Sukru Haskan

What did you study at City?

I have studied MSc International Business Economics in 2005-2006.

How did you find the experience?

It was an utterly perfect experience. Not only did I have a chance to get know other cultures, I substantially increased my knowledge on economics, finance, global issues and the UK.

Besides improving my knowledge on programme specific topics, my dissertation taught me to apply econometrics into the real life and get conclusions out of it.

Up until then I was only focusing and trying to write qualitative papers rather than quantitative without getting much into details .

This was very important exercise for me. Given the life is heavily dependent on cause and effect relationship, this exercise enabled me to analyse, think and decide for my actions in different areas of the life.

I believe the course deserved every penny that was paid for it!

What was your favourite aspect of the course?

Debates - The courses were not boring monologues and they were very interactive and intuitive. This enabled me to think fast, and put my agreements in a context before presenting to the class. More importantly, the debates earned the ability to question myths/dogmas/theorems.

Beside the debates, I have to reinforce that the class was very multicultural, with people such as: Greeks, Italians, Turkish, British, Cypriots, etc. This unique point brought different dimensions to every single debate and increased my rapid learning.

The other aspect that I liked was that the course was not purely academic but also very practical. There was access and knowledge to tools like Bloomberg and Reuters, which enhances your skills and increases your employability.

What are you doing now?

I am currently working for DBS Bank, the biggest bank in Singapore and the Southeast Asian region. I am responsible for clients from Europe and Middle East regions.

I had worked for Barclays for 4 years and Saxo Bank for 3 years in London before taking this opportunity in Singapore.

How did studying at City help you get to where you are now?

I had double major (BSc Economics as well as BA Business Administration) from a Turkish university with distinction. After earning my degrees from Turkey, I was a good employable candidate in Turkey.

Earning my City MSc International Business Economics Degree with distinction, made me a global potential hire for global financial institutions.

This degree was the primary factor of success for a 23 years old Turkish international student to find a job in tough market like London.