Testimonial - Clara Naïdji

My story at the Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven

September 2015

"First day at KU Leuven - Campus Brussels."

"Katrien Wauters gave a powerpoint presentation of what our next 6 months would look like. She underlined the difficulty of passing Financial Reporting and Marketing. She showed us spooky failure rates and warned us about the importance of getting started with our Master thesis early enough. But at that point, none of us were actually listening. We were looking at each other, trying to get to know each other or to recognize old faces. We were about 300. Suddenly, we all went silent."

"We were silent because Katrien showed us a giant pie chart with about hundred different entries. This was the pie chart representing the countries of origin of the people in this room. We were from everywhere, some countries I even forgot they'd existed."

"So far, KU Leuven seemed to keep two of its promises: it was truly an International Master and it was truly a challenging University."

November 2015

"I was at the office with my two managers. I had been an intern here for three month as a Business developer. My direct manager seemed in a strange mood. Was he unsatisfied with my work? Would he fire me?"

"Clara, you've been here for three month. We're very satisfied with your work"

"Unfortunately, we will no longer work together.... because I am leaving"

"... And we are sure that you would be a perfect replacement!"

"My heart was beating fast... I was not sure: would I be able to handle the workload? Was I capable to manage interns? I had two weeks to give a reply."

"I browsed through every page of the KU Leuven website to know what courses I'd have to take, what the schedule would be like. I emailed a bunch of alumni as well as the career counseling office. Finally, I was able, after a week, to figure out my schedule for the next semester and come to my boss with a part-time agreement!"

August 2016

"By working alongside recruiters specialized in finance, my curiosity was peaked by this sector. I resigned and decided to look for an internship in Finance! My boss wrote me a letter of recommendation to help me in my research. I (finally) got my driving license and thought that I could expand my job search to Luxembourg. I had only a few classes left and I felt ready to drive back and forth from Brussels to Luxembourg to attend evening courses (about 450 km)."

"I received five offers: Société Générale, ABN Amro, PWC, EY and B&S consulting. I went to the career counseling to determine what to do and if all of this would be compatible with my course load (Internships are not part of MIBEM courses, they are an option). Hilde Coppenholle was really patient and helped me find out what company I should opt for. My path was set: I would start with ABN Amro in September and continue in January at EY."

July 2017

"Freshly graduated (Cum Laude, please), I am now sitting in my lounge chair, congratulating myself for choosing KU Leuven.

• I built strong friendships. - friendships that I know will last many years.
• I found myself a job that I love. After my awesome internship, EY decided to hire me.
• I found my true passion. I discovered the challenging yet exciting world of finance, and I actually found out I am good at it.
• I discovered many other cultures. I know people from all around the world. I smile when I remember drinking beers with a table of 50 people from diverse backgrounds. It was a ritual after each exam at the Scott's bar.
• I was in a supportive environment, with an efficient university staff.
• I am now a Blablacar Ambassador and drove 50 000 km in a year.
• I truly developed a work ethic and organization. Juggling between internships, master thesis and top European university courses required a lot of organization and hard work. It wasn’t easy every day but I am proud to have gone through it and now feel more confident in setting challenging goals for myself."

"If I were to do it all again... I'll do it the same way!"

"Maybe I would have learnt dutch and I would have gotten involved in AIESEC and the Business Student Society."

"The main lesson I learnt ?"

"There are no traffic jams along the extra mile"