"ICEF can benefit your life by giving useful contacts": graduates’ message to prospective students

© ICEF

At the recently held Open Day, the team of Master of Financial Economics Programme walked prospective students through details of the learning process and admission. Their talk was followed by Q&A session with alumni and Career Services that gave more information about what students can do with their degree and what academic opportunities can be available for them.

Speaking at the event, Maxim Nikitin, Academic Supervisor of the Master of Financial Economics Programme, gave an overview of the history of ICEF – the college offering the Russian students international education which builds on standards of the world’s top universities. Maxim Nikitin spoke in detail about the advantages of ICEF’s master’s programme and the content of curriculum, the latter placing greater focus on data skills. The prospective students were also presented cases of graduates’ career tracks with major companies and schools around the world.

Victoria Pralich, Head of ICEF Career Services, spoke about the guidance being provided to ICEF’s current students and graduates. Thanks to the cooperation the Career Services maintain with members of earlier classes of bachelor’s and master’s students, ICEF has established genuinely solid relationships with the industry.

About Master of Financial Economics Programme:

A collaborative effort between ICEF and The London School of Economics (LSE), the Master of Financial Economics Programme builds on the international academic standards to operate as one of the best providers of the fundamental academic skills at master’s level. Every year, the Programme reaffirms its value through career achievements of its graduates and international ratings: In the fall of 2021 it re-entered the top 100 in QS Business Masters Rankings.

ICEF master’s students have the opportunity to study for two degrees, one from HSE and the other from LUISS University in Rome. They are also invited to join the exchange programme that involves dozens of universities in different countries.

Admission requirements, and how to prepare for admission, were presented by Olga Nizhevich, Programme Coordinator. Olga also told about the financial support available to ICEF students during their study – the incentives and the scholarships provided in particular by VTB Bank. The prospective students learned about fast-track admission process and were able to ask questions in the end of the event.

Much of the event was led by programme graduates. This time, guest speakers were Andrey Timushev, entrepreneur and safe stock investment expert (Germany), and Viktor Bobrov, founder and CEO at techno startup Emplаy.ai.

Andrey and Viktor shed more light on “life after ICEF”, what students can do with their egree, and growth tracks. Much of their talk was about the prospects before finance majors and their personal experience as entrepreneurs and investors, which they willingly shared with prospective students.

Andrey Timushev, entrepreneur, safe stock investment expert (Germany)

I have always thought of a master’s degree as a good investment in yourself. My ambition from the very start was to do a degree that would give a considerable boost to my earnings. I am currently running a business and I also teach safe equity investments in Frankfurt, Germany. Before enrolling in this master’s programme, I worked as a strategy consultant at Oliver Wyman in Moscow and Frankfurt and was in charge of projects in different countries in Europe.

While a bachelor’s student at HSE’s campus in Nizhny Novgorod, I thought of ways I could use to start my own business abroad. I eventually decided that the Master of Financial Economics Programme might be that doorway for me into the overseas markets. I carefully studied the curriculum and graduates’ career tracks to become even more convinced that it could help me turn my ambition into reality. It is them who are prepared to spend two years of their life studying for a degree that fits their strengths best, that stand the chance of getting big returns as the best candidates for the best jobs or as owners of successfully performing businesses.

What ICEF surely provides is the opportunity to become good experts in financial economics. But just as importantly, it can benefit your life by giving useful contacts. They’re a good tool for job search – and there are many graduates of ICEF in the industry who know the value of having “their people” around.

Viktor Bobrov, founder and CEO at techno startup Emplay.ai

As someone with a background in economics and aptitude for technology, I enrolled in Master of Financial Economics Programme because it offers a good blend of economics and technology. While an intern at Skolkovo Ventures, I realized I wanted to be in product development and technology, and I got a job as product specialist at Tinkoff.

There were three things that guided my choice of a master’s – fundamental knowledge, diverse career options, and networking. Once a student, I at first didn’t understand why we were being given such an in-depth course in econometrics, but after I immersed myself into machine learning and started working on my own startup, I soon discovered why. Emplay.ai project uses games to evaluate candidate’s thinking capability and suitability of their personality type for the job. It’s great when your master’s degree is diverse enough to give skills that will make you a good candidate for the jobs as quants or product developers, or will let you start your own business.

Venture industry can be difficult to get into, but in my case it happened thanks to my degree and ICEF Career Services, through which I was able to contacts the “right” graduates. ICEF as a brand is well known in the industry. Many of its graduates have built careers in, for example, Tinkoff, which gives this company every reason to hire candidates who hold the same degree.