good placements (you will need to speak French to get a job in France though as they generally do not have a very good command in English). Getting a job in UK from university such ad ESSEC is not impossible, but it will be much more difficult.

It is very hard to secure scholarships from UK B-Schools such as LBS, Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial or Warwick due to their applicants generally have good credentials & academic performance. I think your best best on getting scholarships will be at Warwick (I think 720+ GMAT might give you a fair chance).

Hope this helps!

Do you think that the master in Financial and Actuarial Engineering at KU LEUVEN is it going to be a versatile shot? You can work in finance and actuary industry, with the latter presages a better/balanced working environment?
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Continental Europe: Master in Finance 15 Jul 2017, 11:01
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Toliss
jxav
Hi there,

I think among the unis that you have listed as your options, RSM is the most reputable one. I never really come across to RSM Advanced F&I alumni myself due to its very recent and small class. Based on the curriculum I saw, it seems that Advanced F&I students enjoy the privilege of being exposed to companies due to its curriculum putting on emphasis for practical experiences, and thus seem to enjoy the advantage of higher chances on securing job even before graduation if they prove themselves to be capable.

Workers in Benelux area are generally interchangeable (assuming they work in companies that operate in all 3 countries), however, presuming that you do not speak Dutch, your safest choice will be Netherlands due to their high level of English fluency in general. Keep in mind that although knowing Dutch might not be compulsory in your work, a certain degree of fluency will be very helpful (around A2-B1 level) in your job search.

I think French universities such as ESSEC and EDHEC enjoy a very good reputation for their Finance programmes and really have good placements (you will need to speak French to get a job in France though as they generally do not have a very good command in English). Getting a job in UK from university such ad ESSEC is not impossible, but it will be much more difficult.

It is very hard to secure scholarships from UK B-Schools such as LBS, Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial or Warwick due to their applicants generally have good credentials & academic performance. I think your best best on getting scholarships will be at Warwick (I think 720+ GMAT might give you a fair chance).

Hope this helps!

Do you think that the master in Financial and Actuarial Engineering at KU LEUVEN is it going to be a versatile shot? You can work in finance and actuary industry, with the latter presages a better/balanced working environment?
If the 'versatility' that you meant refers to jobs on different sectors, actually for example consulting jobs do not really bother which major you had done before during your masters. For example, a lof of graduates that came from medicine, engineering, IT and etc end up doing consulting providing that they pass through the recruitment stages of the consulting companies.

Business-related fields generally do not really involve highly technical aspects in their day to day operations as what IT, engineering and medicines do, therefore providing that a person has the 'right' common sense in accordance to the reality that is occuring in business worlds, it does not matter which studies you had done prior to recruitment. I think there are some exceptions to some highly quantitative jobs such as actuarial that you have mentioned, analysts, and some back office/middle office IB roles. These roles might be somewhat specialized, and therefore a graduate from related fields are more favoured.

Coming back to your main question. KU Leuven is a reputed university, no doubt about that, but I really think it is more reputed on its academic, science and medicines rather that its business studies. However, if you really intend to have the broadest possible option in terms of company and jobs, I feel that the best option is to get a degree from a company with the best alumni network and strongest recruiting events in business-related industries such as banks, FMCGs, manufacturing, etc. Alumni network is definitely not everything, in the end it will be your CV, internships, interviews and networkings that will decide the success of you on landing a job. However, alumni networks might help along the way in those factors I have mentioned.

If you really prioritize work-life balance, I think consulting is something you definitely want to avoid. Working hours in consulting involve overtime for most of the time, especially for starters positions. If that is the case, jobs (actuarial or not) in manufacturing, FMCGs, etc such as those in Unilever, P&G, Johnson&Johnson might suit you more. Actuary in IB is something you definitely want to avoid if what you seek is a good work-life balance.

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