About Swiss Finance Academy

How would you best sum up your Swiss Finance Academy experience?

This was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It isn't often that you get a chance to participate in a program that has such an impact on your career opportunities, while at the same time offering an amazing worldwide network of friends. Some people might get the impression that SFA is all work and no play, but that really isn't the case. It is important to understand that the people who come to this program really want to learn all that they can about the finance and business industries; they want to take advantage of every opportunity that the program has to offer. For this reason, people do work really hard. At the same time, SFA faculty and staff make sure that we are able to take advantage of the recreational and cultural activities that the program location has to offer. For my class, this included trips to France and Italy, hiking in the Swiss Alps and BBQs set against the backdrop of the beautiful mountains. SFA stresses the value of not only the important lessons that we are learning inside the classroom, but also the value of the network that we are developing with our classmates and other SFA alumni. The SFA program was an amazing opportunity for growth on several levels - personally, educationally and professionally.

How did Swiss Finance Academy equip you with the skills you needed to find a job in finance?

I gained so much from my SFA program, and managed to retain almost everything that I learned. The notes that I took in class were incredibly useful, and I used them as study guides when preparing for my interviews so that I would be well-versed in any concepts that might arise during the course of my interviews. After going through SFA's career skills training, I changed the format of my resume so that it would be more attractive to prospective employers. There are many highly qualified candidates out there, and SFA provided many pointers on the best way to distinguish ourselves; the best part was that this advice was coming from people who had both successfully landed jobs in the industry and recruited people into the industry, so their advice had been tried and tested through personal experience. I also really benefited from the personal guidance and tips that I received during the mock interview process; I took SFA's advice and practiced my interview numerous times, each time improving on my weaknesses until I was ultimately ready for the real thing. I know that the guidance I received in all these areas made me a much more attractive candidate when I interviewed for my current position as an associate at Bernstein. I am really excited about the job, and want to thank SFA for putting on a great program.

- Leanna Degenhart, Bernstein (New York City)