How did you find out about Nicholas?
When I started researching MBA schools offering finance programs, I realized that UW's competitive edge is its career specializations as pointed out in a BusinessWeek article in September 2005. Moreover, Nicholas is the first and only applied program that focuses exclusively on practical training in corporate finance. As one of my primary purposes of doing an MBA in finance was to learn to communicate complex financial information, I realized that I could achieve this objective by working hands-on with real-life finance consulting projects - a unique feature of Nicholas.
| Apoorva Varadarajan Nicholas 2007 |
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| GE Healthcare |
Why did you choose to come to the Nicholas Center?
I believe that the training provided by Nicholas gives a more "human and practical side" to just analytics. The program prepares us with the essential quantitative skills and analytical acumen necessary to analyze and interpret company financial statements and industry trends. In addition, the program also offers a study in International Finance that will help me broaden my knowledge base to understand global markets. The steps involved in executing engagements for sponsors closely resemble the requirements of the current corporate finance industry. The highlights of the engagements are the "creative yet practical" recommendations to project sponsors.
What are your career objectives?
It is my opinion that the current corporate environment is looking for financial analysts who have depth and understanding of a variety of things other than just quantitative measures. Of special interest to me is the field of Investor Relations Management. Besides communicating with investors and key constituencies, IR professionals today assume a leadership role in managing risk, shareholder activism issues and helping to develop corporate strategy. With a finance background and professional marketing experience, I want to become part of the niche market of "marketing + finance" corporate professionals. I desire to apply my public relations and journalism expertise in becoming a Financial Analyst specializing in Investor Relations. I aspire to take up a leadership role in actively communicating financial information to investors and key business constituents such as finance media, business partners and regulatory agencies.
What have you found most surprising about Madison?
I was pleasantly surprised at the significant number and quality of international students in the Wisconsin MBA,and particularly in Nicholas. It is truly enriching to learn from the wealth of experiences that these talented individuals bring with them. Apart from schoolwork, I am overwhelmed with the passion for football games at Camp Randall stadium!
What do you wish you had known before you came?
In hindsight, it would have been a value-add if I had done more reading on the finance industry. While reading business journals and magazines was always important to me, more focus on finance reading material would have helped me further understand finance jargon.
What are you looking for in an internship?
Recently, the portfolio of a Financial Analyst has progressed from the task of simply accessing economic performance of companies and industries. At many companies, the hunt is for forceful financial executives who can work closely with the company's management while maintaining their independence at the same time. Given my diverse background in communication, journalism and public relations, I want my internship to equip me with cross-functional and team-oriented skills. I desire to translate classroom knowledge into industry application. Also, in this "global village", I think that I can make a difference with my international perspectives of business situations.
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