The INSEAD Executive Master in Finance (EMFin) is designed for experienced finance professionals who wish to accelerate their careers while they continue to work. The programme is tailored to deepen participants’ knowledge of the sector as well as hone their leadership and management skills, preparing them to be leaders in the financial industry.
In addition, the modular format allows ample opportunities for students to make an immediate professional impact, work on real-life cases and immerse in trending electives such as behavioural finance, fintech, data science and analytics.
When speaking to participants about their career aspirations, two broad trends can be observed:
- Participants aiming to move up to a more challenging role in finance
- Participants looking for a change of their role within the finance realm
What does it take to realise these ambitions, and what are some examples of successful career transitions?
Moving Up in a New Organisation or Changing Industries
If you are considering to change company or industries, the Career Development Team for Working Professionals (CDWP) offers a wealth of resources, events, workshops and tools that can support you in your self-discovery, sharpen your soft skills and put structure in your career plan.
Besides using the resources available through the CDWP, fine-tuning your strategy on LinkedIn, as well as connecting with your peers in class and the alumni network, much of your success will depend on your own personal outreach and initiatives. Networking is also an important element in any career change. When opportunities become more concrete, INSEAD’s in-house advisors can conduct mock interviews with you and give advice on salary negotiations.
Read on for some testimonials of INSEAD EMFin alumni who successfully navigated career change during or after the programme.
James Oberholzer
Nationality: British
Year Graduated: 2019
Before: Equity Research Associate, Macquarie Group (financial services)
After: Senior Project Development and Investment Associate, Siemens (electrical and electronic manufacturing)
“Having the world-class credibility of the INSEAD brand behind my name no doubt contributed to my recent career move. It has definitely opened up doors and networks on a global scale.”
Jan Chakravarthy
Nationality: Indian
Year Graduated: 2019
Before: Project Manager - Investment Management at Vanguard
After: VP Business Management, Capital Markets at Nomura
“After taking a career break, the EMFin helped me relaunch my career, get abreast of how the industry was transforming and be more confident about going back to the workforce.”
Ethan Lim
Nationality: Singaporean
Year Graduated: 2017
Before: Strategic Planning Analyst, Maybank
After: Investment Analyst, City of London Investment Management Company Ltd
“The INSEAD EMFin qualification had been instrumental in successfully engineering the career switch to investment management that I was striving towards.”
Vy Bui
Nationality: Vietnamese
Year Graduated: 2018
Before: Internal Audit Manager, UTAC
(semiconductor industry)
After: Vice President at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
(financial services)
“With a diverse syllabus covering almost every aspect in the financial world, the INSEAD EMFin helped me gain inside knowledge about other areas which I did not have exposure to before. This opened up other career path options for me to consider.”
Deepak Venkatanarasimhan
Nationality: Indian
Year Graduated: 2018
Before: Product Manager, Grab
(transportation, logistics and financial services)
After: Vice President, Data Scientist at GIC
(investment management)
“I chose to pursue a Master in Finance to support my goal of transitioning from operating to investing roles. Attending the programme was transformational. I found an interesting opportunity at a very large asset manager before even completing the course.”
Part one of this article discusses career planning and success stories for moving up within your organisation.
If you would like to discuss the programme in more detail, please get in touch with us.
