Daria Yablokova, Member of ICEF BSc Class of 2023, Analyst at SBER Structured Products Division, Shares the Golden Rule of Being a Successful Student and Career Maker
.png "Daria Yablokova, Member of ICEF BSc Class of 2023, Analyst at SBER Structured Products Division, Shares the Golden Rule of Being a Successful Student and Career Maker")
Daria, you graduated last year but had started a job in your second year of study. Have you ever regretted it? You could have enjoyed a more exciting student life instead. How has your chosen career path unfolded?
It was my conscious choice. I wanted to experience my chosen career as soon as possible, so I’ve never regretted my choice. It all started in my second year, when I and my classmates joined Rosbank Bond Market Department.
It was then we first found out what it’s like to have to meet the deadlines in the workplace and academically and be financially responsible. We jumped into work head first.
Eighteen months later, after my third year of study, I joined Sberbank and its structured product team in Global Markets Department. Here, I learned first-hand what it’s like to be inside the “green machine” and the feel-good effect from winning deals.
You are a structured product analyst at Sberbank. How well were you prepared to start a job in what’s one of Russia’s largest companies with strong corporate culture and high standards? What skills you gained at ICEF proved most useful? Communication? Fast thinking and reaction? Or maybe teamwork?
ICEF is a perfect place to learn how to ease into new workplace and adjust to corporate culture. My experience has been very positive, I have integrated into my current team and its line of tasks just fine.
My secret of success is this:
- Ingredient 1. Ability to source answers. Forget the “I don’t know” strategy. One thing I learned in ICEF is how important it is to be able to think outside the box in order to cope with study tasks.
- Ingredient 2 (of no small importance): Proactivity. Ask questions, get people to join you for coffee chat, take on new tasks and initiative.
- Ingredient 3: Keep your head cool and stay sober even in most critical of situations. If anything can go wrong it will, so be prepared to think fast.
- And, most importantly, you have to be a good teamworker also when dealing with the counterparties outside your team, i.e. all parties you are doing business with.
How did you build self-confidence at work? New hires usually find it hard. We know that the employers seek both hard and soft skills in their new hires.
Applicants with high numerical aptitude are always welcome on financial markets. Therefore, having a solid grounding in mathematics is key. It can win candidates the best of jobs.
Surprising as it may seem, the second most important skillset is PowerPoint. Competently designed and worded slides are key to getting your message across, for example, when presenting a corporate finance project.
Finally, the third most important thing is quality writing skills and ability to analyze extensive pieces of research-based literature. I was able to cultivate them both while studying at ICEF. If you have these skills, even the most challenging of exams will seem to you a regular working task.
As a student who chose financial markets early on as her career, I highly recommend to learn the Principles of Banking and Finance. This course explains how banking works, giving a thorough understanding of processes such as stock pricing and more.
A useful follow-up to this course is Asset Pricing and Financial Intermediation. Its lecture and seminar materials will surely render your market competency at a level much higher than average.
What you learn at ICEF gives you that flexible knowledge that will prompt what job-specific skills are to learn in the first place. You know, the funny thing is, I don’t know of any third-year student but ICEF’s who would explain to me what delta hedging is :)
You mentioned flexible knowledge. We see financial sector evolving so fast that even flexible knowledge ceases to be flexible when applied in new contexts. How can students prepare for the changes and the challenges within the banking and financial sectors?
There are two skillsets to concentrate on here. One is critical thinking and the other interpersonal communication. I believe, as easy as it may sound, that if a candidate is willing to improve their analytical aptitude and knows how to approach their colleagues, he or she will be able to achieve almost any hard skill in their workplace.
My point is, again, effective communication is key to successful career start and progression. And because one can’t be productive without prioritizing, I would put on the essential skills list also time management.
Listen to yourself. It’s important. You need to know precisely what line of work will suit you best in the financial sector. Once you know, use your flexibility and cultivate new skills.
Can you share your “golden rule” of being a successful student of ICEF, to benefit our next cohorts?
First, expand your social circle. The ICEF people are like no other in this sense. They are a community of students and teachers whose vibe and experience made me believe I could succeed as a student and professional. My advice is:
- Don’t delay facing new challenges, just do it.
- Seek advice from people who inspire you. The people at ICEF are easy to approach and willing to give advice.
- Trust your feelings. Figure out what’s most important to you.
I have only warm memories of my four years as an ICEF student. I chose right. My juggling studies with work had proved incredibly useful: I was able to identify my personal strengths and how to thrive on them.
It is very important to know your priorities. If you value career more than studies, it shouldn’t mean that work should come first or be treated as a replacement to college. Use your time so that you give equal portions to both. Treat work and study as two parallel lines of activity.
What is your way of relieving work-related stress? What do you like to do for pleasure and stay fit?
Pilates and Sunday squash. They are the things I cannot do without. And wakesurfing in the summertime, it’s fun to practice it with colleagues after work.
In support of my advice to not delay trying new things, I’ve recently discovered I enjoy DJing. For me it is a good way to ease mind and approach the start of a new working day.
This, and reading fiction, is what I like to do for pleasure and stay fit.