Why MIF?

Six years ago I moved from Hotel Revenue management to risk management in the banking sector. After a while I realised that I needed to upgrade my knowledge so I started a math programme study at University of Sheffield. I spent time working in the quantitative risk modelling area and decided there were more interesting areas that I wanted to explore. I got the opportunity to work for ABN-AMRO’s country risk department at a time when the economic crisis was emerging in late 2008. This made my job more interesting and relevant.

In talks with my manager I understood that the ABN-AMRO bank was willing to support me to continue with studying as the Banking business needs qualified staff: risks are increasing, and international economics & finance play a major part within the organisation.

Through my employer I learned about two major universities who offered the programme I was looking for. Having done some research and interviews at both institutions, it became clear to me that the ABS was stronger in service and education quality. I based this decision both on my personal experience and feedback from former students.

International environment

I moved to Amsterdam in 2002 and I find it to be a very lively city. As the capital of the Netherlands it is a large city, but living there, and walking through the city centre and the canals one gets a feeling of friendliness, where people are open and everything is close by.  The fact that almost everybody was talking English made it very easy for me to move around. In a business sense Amsterdam has a strong tradition of multicultural orientation due to many international organisations located in the city.

MIF Part-time

Doing the part time education in the evening I feel good to be challenged and asked to use my mind in a different way. I need to spend a lot of time on the homework, but it is an investment worth making. The courses are well organised and the lecturers/professors are highly skilled with a good professional attitude. I found them friendly and accessible and most of them have graduated from first-class university's around the world. This makes them highly qualified in their field and at the same time they were open to feedback and always willing to help.

In some semesters there are work groups where students work on an assignment together. You really get to know your fellow students this way. I found most of them very interesting and friendly and the fact that many of them come from different parts of the world makes it even more dynamic when discussing international subjects.

Future

After completing the MIF programme I will look for opportunities to work within the trading and investment area within the bank. This is a place where I can put my recently gained knowledge into real practice.