study
BSE Career Services enhance student support to increase employability
The BSE Career Services department is dedicated to helping students increase their employability after graduating by providing a variety of recruitment events, training sessions and one-to-one meetings on campus as well as organizing for students to visit company head offices, over the course of the academic year.
The Master's programs at the BSE can be very demanding, leaving students with little time to plan their future career and the opportunities that are available to them once they graduate. Because of this, the Career Services team organizes numerous events for students to show them what opportunities are available once they graduate and how they can increase their chances of getting a placement.
69 on-campus recruitment events for Master's students
In the 2018-19 academic year, the Career Services team organized 69 on-campus events with recruiters for the Master's students. Events that brought multiple companies to campus included the following:
- International Organization Day
- Consulting Day
- Economics of Public Policy Day
- Finance Events
- Data Science Practicum Presentations
These events often see BSE alumni returning to campus. It gives alumni the opportunity to share their advice with students and their experiences in the working world. Alum Rodrigo Deiana (ITFD '11, now working as a Junior Policy Analyst at the Africa unit of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] Development Center) spoke at the International Organization Day and commented that the event was a great opportunity to "come back to the BSE with other alumni from OECD, the World Trade Organization and the International Labor Organization to share our personal experience in International Organizations and talk to the bright and motivated current students about their career aspirations."
Companies that attended recruiting events at the BSE have also commented how valuable they are for helping them to recruit talented candidates. A representative from Frontier Economics commented that the Consulting Day was "the perfect opportunity to meet the best students studying economics". A representative from Instiglio added that he values "the international background of the students and the high quality of the training" they receive from the BSE.
19 student training sessions
The Career Services team organized 19 training sessions for students this year which focused on the following areas of career development:
- Careers in European Institutions
- Careers in International Organizations
- Careers in Investment Banking
- Careers in Think Tanks
- Communication skills training
- Cover letter writing
- CV workshop
- Interview preparation training
- Job search training
- Market Insights (separate sessions were held for Economics, Finance, Competition, EPP, ITFD, Macro, and Data Science)
- Networking skills training
- PhD information session
3 visits to company head offices
As well as on-campus recruitment talks and training sessions, the Career Services team organized 3 different visits to company head offices, so that students could experience first-hand the opportunities available at institutions such as the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) located in Frankfurt and King's office in Barcelona.
The ECB is the largest employers of graduates from the BSE, with 50 alumni currently working there. Due to the high level of interest from students to work at the ECB, this prompted the Career Services team to organize for students to visit their offices in Frankfurt and get a better understanding of what it is like to work at the bank.
83 visits to target employers in 11 cities
This year, the Career Services team visited 83 employers in 11 cities to target a wide range of companies. These potential employers included international consulting firms, government agencies, multinational corporations, and specialized boutique firms, all of whom are looking to hire professionals with an analytical, international profile such as the students in the BSE Master's programs. The team visited numerous companies in the following cities during this academic year:
- Barcelona, Spain
- Berlin, Germany
- Bogota, Colombia
- Brussels, Belgium
- Hong Kong, China
- Lima, Peru
- London, United Kingdom
- Madrid, Spain
- Milan, Italy
- Paris, France
- Singapore
57% of the Class of 2019 placed before graduation
The support that has been provided to the Master's students during the 2018-19 academic year by the Career Services team, has resulted in 57% of the Class of 2019 being placed in a professional job or a PhD before graduation. This is a great achievement for both the students and the Career Services team who are dedicated to helping the Master's students start a successful career once they have graduated from the Barcelona School of Economics.
