Vasiliki Chalmouki

"I felt it necessary to get a proper education in finance to move forward in my career. Studying at LBS provided me with a network. There were a lot of people within the company who have studied at LBS, so it was really easy to connect with others within my own company and feel like one team all under the London Business School umbrella"

For professionals, juggling a high-level career and an education can be a daunting prospect, with many choosing to focus solely on their role in order to progress. For Vasiliki Chalmouki (MiFPT2014), realising the personal and professional wealth offered by a programme like London Business School’s Masters in Finance quickly turned her part-time studies into real-time results, giving her the grounding to swiftly rise through the ranks at one of the world’s most reputable banks.

“I joined the HBOS Treasury Service in 2008 as an Associate Asset Liability Manger. The company then went on to merge with Lloyds Bank in 2009. This led to me holding three different jobs all within the treasury issuing security for Lloyds. This was up until about seven years ago, when I started the part-time MiF programme”.

Joining the programme part-time gave Vasiliki the grounding to diversify her career path and move into a new area within the company. She says, “The part-time MiF programme gave me both the technical and mathematical skills to target a much more technical role than the one I was doing at the time. It helped me move into a new field - from my previous role as a Corporate Treasury Funding Desk manager, into a structuring position with greater client exposure. Since then, I have moved up within my division to the position of director”.

Despite the challenges, Vasiliki found the support of her employer extremely encouraging in facilitating a balance between work and study, resulting in a highly positive experience. “Studying alongside working was a great experience. Lloyds were very supportive of me and are supportive of people trying to progress their career through different qualifications and classes, even providing me extra leave when I needed it.”

She also found the format of the programme to be extremely beneficial, in terms of both workload efficiency and relevance to her day-to-day role. She says, “The set-up of the part-time programme with LBS means the studying was always manageable alongside my job. It gave me a wider background in finance through getting involved in different projects whilst I was studying on the MiF programme. It also provided practical skills and experience that I could implement in my role straightaway”.

One of Vasiliki’s biggest takeaways from the LBS experience was the sense of community that comes with being an LBS alum, commenting, “Studying at LBS provided me with a network. There were a lot of people within the company who have studied at LBS, so it was really easy to connect with others within my own company and feel like one team all under the London Business School umbrella”.