IE University students in their third year and above took part in the first-ever career bootcamps in finance and consulting this summer. Held in the last week of August and designed by IE Talent & Careers, the bootcamps gave students looking to pursue a career in these sectors a head start.
The bootcamp sessions, which are offered as electives in the Bachelor in Business Administration, prepared students for the rigorous recruitment processes they will face when applying for internships and graduate positions. Every year, a large portion of IE University students head into the finance or consulting world. Just under fifty percent of the class of 2018 took their first post-graduation job in one of the two sectors.
The list of companies who took on IE University students include Bain & Company, EY, Morgan Stanley, J.P Morgan, Boston Consulting Group, Banco Santander, and many more (info on the Career Report of 2018 is available here).
The Working in Finance Bootcamp: Industry & Recruitment was taught by Amplify Trading. Content included the Future of Finance, Markets in Action, Investment Bank Global Markets, Asset Management in Practice, and Valuations to M&A, among others.
“Practical experience in finance is a necessity for those looking to have a financial career and break into the industry. The Amplify Trading Finance Bootcamp is useful as it runs students through a number of world-class financial role simulations used by some of the world’s leading investment banks including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The bootcamp also provided an intensive introduction to roles available in finance and provided students with a solid commercial awareness. This year’s cohort at IE University were excellent, attentive, and motivated and we look forward to running the next bootcamp!”
Dhinta Foster of Amplify Trading
The Consulting Bootcamp: Industry, Recruitment, & Crack the Case was co-taught by Aloña Martiarena, former consultant at Monitor Deloitte and Boston Consulting Group, and My Consulting Coach (a company specialized in preparing candidates from the best universities in the world for case interviews). Content included analytical problem solving, an overview of the industry, case cracking, and recruitment processes, among others.
“The course consisted of a five-day immersion in management consulting,” said professor Martiarena. “For students who aspire to enter a top management consulting firm, the right approach for interview and case practice becomes essential, and the bootcamp provided the basis for nailing them.”
Eva Lecapitaine, a Bachelor in Business Administration student who took part in the Consulting Bootcamp added, “It was a great way to better understand what being a consultant is all about, as well as the GPA, CV skills, and other preparation necessary to join the top firms. The bootcamp was not only very practical with lots of cases and a group project at the end, but the two consultants gave us lots of advice and insights from their own experience working for top firms. We really got an idea of what the life of a consultant is like, to help us figure out if we’d like it or not. Their enthusiasm and availability at the end of the sessions made it overall a great week, which not only taught me a lot, but confirmed to me my interest in Strategy Consulting. It’s motivated me to work hard to pursue this career!”
IE’s Talent & Careers department will be on hand throughout the rest of the year to support students looking to break into these sectors, as well as other fields. This will include offering advice, helping to craft CVs and CLs, interview and application preparation, corporate events, sessions and various workshops.
We wish the best of luck to this year’s bootcamp participants during their upcoming recruitment processes and look forward to welcoming more students at next summer’s edition.