On Wednesday we had a presentation by senior executives including the head of Business Processes and Analysis division of Novartis.

They were here to sell their Finance development program (FDP) for executives and were keen for talent from St Gallen.

The FDP is basically a starting point for high profile financial executives into Novartis and intends to groom them to step into CFO roles within a period 5-6 years..

The presentation was interesting and the program seems to be well thought out.. basically the FDP participant starts in Basel (which is the group HQ) and works there for about 15 months in different divisions and then be posted to another country as head of FRA (Financial Reporting and Advisory)..

From there to another international division (like BPA) and finally as a CFO for a company, which is when he/she will have graduated out of the FDP program.

Interesting huh? Yeah.. esp if u are a typical bean counter and like book keeping .. the responsibility , career growth and responsibility. Some guys were interested in M&A and strat planning which had other entry points…

Takeaways: just three weeks and we have the first company trying to sell itself to us.. great way to start ur MBA! And it helps to have a small batch.. u get to interact with these people one on one… so if u r keen to get in at least u could face an interview.. where u can sell urself .. and possibly land a job.