UNIGE Master of arts in international trading, Commodity finance & shipping
Hey all!
Current undergrad student at a target in my country with internship experience in commodities trading. I am looking at my options for when I finish my degree, and am considering various different routes especially seeing as graduate programs (and there are very few openings across the industry in general) are highly competitive. I just started looking at UNIGE's Master of arts in international trading, commodity finance and shipping. How well do students place at the supermajors and commodity houses? How would a degree here stack up against a degree from top EU schools like LSE or Oxford/Cambridge for a career in physical commos? I would appreciate any insight you guys may have into this.
The Master of arts in international trading, Commodity finance & shipping at Université de Genève is unique. It combines the academics of an international university in Genève and practical on-the-job experience in Geneva... In this 25km2, this is the highest concentration of physical traders anywhere in the world. It's the game level.
The program in partnership with the Swiss Trading and Shipping Association, STSA David Fransen VITOL, Dominique Le Doeuil CARGILL, Nicolas Tamari SUCAFINA and so much more.
Unlike other programs, they absolutely don't do it for money, think the tuition fees is like 800 USD per year. It's specialized in energy, shipping softs, dry and concentrates. As you know, you have to secure a intern/apprenticeship offer with a STSA member to get there. Usually companies who send people: Mercuria energy trading, S.A Cargill, Duferco, CS, BNP Paribas, Louis Dreyfus Commodities Suisse, Gunvor, ADM International Sàrl, Koch Supply & Trading Sàrl, Totsa Total Oil Trading, Addax Energy, Socar Trading, ED&F Man, Litasco, Metinvest, Gerald Metals, Englehart Commodities Trading Partners, Bunge, Barry Callebault all kind of specialized traders , gas, petroleum, sugar, cotton, coffee, metals, concentrates.
Classes are held bi-weekly Friday afternoons and Saturday morning.
Some people fly from very far ( even outside of Switzerland), reserve an hotel room in Geneve to attend these Friday afternoon classes Saturday morning... Beyond this they must think their benefits (future employability) from this program is priceless.
It gives an idea of the level of motivation and the caliber of the selectes students as well as the contacts/network you make in Commodity Trading in Switzerland
Think it's world class, and just invaluable.
I guess i'm too late... What did she tell you? Would you be willing to share your experience? I'm interested how many places there are/how big the class is and the GMAT requirements This program looks really decent.
Sure thing. Well I expected the talk to be very formal but she was really supportive and clear about what they can and can not do for their students. It felt more like she is trying to open the door for people into the industry and not so much like just selling the program.
First things first....the GMAT. The minimum score is 500 and she told me that 600 is just fine(my 650 felt like total overkill). I read that about 120 people apply and that the class size is somewhere around 30.
They don't have any language requirements and according to her a lot of people don't bother to lern any french at all.
They changed the program format because they are seeking some further accreditation and therefore have to offer this more academic pathway also. If you are not interested in 2 more years of studying and rather choose to work then you could do that from February the earliest.
As far as finding work goes...they don't provide students with any help what so ever. She referred me to the STSA site (https://stsa.swiss/stsa/members) and told me that students just cold call the firms themselves. Well, no help is maybe not fair...there will be a jobs fair around October. The sense I got though was that it is totally up to us to land a job and when we do, we have to stay there for 2 years or pay back the tuition fees.
It was very difficult to get anything out of her concerning the compensation. It was my first time in Switzerland and paying 9€ for a beer just seems ridiculous so I really needed to know if it is possible to get by on the kind of money students get...and I got a clear, yes! She couldn't talk about the actual amounts because that varies significantly(experience, type of shop, ...) but she said I could rent a room for around 700francs and have enough left to get by.
Oh and btw she even mentioned St.Gallen and that people get into the business that way too. They have a few commodity related classes and the head of the MBF program told me that they want to expand on it. They also got approached by some trading association to partner up with them next year. The class size will shrink though, to 120 people next year(average GMAT of this year's class: 729).
That's pretty much it. I hope it helps.
I've met a parade of STSA operator certificate, DAS, Masters 15'16'17' graduate during the IP week. They are all tight, very international, best-trained and think they are all absolutely competitive in Geneve.
They have lived the dream, have done some internships but seemingly they are still all seeking: landing into a Job !
This is very contextual about this industry.
Exhaustively how much positions have been eliminated versus the jobs have been created in the last 5 years. Also not helping, CS and others in the swiss banking have restarted cutting heads, these people have attributes to land into the trading houses around Geneve.
The most recent grad I know of this program worked throughout with a major trading house, the work was quite monotonous at times (you tend to do the dull stuff) but the exposure to senior guys is second to none. Never the less this individual has/is/was struggling to find a position with said trading house, and will potentially be moving elsewhere - that being said, last I heard they weren't having loads of luck finding opportunities.
It seems like a really good course to get stuck into (as long as you have the placement job alongside it, which is no longer mandatory) but if you can get in on one of the other entry levels schemes or in an ops/logistics role, then do that!