"Studying was the ticket to my job"

Fabian Staffen is a Senior Credit Analyst

By studying risk management alongside his job, he managed to enter the financial sector.

"Two years before I left the German Armed Forces, I wanted to continue my education in an area that interested me and in which I saw my future field of work. My goal was to enter the financial services sector with fresh knowledge - and I achieved that.

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I started working as a student trainee at my current employer while I was still studying. I analyse the probability of default of companies, which serves as the basis for drawing commercial credit lines. Another field of activity is the surety business for various projects.
As my company handles traditional insurance and banking transactions, a lot of the content from my degree programme can be found here. The C3L is characterised by very practical training. You learn various tools that you can use later in your job.
My medium-term career goal is to grow into a management position, as I did in the Bundeswehr. I feel that the degree programme has put me in a very good professional position for this. The special focus on risk management was already appreciated when I was recruited.
The mathematical content is more challenging than in a business administration degree programme. That's why I first had to brush up on the basics. It is also helpful to familiarise yourself with statistics programmes in order to complete the seminar papers. There are recurring topics in some modules, so after a certain amount of familiarisation you have the necessary tools - and a sense of achievement. For example, when you solve a complex maths problem after some processing time, it gives you a certain sense of pride and motivates you for further tasks.
The intensive support and the small learning groups help immensely to master the challenges. There is also support for the Master's thesis where it is needed. The lecturers always re-registered students very quickly. There was also close contact at all times. This personal support is definitely a plus.
If you are starting your degree programme, you should follow the recommendation and take the Quantitative Methods module early on, as it teaches you the basics of mathematics. I would also advise you to calculate realistically: How much can I do in addition to my normal work? If you have a major construction site ahead of you at work, it's better to choose just one or two modules and really take your time with the course content. The length of study on your CV is no reason to complete the modules according to plan: In my experience, if you are studying part-time, the standard period of study is less relevant for employers. This is because it is well known that the workload is much higher than with a full-time degree programme."