By Callum Charman – MFA Recruitment Associate
At LBS we strive to have a profound effect on the way the world does business and the way business impacts the world. As the future of global business, our Masters in Financial Analysis (MFA) students require the necessary skills to adapt and thrive in a changing global setting.
Alongside their comprehensive core and elective modules, MFA students complete a set of Skills Programmes, which look to improve intrapersonal, numerical and digital literacy skills. These are split into two courses, which run alongside core and elective modules:
Deepak Guneja is a Student Ambassador for the Master in Financial Analysis programme. Now at the midway point of the MFA, he was able to offer valuable insight into the practical benefits of both the Personal & Leadership and Business & Technical Skills courses.
For Deepak, the Skills Programme has helped him to excel in job interviews, both in terms of providing practical advice and industry specific information. “I chose Corporate Finance because I want to go into that industry. This helped me in interviews, because if I’m applying for Investment Banking, there are technical rounds, which are very practical. The lecturer started from scratch on how to build a financial model and what are the different processes involved. These processes were directly asked about in the interviews.”
With the growing importance of remote communication, the interview process has evolved. As part of the Business and Technical Skills Development course, students are taught how to present themselves to potential employers, including how to utilize zoom for interviews: “It really helped me; where to put my laptop so I’m halfway visible, so that my actions are visible to the interviewer. These are just minute details, but something that an interviewer will observe. It also helped me with video recordings I had to make.”
Running alongside core and elective modules, the Skills Programme is designed to compliment all aspects of the MFA programme. For Deepak, this was most evident during London Business Challenge Week, an immersive experience designed to give students real world business exposure: “I was able to apply skills I learnt in the Personal & Leadership module, which really helped me. We were taught how to persuade, how to build a story in front of someone and how to present it. It taught me how to prepare presentations, how to start, how many points to use etc. These are non-verbal communications that you really want to have with your audience, and this really helped in London Business Challenge Week. We needed to pitch something to the client. You’ve done your research, but now you need to make it impactful”
The Personal and Leadership course also provides the opportunity to work on key skills such as improving focus and reducing distractions: “We had to write a report on time management, which was really helpful. It was about things we knew, but we didn’t know how to get rid of those bad habits. We were shown the problems, then given the practical steps to solve them. I can’t say I’ve been able to implement them all in my life, but I am working on them!”