Zuhaib Khan

Zuhaib, from India, graduated from the University of Dundee with an MSc in International Business and Finance in 2010. He now works for Morgan Stanley as an analyst.

What was your background prior to commencing studies at Dundee?

I did my undergraduate degree at Jamia Millia Islamia University New Delhi - a Bsc(H) in International Business & Finance. Just after that I worked for Wipro Bpo for almost two years.

Why did you choose to come to Dundee University?

I had already been accepted by a few universities in Australia and some universities in the UK too but they all were quite expensive which I couldn't afford as my father is a small-businessman in Varanasi (Banaras), India, and he did not have enough to finance my education abroad. In my mind I always had a dream to study abroad so kept doing research about the universities in UK and Australia. Once there was an education fair in one of the consultancy agencies in New Delhi and I came across a representative from University of Dundee who gave me some information which was quite impressive, like for commonwealth countries there was scholarship of £2000 which was important to me. I went through the modules for International Business Finance which were quite impressive too. The University of Dundee is an affordable and respected institute.

Celebrating Holi

What was your experience of studying at the University?

Studying in University of Dundee was an amazing experience, professors like Denis Petre, Shushil Mohan, Monojeet Chaterjee and Catia Montagna are the best in their respective field so grab as much knowledge and experience while you are under them. In short, it's a brilliant university to study at.

Tell us about your job hunt

After completing my Masters from the University of Dundee in MSc International Business & Finance I started working for BT Retail as a customer service adviser (as a temporary position) and meanwhile I kept applying for jobs. My main focus was on all the graduate jobs, for the first 6 months I did not get any reply from any of the positions that I applied to, so I knew there was something wrong with my resume or the competency based answers that I sent. From then I started working on my resume to make it better, I also showed my competency based answers to a few of my friends and professors so that I could express those answers in a better way. A few months later I started getting replies from the applications that I made, and for some did get through to the telephone interview as well, but I had to try more which I did.

In March, I applied for the Morgan Stanley graduate scheme as an analyst and then I left to go to London for a job as an accountant in a small firm. A month later I got the call from Morgan Stanley informing me that I have been selected for the telephone interview; I contacted Nadeem Khan as I knew he already has very good experience in telephone interviews. After a little bit of research by myself and major help from Nadeem Khan I had my telephone interview and got selected for the assessment centre. For the assessment centre the interview question were predefined with a group activity.

Before going for the assessment center I contacted Morgan Stanley's VP of Operations through email and requested whether "I could speak to him and ask a few questions before my interview". He agreed to speak and after speaking to him my knowledge about Morgan Stanley was 10 times more than before and it also gave me confidence and motivation towards this interview. The assessment center went brilliantly and totally unexpectedly, two days later I was informed that I have been offered the job at Morgan Stanley. It was a dream come true and something which can not be expressed in words. All my thanks goes to God Almighty, to my family and my friends.

Do you have any advice for students and graduates looking for jobs?

The only advice that I would like to give is don't lose hope and keep trying. There is always something better waiting for if not here then somewhere else. So keep looking.