For talented graduates seeking to excel, a career with Lehman Brothers is an attractive prospect. This prestigious firm, an innovator in global finance and a member of the HEC Foundation since December 5, 2006, can pick and choose recruits from the top business schools in the world – and frequently chooses graduates from HEC.

A leader in investment banking, equity and fixed income sales, trading and research, private investment management, asset management and private equity, Lehman Brothers recorded global net revenues of US$17.6 billion in 2006. Headcount doubled to nearly 26,000 between 2002 and 2006 and the firm has the largest trading volume of any dealer on the London Stock Exchange.

The HEC difference

Naturally, such success is based on the talent and drive of the firm's employees. Ellen Miller, a London-based Managing Director of Lehman Brothers, Europe, notes that the firm recruits associates "with good first degrees, three to five years' work experience and a top-class MBA."

Miller describes the HEC MBA as "very highly regarded", highlighting the recent Financial Times MBA global business school rankings which showed that HEC has risen almost 20 places since 2005 to rank 18th globally and 7th in Europe. "HEC stands out for the international diversity of its students and for its promotion of international mobility. The quality of the students HEC draws from across Europe makes it one of the best schools on the continent."

Full speed ahead

New MBA graduates join Lehman Brothers as associates and are usually promoted to director after 2.5 to 3 years. The first few years are extremely demanding and the learning curve is steep. As Miller explains, "The challenge is to understand the way the industry works and your role within the organisation."

HEC MBA graduate Guido Lang agrees. He works in the Structured Finance Department of Lehman Brothers and notes that, "I haven't worked in this sector before, so it is important for me to understand new subjects quickly and to be able to turn that new knowledge into results."

For Lang, the MBA classes in Financial Statement Analysis and Corporate Finance were particularly useful. While the Financial Markets class allowed him "to gain a general understanding of how markets function and how investment banks operate", it was the General Management and Human Resource courses that helped him appreciate the strength of the Lehman 'One Firm' culture. As such, Lang believes the HEC MBA provided him with essential skills both to navigate the complex environment of international finance and to excel in a dynamic international firm.