MARC CANAL
Research Fellow at McKinsey Global Institute, London
HEC's reputation and the amazing environment it provides to prepare and apply for challenging jobs was crucial to get into McKinsey
Right after HEC I started working at McKinsey as a business analyst. I worked in the Madrid office for two years, taking on projects in various industries: oil&gas, banking, social sector, basic materials and central banking. I then transferred to the London office to do a one-year fellowship at the McKinsey Global Institute, the economic research arm at McKinsey. Due to this, I have been able to combine my passion for economics, with the McKinsey way of doing things. I will be finishing my fellowship next July.
A strong and supportive network
The MSc Economics & Finance offered a very good balance between a solid theoretical economic framework and a notable amount of practical work relating various areas such as economics (e.g. forecasting), finance and strategy. The MSc Economics & Finance job market workshops were very interesting and gave us a great opportunity to learn how to approach the job market and manage various aspects of application processes. What helped the most however was the attitude of HEC and the students themselves towards finding a good job. Workshops were the stepping stone to facing the job market for the first time, while classmates (or even students from other masters) were the perfect companions in helping master your application skills, practice for interviews and learn from each other's experiences.
Paving the way to promising future
HEC and the MSc Economics & Finance helped me in many ways. First of all, HEC's reputation and the amazing environment it provides for students to prepare and apply for the most interesting and challenging jobs was crucial to get into McKinsey. Secondly, the great diversity of nationalities and backgrounds was an amazing introduction to what I would go on to find afterwards in the real world, especially in a dynamic sector like consulting. Finally, the technical knowledge I acquired on the MSc Economics & Finance proved very useful, especially when I moved onto the McKinsey Global Institute. Now, I am applying this knowledge in my job on a daily basis.