“My role is to ensure students’ career choices match their values and interests, and respond to market requirements” Ruxandra Tosun, Finance Career Advisor, EDHEC Career Centre

How would you define your role as a career advisor?

As a career advisor, my job is to help EDHEC finance students (M1, professional year, MSc) find fulfilling jobs at the end of their studies. Attaining this objective requires genuine collaboration between the career advisor and the student. For my part, I strive to understand the specifics of the student’s career plan, in order to offer suitable career support. For their part, the student fully engages in our collaboration, by showing curiosity, doing introspective work on themself to clearly identify their aspirations, actively exploring the world of finance and working to develop their technical skills. All in all, our career advisors arrange over 3,500 orientation interviews for finance students every year.

I also make students aware of recruiters’ expectations. High-pressure situations are frequent in the financial industry and students need to develop qualities like resilience or adaptability. New jobs are also emerging in finance, particularly related to AI and data. I regularly urge students to take an interest in them. 

In addition, the job market in finance has a reputation for being competitive and most jobs are to be found in financial centres like Paris, London, Shanghai or New York. The real issue with career support is consequently to help students position themselves on a job and a destination, taking into account not only their technical skills in finance (financial market knowledge, investment analysis skills, knowledge of financial regulations, etc.) and the languages they speak, but also the terms for obtaining a visa. 

What does career support involve for students on finance programmes at EDHEC?

First of all, I help them to think about their choice of career in more detail. There are dozens of sorts of jobs in finance, which fall into two main categories: market finance and corporate finance. My role is to question each student’s choice, by ensuring the job they’re targeting is consistent with their values and interests, and with the market’s requirements. Then, I help them to prepare for recruitment interviews. I work with the student on the oral presentation of their studies, their motivations and their professional experience. During this process, I encourage them to be creative when presenting themselves and to keep up to date with news and events in the world of finance, so as to understand market trends. This last point is essential for the student to stand out on the job market. Lastly, I help them to prepare for technical questions – the hardest part of the interview – so that they’re comfortable in explaining key financial concepts. 

In addition to preparing students to enter the job market, EDHEC’s career support spans other aspects, such as advice on creating a professional network or how to use social media like LinkedIn.

What resources are provided for finance students at EDHEC?

The EDHEC Career Centre set up the EDHEC Career Booster, a comprehensive and personalised career support programme*, designed for all EDHEC Master students, with the aim of preparing them for recruitment processes, by sector and by function.  

The programme offers finance students a broad range of training, including help in writing applications (CVs and motivation letters), interview preparation and training sessions for assessment centres (presentations, case studies, group work), all in “real” recruitment process conditions and involving simulated virtual interviews. 

In addition, EDHEC organises more than 80 on-campus events a year for finance students, such as recruitment fairs (Finance Career Days, London FE Trek, Finance Recruitment Day, Forum EDHEC) and regular events attended by finance experts who come to explain the specifics of their jobs. Elsewhere, Chloé Lévy, Manager of the Finance Career Centre, and myself, regularly arrange conferences to explain how the finance industry job market is structured and the different types of jobs. Students also have access to a job vacancies site created by EDHEC and to external recruitment sites, specialised in internships and international positions.  

Lastly, students can reap the benefit of the School’s alumni network. EDHEC’s former finance students attend career events and talk about their experience and pathway during round tables. 

*At EDHEC, 80% of Career Centre services are personalised according to students’ needs and their career objectives.