Tuesday 13th of November
The Grand Opening of the sixth edition of the Econometric Career Days (ECD) was held on the thirteenth of November in the Erasmus Pavilion. With some great activities, this ECD was bigger than it has ever been. It included fourteen company cases, four presentations, two company dinners, wine tasting, laser tag and a masterclass in quantitative finance, which was new for the ECD event. The three speakers at the opening were Koen The, CEO at Lendahand, Dr. Job Elders, Partner at Greenfield Capital Partners and Peter Frans Pauwels, Co-founder of TomTom. All of them came up with inspiring speeches. After this, there was a question session, moderated by Ed Ram. Students had the opportunity to ask some questions with a specific app. In the end, four companies were pitching and after this students had the chance to talk with recruiters from those companies during the drink in the pavilion.
Wednesday 14th of November
On Wednesday, November 14, the participating students had cases from AEGON, MIcompany, and Deep Blue Capital. Furthermore, there was a presentation from RTL Company, and the day closed off with a dinner with Ab Ovo Company.
The RTL Company presentation gave a lot of insight into the use of data and data analysis in the company on a daily basis. “When thinking of RTL, one usually just thinks of TV. However, the company has broadened itself into so many more areas. During the mini-case that we had to solve at the end of the presentation, we were offered an extensive data set and were asked which ones we would use to measure the success rate of a certain TV programme. This showed the significance of data analysis to RTL, which was very interesting.” - Anique van Schijndel
Thursday 15th of November
On Thursday, there were three cases and a presentation. In the morning, Gupta Strategists held a presentation and PointLogic had a case. After lunch, two other cases started: Tata Steel and Deloitte!
All events were a success and the Deloitte case was a bit different than a standard econometrics case. “Beforehand, we already heard this case was an ‘escape room inside-out’ which made everyone very curious what we would be doing for the next couple of hours. As Deloitte is a very big company and has multiple fields it specialises in, the goal of the case was to let us solve several smaller problems that all belonged to a different field Deloitte is active in. In the end, all groups had to give pitches as if we were consultants. The more problems you had solved, the more information for the pitch you obtained. Afterwards, there was a drink with the employees where we could talk with them for quite a while. All in all, it was a very exciting case and especially the drink afterwards gave everyone the opportunity to ask whatever they wanted about Deloitte.” - Carlijn Otto
Friday 16th of November
On Friday, the day started off with a case from ABN-AMRO and the E-assessment training. In the afternoon, a masterclass was given by Angeline Kemma and the day ended with a lasertag with employees from ABN-AMRO.
During the E-assessment training, 2nd year bachelors up to master students were prepared for one of the most important parts of a job application: the E-assessment. “During the workshop, we learned what an e-assessment is, why it is used and how you can best prepare for it. Furthermore, we got the opportunity to try two tests ourselves to get a clear impression of what an e-assessment consists of and what parts I still need to work on.” - Louise ten Harmsen van der Beek
The ABN AMRO case
Monday 19th of November
On Monday, November 19th, the field trip to Schiphol took place. In the morning, 30 students traveled all the way to Amsterdam to have an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour. “After a presentation about Schiphol and its main structure, we got into a bus and had a four-hour long tour. The highlight of the tour was certainly the moment where we used the runway to get to the fire station, whereafter we got a guided tour by two of the firemen who were working their shift that day. When we came back from the tour, we had three presentations about the application possibilities of econometric models within the marketing and operations departments of Schiphol. Overall, this trip gave such a nice insight into Schiphol and the way it operates as a business!” - Rick Kessels
In the evening, the Quantitative Finance Dinner was the perfect opportunity for the econometrics students who are interested in finance to ask any questions about the companies PGGM, ING and Torqx. “During the Quantitative Finance Dinner, I got the opportunity to get to know companies in the field of Finance. Pension fund manager PGGM, one of the largest Dutch banks ING and private equity investor Torqx were all present to tell us about their company, career possibilities and of course convince us why you should definitely work there. Next to the formal chit-chat, it was nice to see that every company had a real international vibe. From doing your traineeship abroad in Singapore or New York to working on international M&A deals and having seminars in New York or London, these stories all came up during the dinner. Then, after switching out information, it was time to switch tables, get your glass of wine refilled and get ready to talk again with the next company. This all happened under the roof of the fancy restaurant Dudok het Park, which was situated in a monumental Heerenhuys, close to the Euromast. All in all, the Finance Dinner was a great experience where I got to know more about the different directions you could endwithinh in the world of finance, while enjoying a fantastic dinner in a beautiful location.” - Mateusz Galle
The Finance Dinner
Tuesday 20th of November
On Tuesday the 20th of November, there were cases from Bol.com, Optiver and IMC Trading. Next to this, TBA Group gave a presentation and the day ended with a wine tasting with EY.
“I signed up for the Optiver case because I did not have a clear view of what the world of trading encompasses. The case has really opened my eyes. The concepts of trading were explained in a understandable and enthusiastical manner. Furthermore, the trading game was exciting and gave me more insights in the strategies of market making. I did not know what to expect when I walked into the room, but I walked out definitely more interested in trading!” - Louise ten Harmsen van der Beek
One of the informal events of the Econometric Career Days 2018 was the EY wine tasting. “I had the pleasure to go there to taste some wine and meet employees of EY. The evening started in the cellar, where the owner and our host for the evening told us about the vast amount of different wines available (Already 11.000 wine producers in the Bordeaux area alone). Here we started with the first glass of the evening; a Lambrusco. After this, we went upstairs and sat down. While enjoying different wines and a risotto ball we had the possibility to learn more about the company EY and the people working there. The conversations touched topics like working or doing internships at EY, the clients they have, but also more informal topics like TV series. At the end of the evening, I had learned more about both wine and EY. The EY wine tasting was a great success!” - Tyko Kieskamp
Wednesday 21st of November
The final day of the ECD consisted of an Ab Ovo case and a LinkedIn training in the morning, and a presentation from KLM and a Milliman case in the afternoon. Last but not least, the ECD ended with a closing drink at NRC.
“It was very interesting to hear what kind of jobs econometricians can do at KLM. Two people who are following the traineeship were present and they even let an employee who is based in Paris fly in for the presentation. It also included a small case during which we had to decide what the best response from KLM was as two budget airlines were going to fly the same route. Groups had to decide how to form the pricing strategy for that route and how to give customers more incentives to choose KLM. After the presentation and the case, it was clear to me that KLM is not just perfect to choose as an airline, but also great to have as an employer!” - Rebecca van Essen
During the long week of the Econometric Career Days, students have worked really hard to make the most out of the events. The input and focus of all students of course had to be rewarded and hence we enjoyed the open bar at NRC at the Witte de Withstraat to celebrate the ending of a very educational and successful ECD!
We want to thank the ECD 2018 Committee for making this year’s event such a big success. They have been working really hard behind the scenes to let the entire week endure perfectly and have succeeded very well doing so. On to many more years to come!
The ECD 2018 Committee that made the entire week possible!