Meet a student: career services, exchange program, student club… opportunities to seize

Simona Marchese joined the Master’s in Management-Finance in 2021 after her Bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Management. She enjoys the classes and the opportunities offered by the program and the services.  

You joined EDHEC’s Master’s in Management-Finance in 2021. Why did you decide to study at EDHEC Business School and this particular track?

I completed my bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Management at Bocconi University, in Milan (Italy) which gave me a broad perspective on the various aspects I could pursue during my master’s degree. During my bachelor years, I had the opportunity to do two internships which helped me understand that I wanted to study finance as I am more of a quantitative person.

When looking at the different opportunities outside of Italy, the MiM-Finance at EDHEC caught my eye. I believed its 3-year structure, including a professional immersion year, would truly allow me to understand in which field of finance I wanted to specialise in and begin my professional career with the specific and required knowledge.
 

Did you receive a scholarship?

Yes, I did. I was awarded the EDHEC Excellence Scholarship. I am truly grateful as it also represents an acknowledgment of my commitment to perform well in academics while being involved with the community through volunteering activities.

What drives you? What are your career aspirations?

In general, what motivates me is working with data and applying quantitative reasoning. However, what truly drives me is to know that my work does somehow have a positive impact on other people. My career aspirations are to be able to find a workplace in which I will feel welcomed, which is open to sharing and discussing different opinions and points of view, and offers a fulfilling job. 

Which were your expectations before joining the Master’s in Management program? Has the program met these expectations so far?

I was expecting an academic environment that stimulated curiosity in the subjects learnt and their real-life application. Moreover, I was expecting to be surrounded by people with very similar interests and yet, with different points of view. These expectations have been met and even exceeded. Indeed, the frequent dialog with classmates, as well as professors, truly allows us to enrich ourselves by performing research as well as observing matters from diverse perspectives.
 

What aspects of the MiM program have you enjoyed the most so far? Your favorite class? Professor? And why?

I enjoyed the wide variety of courses, which touched upon each and every aspect of finance to give a broad view and let us understand which ones are our favorite that we want to learn more about.
To be honest, it is a hard choice to mention just one class and one professor!
 

How does the teaching style differ from the Italian one?

I would say that the teaching style is more pragmatical than the Italian one. There are more “get your hands dirty” projects which allow us to face the challenges as well as the self-reward feeling about finishing an individual project that required many days if not weeks of work and it was just our own.

Moreover, what’s really different is the exam schedule: here in France, they are very condensed, even the bulk of them in just one week!
 

The school’s motto is "make an impact", how will make yours?

EDHEC has been having an impact since day one. The opportunity to live in France, and therefore to become more fluent in French, to meet people from all over the world as well as to be thought by incredible professors, is just the beginning of the list. I believe EDHEC offers many opportunities that can help us define the path we want to pursue. For instance, EDHEC Career Centre is just AMAZING, I could have not asked for more. To conclude, EDHEC makes an impact on me every day and I embrace the opportunities that the school offers.
 

What has been the greatest opportunity you have had at EDHEC?

My greatest opportunity at EDHEC was to closely interact with different professors through the Talos Finance Club.
 

You will be soon starting your professional immersion year. Where will you intern?

During the first part of the professional immersion year, I am going to do both an internship and an exchange! I will intern at Triodos Investment Management, in the Netherlands which is a “globally active impact investor”. As soon as it finishes, I will move to Spain to attend the fall semester at IE Business School. I made this choice because it gives me the opportunity to personalise my academic courses. For instance, I would like to learn more about data science and computing and IE offers an incredibly wide range of courses to choose from. Moreover, I have been learning Spanish on Busuu thanks to an EDHEC-sponsored license and therefore it is a great opportunity to master it and potentially use it in my professional life.
 

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about applying for the program?

I would definitely suggest applying! I especially recommend the program to those students who are uncertain about the field of finance they want to specialise in or if they want some time to do some internships before completing their master’s.
 

Your EDHEC experience in 3 words.

Enthusiastic, beneficial, and rewarding.  

Discover the Master's in Management-Finance