Breaking into the c-suite can be a long and arduous journey, but Eliomaria Narducci seems to have found a shortcut.
After graduating from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management in 2015, he transitioned from project manager to CEO at the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Germany (ITKAM) in the space of a single year.
His Master in Management (MiM) degree helped lay the foundations for a successful career in international trade.
Why Frankfurt?
Eliomaria had known since his bachelor’s degree that he had managerial ambitions, and a graduate program at business school seemed like the next logical step.
The MiM program offered at Frankfurt School in Germany stood out because of its ‘three day’ teaching model.
Throughout the program, students spend three days of each week working part-time, while three more are dedicated to on-campus teaching.
“The three day model organized by Frankfurt School allows the students to gain not only a very good theoretical knowledge in class,” Eliomaria explains, “but also to have a hands-on experience working three days a week the whole time in a company.”
Transferrable Skills
Throughout his degree, Eliomaria spent a portion of each week working with NORMA, a German manufacturer of machine joining components. There, he assisted the regional CFO, monitoring and reporting on the company’s financial activity.
Even in class, the projects that Eliomaria worked on reflected the real-world work environment.
“Many courses required teamwork. Presentations were done as if the students had to do them for a real firm and these assignments were judged by professors on the contents and our presentation skills,” he says.
“[This] created an environment of knowledge sharing that is difficult to find in other master programs.”
For Eliomaria, maintaining this careful schedule was the biggest challenge posed by the program. “Working and studying at the same time is certainly not easy,” he notes.
But, by challenging students to manage their time effectively, Eliomaria says the three day model sets students up for success in the real world.
Frankfurt School is ranked among the top 10 in Germany for graduate employability, according to the Times World University Rankings.
For the class of 2018, 90% of Frankfurt MiM students gained new employment within six months of graduation; 35% got new jobs before even graduating. Graduates from the program can expect an average salary of around €56,500 ($64,000).
“The experience and knowledge that students receive translates immediately after they study the program into a high rate of employability,” Eliomaria says
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Being CEO
Eliomaria got his job at ITKAM after meeting representatives from the Italian community in Germany at an event hosted by the school.
He joined ITKAM as a project manager in 2015, and was soon promoted to head of business planning. After just 12 months with the organization, he was appointed CEO.
What Eliomaria learned during his Master in Management still helps him in his CEO role today. He continues to work and study at the time, pursuing a PhD in management alongside his full-time job.
“As far as my career development, I have a lot to thank Frankfurt School for,” he reflects.
“I look at the companies and positions that me and my classmates have reached in this short amount of time after graduation, and I could not feel prouder.”
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