„Experience is the most important driver of your career”

Dear Samuel, can you briefly start by telling in which company you currently work? When did you start there and what are your tasks?

I am working at AXA Investment Managers in the field of Client Relationship Management. An Investment Manager creates for example fund products that clients like you and me can buy at the local bank – the special part of AXA Investment Managers is the high focus on sustainable investments. Within this sector I am responsible for several client related tasks to provide a stable and deep client relationship. Therefore I manage wholesales and institutional clients in Germany, Austria and East Europe. I joined the company in 2021, in the middle of this program. Before this I worked at HSBC.

Can you tell us about your project? What made it exciting for you to work on the study project for AXA Investment Managers?

As mentioned before AXA Investment Managers has a high focus on sustainable investment topics. I know that this is a trend over all branches in the moment but I think that it has a special role for investment managers as their products and assets under management decide where money goes to and which companies will grow. Therefore the sustainable impact that the investment industry has, has a high leverage on the whole economic transformation. Therefore I decided to focus on this exciting topic for my management project to analyze the market, create future scenarios and derive strategies and solutions from this to support the sales management.

Why did you decide to start a job-integrated study program? What do you think about the combination of studying and working at the same time in the framework of SIBE’s Master Program?

I think a bachelor degree is fine but nowadays it has become the standard and I knew that a master would open me doors for the future. Previously I did a corporate study where I already worked beside my time at university so I was used to this. SIBE gave me the perfect program with their flexible ways, the online set up and the smart examinations with papers instead of written exams like it happens on traditional programs. Here I saw the biggest benefit as I learn more when I work on a subject instead of just learning for a test. Especially when it is highly connected to the job like the SIBE program.

How important is the formation of a professional international network during your studies? How do you benefit from the M.A./MBA (USA) program in terms of building your network?

As I already work in international companies it was a nice addition. It brought some challenges like time zone differences in group work but in the end I got to know people from all branches from several continents, especially Asia and America. It was useful to receive new perspectives and get to know other cultures.

You´re now graduated, how did you manage to organize yourself and combine your work with your study program?

Instead of wasting my time on Instagram or YouTube I created a good time management. Usually I worked on my studies from Monday to Sunday for some hours and then participated on the discussions. It was not much of a challenge to be honest and I think everybody can do it – of course you feel a difference because you have to do something but it’s manageable alongside a full-time job. So it’s possible to do. Be focused, have goals and enough time to relax intensively.

What did you like most about your project? Where were the challenges?

What I liked the most was that there are no test exams and that it is really flexible. For example I could do an easy break when I changed the company which was really useful. Further my Academic Success Counselor was a great help and all-time ready to support. The only challenge was the group work when some students where a little absent.

In which ways would you say your studies at SIBE benefit you the most? To whom would you recommend this program?

I would recommend the program to anyone who is interested to become a general manager with a broad and wide view on different business topics who wants to learn how to connect, adapt and optimize work flows, processes and tasks. The program gives very good tools that you can apply on nearly every situation, gives good insights and helps to understand what modern leadership means.
I had the most benefit from the future research course. It was perfect to learn the scenario model and methods that help me to analyze the here and now and reflect it to possible futures where I can derive solutions and analysis from. Also you learn more creative tools that reveal that creativity is not only a major strength and driver for business growth but also a precious new resource.

Do you have tips for people who are considering applying for the SIBE program?

Always consider that experience is the most important driver of your career and this opens a way to collect fulltime work experience on one side and support it by theoretical academic knowledge from industry experts. I doubt that a normal master will give you this.
My final tip is – dare it. Dare the English. Dare the workload. It’s just two years – what is this on behalf of a whole career? I would do it again. Challenges mean growing.