MILAN STOJILJKOVIC

Milan Stojiljkovic is a fourth-year student on the Business Management track, specialising in banking, insurance and wealth management. The EDHEC International BBA qualification is a veritable “Swiss army knife” that will give him the tools he needs to achieve his professional goals in the financial sector. Next year, he will embark on an MSc in Finance at Imperial College Business School in London – the top-ranked business school in England and the ninth best in the world, according to the 2018 Financial Times rankings.

EDHEC INTERNATIONAL BBA: A SURE THING

After completing his baccalaureate, with honours, at the Michel de Montaigne secondary school in Mulhouse, Milan decided to study for a Bachelor in Business Administration degree at EDHEC. “I didn’t want to enrol in a preparatory course,” he says. “I don’t regret my choice, as EDHEC combines all the qualities I was looking for in a degree programme: prestige, professional experience and the opportunity to study abroad. Choosing this programme was a sure thing!”

In the first year of his course, Milan dipped a toe in professional water by joining the EDHEC Junior Consulting (EJC) society as a project manager. EJC is an association that aims to support companies in the areas of marketing, communications and strategy.

GLOBAL MANAGER CERTIFICATE: OVERSEAS EXPERIENCE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

In his second year, Milan went to Dublin, Ireland, to study for a Global Manager Certificate from Dublin Business School. “Dublin is a great city – I spent four exceptional months there,” he says. He took courses such as Multinational Business Theory, Global Business Environment and Strategic Management. “I gained insights into the Anglo-Saxon business mentality,” Milan says. “For example, during our Entrepreneurship course, we had to interview entrepreneurs at least once a week and then present our mini-survey to the entire class. We also visited a start-up incubator and were able to talk with the various entrepreneurs.” Milan says his experience abroad has boosted his confidence. “I also improved my soft skills and my level of English: I scored 985 marks (out of 990) on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) and 7.5 (out of 9) on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS),” he added.

This international experience in such a prestigious institution enabled Milan to secure his first six-month finance internship at Tikehau IM, in the Investor Relations department. Here, he worked on different problems, such as fundraising, know-your-client, client onboarding, investment monitoring, reporting and ad hoc requests. “This internship underlined my passion for finance and confirmed my decision to specialise in finance in the third year,” he says.

FOURTH YEAR: FINANCE SPECIALISATION AND AN INTERNSHIP WITH A TOP FIRM

Milan is currently in the fourth year of his EDHEC International BBA course. Since January 2019, he has been interning with Pléiade & Cie, an investment office founded by a family of entrepreneurs. “I joined the private asset management team,” he says. “I analyse different investment opportunities. I look at all classes of asset, from private equity in emerging markets to infrastructure projects, not forgetting investment funds and the stock exchange generally. I love what I’m doing! It’s a real plus for my CV, as I now have a comprehensive understanding of finance.”

Milan lets us in on an anecdote. “Sometimes I represent Pléiade & Cie at meetings with fund managers,” he says. “Once, I found myself alone with some big-league renowned bankers. That is an experience that I won’t forget as 22-year-old professional!”

“All of these opportunities have been made possible by EDHEC,” Milan says. “I would never have had access to such responsibility in my fourth year of studies without its kind of training. Places in finance are expensive!”

A FUTURE IN FINANCE IN ENGLAND

After receiving his BBA, Milan will enrol in the MSc in Finance at Imperial College London. “This programme is very much in keeping with the EDHEC International BBA,” he says. “It’s a real opportunity to gain a foothold in banks such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.”

Find Milan on LinkedIn.