Postgraduate profile: MSc risk management and financial engineering

Roya Rahnejat took an MSc in risk management and financial engineering to gain further knowledge of the financial services sector.

I knew during my undergraduate studies that I wanted a career in financial services but I didn't have a clear idea of exactly what I wanted to do. I decided to do a postgraduate degree to gain further knowledge of financial services and help me work out a career plan. When looking at courses, I considered the strength of the faculty as I knew networking would be important to getting my career started, particularly in a business school.

On course to a career

The course I chose was new and I found it well structured. We completed modules on topics such as valuation theory, financial statistics, credit risk, and portfolio management and we were assessed by examinations and dissertation. For each module we had lectures twice a week and tutorials to help us with questions but it also involved a lot of self-study. I found the jump between undergraduate and postgraduate levels quite hard at first but my coursemates were very supportive and the induction courses helped me catch up with the basic finance knowledge I needed to build on. The masters built upon my analytical skills, teaching me how to examine data and make decisions quickly, and it gave me the knowledge to narrow down my career options. Going to business school is very career focused. The school arranged networking events at which we could meet employers and gain insights into organisations. I used the careers service's employer information and interview advice to help me focus and prepare for interviews.

Postgraduate pointers

Doing postgraduate study gave me time to shape my career goals but it helped that I knew the general area I wanted to go into. I now work for Aspen Re as a graduate risk analyst. I'd advise anyone who does further study to take part in extracurricular activities as well as doing academic work - it will help you build the soft skills you'll need to get a job.

Roya took her MSc risk management and financial engineering at Tanaka Business School.