When Justina Hu and Anwesha Das joined the ESSEC Master in Management (MiM) program in 2022, neither knew their career goals clearly.

Anwesha, who comes from India, had studied electronics engineering and wanted to shift to the business world. Justina, who comes from Spain, had a law and business administration degree and was considering a finance role.

As they close in on the end of their MiM program, their perspectives have changed vastly.

Answesha is aiming for an M&A internship in Europe and wants to work in investment banking. Justina, who is part of the LVMH Chair and Women@Dior initiative, is well on her way to a career in the luxury brand market.

The two credit this career clarity to the internship opportunities the MiM program afforded them.

Learning About Their Strengths and Interests

“My internship went beyond providing professional experience to helping me find my career path,” says Anwesha, an M&A analyst at Equiteq.

She shares that she found the job by networking with an ESSEC Asia-Pacific alumni during an ESSEC Career Fair.

Their conversation led to a job offer. She spent a year at the firm supporting deals by preparing pitches, following up with investors, creating marketing materials, and working on due diligence processes.

Her interest in the field grew with her experience. “I am now positive that I want to work on live deals in the future,” she says.

Like Anwesha, Justina found her role through a contact she met at an ESSEC Career Fair.

She began working at Christian Dior as an APAC Retail Performance and Operations Intern, where she helped implement various apps for employees, such as those for recording customer information or checking stock.

Particularly memorable for her was the opening of the Christian Dior boutique at ION Orchard, where she was the main person responsible for launching an app for the big event.

Understanding how a luxury brand works only fuelled Justina’s desire to work in the sector. The experiences also gave her the edge to secure an internship with the watch brand Atelier Wen.

ESSEC Training Builds a Strong Foundation

Reflecting on their forays into the working world, Anwesha and Justina believe that the lessons learned at ESSEC helped them excel at their internships.

“At ESSEC, we’re always working in diverse teams. This trained me to work in a setting like Christian Dior’s where I needed support from people from different local markets,” Justina explains.

“Now, I’m in a more client-facing position at Atelier Wen. There are also different profiles to connect with, and I can do that easily because of the group work and my classmates at ESSEC.”

Anwesha says the MiM curriculum is also well-tailored for the industry.

“I took the Corporate Finance track at ESSEC, and courses such as Principles of Finance and M&A were invaluable for my interview process and the actual internship,” she says.

Although the learning curve was steep, within three months, she was selected to join a deal team working on due diligence processes.

“It’s the toughest part of a transaction, so this was a huge demonstration of confidence in my abilities,” she proudly shares.

Advice for Fellow MiM Students

Anwesha advises MiM students starting internships simply to “learn as much as you can”.

“These internships are the best way to get hands-on training and contact industry professionals regularly. So make the most of it by asking for advice, going beyond your duties, and trying to absorb as much as possible,” she says.

Justina adds that it also helps her be open-minded and take advantage of the MiM program’s flexibility to explore, recalling how she went from an interest in finance to consulting before finally reaching where she is today.

“Try everything because the more you do, the more you will know what you like and don’t,” she advises.