Tessa as a Business Analyst

After obtaining your master’s degree…

You’ve accomplished your masters, and then? There are so many roads to walk, goals to achieve and career opportunities to strive for. Tessa van Bon, alumnus of Tilburg University, is interviewed to reveal some insights in the choices she made after obtaining her master’s degree in Strategic Management. Notably, she ended up working in the corporate finance sector, read further to discover how this happened!

Tessa van Bon

Introducing Tessa van Bon

Tessa van Bon is 25 years old and since two years she is working as a Business Analyst at Witlox Van den Boomen Corporate Finance. Remarkably, Tessa ended up in the corporate finance sector with a master’s degree in Strategic Management. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in International Business. In between these studies she fulfilled the role of Chairman and External Affairs Officer at the study association Asset | Strategy & Logistics for a fulltime year.

From Strategic Management student to Business Analyst

It may sound peculiar to you. Studying in the strategic field and a job in the corporate finance world. However, the corporate finance sector caught Tessa’s attention with the topic Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) from her master studies. “I wrote my master thesis in the area of M&A and already took several finance courses during my studies at Tilburg University and during an exchange program abroad in Toronto, Canada.” Since the Strategic Management master offers very diverse courses, including financial topics, Tessa’s switch is actually not that strange.

After graduating, Tessa was contacted by a recruiter from Witlox Van den Boomen, who found her resume online. She had several job interviews, but has deliberately chosen the company she is still working for. Why? There was a great fit between the job and her studies and as a bonus the offices are located nearby her hometown. The selection procedure consisted of several interviews with a recruiter, a project leader and partner, and a personality- and capability test.

Tessa as a Business Analyst

When we asked Tessa about a typical working day, she couldn’t give us an exact answer. “Every day is different. There are many ad hoc tasks that are not on my planning and I have many different project leaders I work for. Witlox Van den Boomen Corporate Finance is a corporate finance advisory firm specializing in guiding companies in (cross-border) merger-, acquisition-, business succession- and financing issues. The tasks I perform include amongst others conducting company- and market analyses, preparing pitch books, writing information memorandums, approaching potential candidate-buyers and -sellers, and maintaining contact with the international offices within the network Translink Corporate Finance. My contribution mostly takes place in the first half of a regular process. In the short term my goal is to have more client contact and to advise not only in the first half, but stay involved during the whole process up to closing the deal. Therefore, I am happy to say that I will work as a Junior Consultant as of January 2015!”

So what does Tessa like the most about her job? “In the field of M&A you are working at the top level since you have to communicate and settle mostly with the management of companies while discussing on cases that are of significant strategic relevancy. Furthermore, I like that every project is unique, and by times there is enormous time pressure that challenges me.”

 The working life

One time it will change; being a fulltime student stops at some point. We asked Tessa what the biggest change was for her. “I got pretty fast used to my new routine. It wasn’t that hard to get up early every morning, I actually like the structured way of living. I think the hardest change was the necessity of planning everything. I couldn’t make my decisions on a day-to-day basis anymore, for me it basically comes down to cramming everything in the weekend.”

Tips for students and graduates

For all of you who are still studying or recently have graduated, Tessa has some tips! “Extracurricular activities are becoming increasingly valuable on your resume. You can really broaden yourself with experiences like an exchange, internship or being an active member in a committee. And it may sound a bit dull, but good grades certainly add value as well. Having a hard time choosing a direction for your future job? Get in contact with different companies and ask them a lot of questions to obtain a good view on the many possibilities!”

Witlox Van den Boomen