EMMANUEL ZHENG

Emmanuel Zheng is a graduate of the EDHEC International BBA and is now studying for a Masters in Finance degree at the London Business School. He explains how his choice of undergraduate degree opened his eyes to a promising career in finance.

The first two years of the course taught me the basics of management. In my third year, I chose to pursue a specialisation in finance, bringing to a close my first two foundation years. The courses on investment decision-making and applied quantitative financial techniques helped me to prepare for my internship interviews. In the fourth year, I chose the banking and wealth management specialisation, with a view to deepening my knowledge of the concepts I had learned in my third year.

These four years gave me time to identify the career that would suit me while acquiring a vast array of knowledge. In parallel, I decided to study for Level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification, which is well known in the world of finance. The goal of this personal challenge was to make my CV stand out, so I could obtain quality internships and continue my studies on one of the best master’s degree programmes globally.

My approach was successful. During my EDHEC International BBA course, I completed four internships. The first was at bank Crédit du Nord; the second at Life, the specialist computer software start-up. In my third year, I was an intern to an asset manager at CM-CIC Asset Management. Then I did my final placement in the investment banking division of Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking.

This last six-month experience was highly educational and enabled me to interact with colleagues in New York, Tokyo, and London. I was convinced that I wanted to continue my career in the field of asset management. This internship is now a real asset on my CV, as it gave me a global view of finance and the operations of a large investment bank.

Year by year, I have been able to make my profile more and more attractive to recruiters. The primary advantage of the EDHEC bachelor’s degree is that it marries the theoretical with practical learning through corporate internships.

During the third year of my bachelor's degree, I went to Seoul, South Korea on an academic exchange with Hanyang University. I spent five exceptional months discovering a new culture, interacting with students from all over the world and improving my English. If my first two years at EDHEC allowed me to discover myself professionally, this academic exchange enabled me to discover myself on a personal level. Coming out of my comfort zone, I gained maturity and open-mindedness. In addition, I was able to engage in new activities, such as climbing Mount Bukhansan, immersing myself in a Buddhist temple meditation course and staying with locals in a traditional countryside house (a hanok).

On the academic front, the professors at Hanyang University were absolutely brilliant. In particular, Professor Tae Jun Bae, who taught the Strategic Management course, really impressed me with his passion and teaching. This experience abroad convinced me to embark on an international career. Thus, I began to consider further study abroad, more specifically, in London, the European financial hub. 

During the final year of my BBA, I had the opportunity to interact with graduates and admissions managers from international schools such as ESCP, Imperial College and the London Business School. Very early on in the process, I prepared the requisite documentation for each application: standardised tests, English language tests, transcripts, cover letters, letters of recommendation, etc.

I received positive responses from all of these schools, but it was in November 2019, when I met the head of admissions of the London Business School, on a visit to the EDHEC campus, that I made my decision to attend this school rather than the others. So, in September 2020, I embarked on the Masters in Financial Analysis (MFA) at London Business School.

EDHEC was absolutely everything I sought in an undergraduate degree, on all levels. The school gave me the opportunity to build my career and to find my path. I don't regret my decision!