Vainius Glinskis
Committee member of the Edinburgh University Club of New York and recent economics graduate Vainius Glinskis tells us how he ended up in in the Scottish capital and describes his young career to date.
| Name |
Vainius Glinskis |
| Degree |
Economics |
| Year of Graduation | 2015 |
Why did you choose the University of Edinburgh?
I remember the exact moment I had considered Edinburgh University. University representatives came to visit my high school and gave a presentation along with Oxford. I went because I thought learning about the British universities would be interesting. However, I was captivated by what the representatives said and when I came home that night I sort of jokingly said to my parents I would be going to Scotland for University. I even posted that sentiment on Facebook that night and laughed when I saw it pop up again on my feed years later, because I still struggled to commit to that sentiment for many months.
I ended up accepting an offer from an American university and then cancelling it later to commit to Edinburgh because I knew I would regret not chasing an off the beaten path to higher education even if it seemed daunting at the time.
Now I can look back to my many fond experiences from making friends with people all over the world, to participating in many of the unique societies to interacting with amazing professors.
I knew I would regret not chasing an off the beaten path to higher education even if it seemed daunting at the time.
Tell us about your experiences since leaving the University
I currently live in New York City where I am from and work at Moody’s Investors Services, a financial services firm.
I initially received a job offer to teach English in Japan for a year, which was a way to extend my adventures abroad. However, it proved very difficult to get many job leads for a career in finance back in the US after I graduated, so I took an offer to work in Moody’s Analytics instead.
After working for two years in a client-facing technical role, I switched to develop Moody’s credit rating methodologies for Structured Finance.
I got involved with the Edinburgh University Club of New York after I went to an event that they hosted together with the Business School. It was such an amazing event with spectacular people that I wanted to help organize more gatherings.
Alumni wisdom
My piece of advice is specific to foreign students, particularly American students who would like to pursue a career in the financial industry after graduation.
There are three options for these students after they graduate as far as I can tell through my experience and those of my peers.
- You find a job in the UK (probably London).
- If you want to come back home or work anywhere else you’ll have to pursue a master’s degree in a university within that country.
- You have personal or family connections where someone can hand your resume to the hiring manager. Many large financial institutions in the United States have a very specific process to hire graduates from American universities directly. I would hear back from these firms when applying to their London team, but would never hear back from their American counterparts, not even to get rejected.
Related Links
Edinburgh University Club of New York Facebook group (external link)