"Bayes had created a good mix of in-person and virtual which in the end made the experience worthwhile."
Country of origin: Norway
MSc course: MSc Energy, Trade and Finance
Graduation year: 2021
Why did you study Energy, Trade and Finance at Bayes Business School?
Coming from Norway, Oil and gas is a big part of our economy and I realised from an early age that it was something I wanted to be apart of. In recent years, the energy transition is becoming ever so important and it is what became the tipping point regarding my decision to get a master’s degree.
Navigating the transition from fossil fuels to renewables is not an easy task and I knew I would need excellent knowledge of both in order to “do my part” in solving the problems ahead.
I started looking around at schools across the world and found the Energy, Trade and Finance programme at Bayes and it was a perfect match for what I wanted to get out of a masters degree. After learning of the reputation of the lecturers at Bayes, it became an easy decision to apply.
The Energy, Trade and Finance course and will require a lot of studying if you want to succeed in the course. I was apart of the first class that started while the pandemic was going on, so the adjustment was tough, but Bayes had created a good mix of in-person and virtual which in the end made the experience worthwhile.
How has the studying at Bayes impacted your career and your career goals?
I currently work for ENI trade & biofuels and there is no way I would have been able to my current job without what I learned from my masters. I work as a market risk analyst and my day to day job require me to do a lot of what we did during the oil and energy trading course and I still find myself pulling up my notes from the class if there is anything I want to freshen up on before talking to my colleagues.
There are several Bayes alumni working here at ENI which has made making friends an easy task as we can all bond over late nights studying for the challenging courses we all took at Bayes.
I was able to land my current job due to the career team and their great relations with former Bayes students. It was a former student who works here at ENI who forwarded the position to Bayes, which is how I ended up finding it and then with the help of the careers team I applied and got the position.
What advice would you have for students considering MSc Energy, Trade and Finance?
- Go to class and ask questions! Especially for the harder courses like Quantitative Methods, Financial Markets and Oil/Energy trading which are heavy mathematical courses.The problems sets seem daunting at first but after countless questions to Ioannis Moutzouris and Panos Pouliasis, you slowly start getting a better understanding of how to attack and solve the problems you encounter.
- Secondly, get a good study group! I was lucky and found a solid group in the first few weeks of the course and we stuck together for the entire year and helped each other when there were things from class we didn’t understand.
- Be prepared for late night study session, the course is heavy but also so rewarding once you start making the connection between your different courses and how it all links up together.
- I would also advise you to join a society during your masters! I joined a couple; the football society was a good excuse to hang out with your classmates and do things that are not related to the coursework. I also joined the energy society which is a great way to expand your knowledge on a topic you’re interested in, while also being a nice CV booster.
- Finally, remember to have fun! London is a great city.
