The many facets of the EDHEC experience
WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND PRIOR TO EDHEC?
I have a business administration educational background. Before joining EDHEC Business School, I took a 3-year Bachelor of Science in business administration in Rome, at the University of Tor Vergata. This experience helped me build up a wide economic-oriented knowledge base, which turned out to be very useful for my Master in Management.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE EDHEC AND ITS MiM in Business Management?
The reason why I picked EDHEC can be first traced back to the desire to join an internationally renowned Business School, which would eventually grant me a wide range of career opportunities all over the world. I had been craving for an academic experience in France for a long time, eager to pay homage to a country that welcomed my Italian grandparents, economic immigrants, after World War II. Aware of the great prestige of this business school, confirmed every year by important international rankings, I decided to join EDHEC to build my professional future. The selection of the Master in Management has been driven by the aspiration to take on a set of leadership and technical skills, and increase the odds of landing the dream job in prestigious organizations. Moreover, the MIM gives enrolled students the chance of taking a full gap year, to carry out two internship experiences, before choosing which specialisation track to undertake. This feature represents a game-changer opportunity that helps clear your mind about the sector you want to work in, hence prevent you from making wrong decisions which might make you waste a lot of precious time.
WHERE DID YOU WORK DURING YOUR PROFESSIONAL IMMERSION YEAR?
Both of my internships were in Paris. The first one was in a strategic consulting boutique called Intelleco. During the 6 months spent at Intelleco, I had the chance to work as a competitive intelligence analyst, assisting clients coming from very diverse industries, like the mobility and beauty sectors. Working with renowned and large firms gave me the opportunity to better understand the dynamics of those sectors.
For my second internship, I worked as an FP&A intern at EDF, the French energy company, developing a set of hard skills that allowed me to keep track and analyse the financial performance of the business units composing the EDF Group.
WHAT ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR EDHEC EXPERIENCE?
Overall, the time spent at EDHEC has been very enjoyable. There are two main highlights of my EDHEC student experience. The first one is about the many new friendships I have made with students coming from all over the world, many of whom I will for sure remain in touch with also after graduation. The second relates to an amazing research project I was involved in. During this last year, I had the honor to join an EDHEC research team which, in cooperation with the EDHEC Foresight, Innovation & Transformation (FIT) chair, tried to define to what extent the air travel sector can be disrupted by 2050. This has been an amazing experience for two main reasons. The first one being the networking opportunities provided by the numerous workshops I took part in with several industry experts, while the second being the intense teamwork required which made me learn a lot of unknown aspects of the air travel sector.
Lille, December 2018
FOR YOUR MASTER 2, YOU CHOSE THE MSc IN STRATEGY, ORGANISATION & CONSULTING, WHAT ARE THE MAIN TAKEAWAYS OF THIS LAST YEAR?
Although I spent most of the last year remotely, I can firmly state that I have enjoyed the learning experience I have been exposed to. The professors allowed us to strengthen our skills in various areas related to strategic management, forging profiles suitable for accompanying the corporate world towards the "new normal" that is taking shape these days. In addition, the choice to attend the minor in Finance was boosted by the current fintech wave that is reshaping many sectors, not only the financial ones. In fact, it is expected that in a few years, many companies will be able to independently offer financial services, thanks to the countless innovations that are increasingly democratizing the world of finance. These changes make it imperative for today's successful managers to combine solid strategic management skills with a good understanding of the world of modern finance.
YOU WILL BE GRADUATING THIS YEAR, IN THESE UNUSUAL TIMES. ARE THERE POSITIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS PAST YEAR?
A great benefit of being a business school student is the massive amount of time you spend pulling off group projects. The implication of this sanitary crisis gave us no alternative but to adapt to this unusual context and exploit technology at its best to fill the distance gap. We have then been required to recreate the way the corporate world is operating right now, a set-up that might remain in place still for some time. This will for sure streamline the transition towards our professional journey. Moreover, it is also worth highlighting the ability of many professors who have shown great adaptability and have been able to implement a number of successful measures to maintain a high level of interaction with the students during classes, effectively overcoming many problems triggered by distance learning experience.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR FUTURE EDHEC STUDENTS?
EDHEC has one of the strongest business school career centres in France which, coupled with an outstanding network of Alumni, results in a winning combo to host very useful career events. Students should systematically attend these events to better understand the job market and start building up a network of professionals which might eventually turn very beneficial during the job hunt. This is only an example of the extra-curricular activities EDHEC organizes. EDHEC has a lot to offer besides the mere teaching experience; make the best out of it!
THREE WORDS TO SUM UP YOUR EDHEC EXPERIENCE?
Inspiring, international, cutting-edge.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
I have always been passionate about the aviation world. This passion motivated me to join the research team brought up earlier in order to delve into the way the aviation sector will be reshaped in the next decades. I would then like to leverage upon the skillset took on during my Master experience and the outcomes of this research project to join a cutting-edge air travel-related company, which is highly investing in disruptive mobility innovations, and help it through the major current challenges the mobility sector is urged to solve out. Just to mention two: how to zero the sector’s carbon footprint; how to tackle the growing importance of greener alternative modes of transports (e.g. low-emissions high-speed trains).
