- Pre-MBA Employment: Business Development, Ford Motor Company, Michigan US
- Post-MBA Employment: Vice-President, Deutsche Bank, New York, US

Prior to coming to Oxford I studied for a bachelor degree in Astronautics from the National University of Defense Technology in China.  After graduation, I joined the Ministry of Aerospace (Chinese equivalent of NASA) as an Aerospace Engineer.  I then moved to the US and started working at Ford Motor Company in Michigan.  While at Ford, I worked in the areas of corporate strategy, business planning, product development and operations, as well as international business development with a focus on Asia Pacific and China. I was based in the US while working on the Ford China program, with the main responsibilities of developing business for Ford automotive component joint venture in China, for which I traveled globally promoting to senior Ford executives and other major automotive companies.

During my time at Ford, I gradually realized the importance of developing a systematic understanding of business fundamentals, such as finance, strategy, markets, and operations, in order to make the right business decisions.  As a person who was brought up in China and never exposed to the financial markets before moving to the US, I also discovered my innate interest in financial investment.  I decided to do an MBA so that I could build deep understanding of business fundamentals, and find a path that would both leverage my industry experience, and explore my intrinsic interest in financial investment. Today I have successfully transitioned into the financial industry and work as a Vice-President and Risk Officer at Deutsche Bank with a focus on private equity investment.

The Oxford MBA program is structured in a way that can be tailored to individual needs.  Soon after entering the MBA program, I came to realize that private equity was the field where I can best utilize my industry experience and MBA knowledge.  I thus actively participated in the activities and was elected as a leader of the Oxford Private Equity Network.  I also chose all my elective courses in finance and investment, and audited several other finance-related courses.  To develop deeper understanding of private equity investment, I joined a team to work on an emerging market private equity-related New Business Development Project, and chose to work on an Individual Project with a focus on private equity investment in China.  All of the above helped me build a deep understanding and knowledge base that were necessary for me to make the eventual transition into the finance industry.

I was head-hunted for my current position at Deutsche Bank.  With a direct reporting responsibility to Deutsche Bank's Global Head of Investment Risk Management and Chairman of a private equity commitment committee, my current role involves managing private equity investment risks, including reviewing private equity deals and proposals from Deutsche Bank's different divisions, making recommendations on capital commitment, as well as monitoring performance of outstanding portfolios.  I'm also responsible in assisting Deutsche Bank's Global Head of Real Estate Finance in making real estate related equity commitment decisions.

If you are looking to make a transition into investment banking and finance, I would recommend the following: Establish a clear goal as early as possible, and while setting up your goal, making sure that your past experience can be transferred into and leveraged by the new role; design a focused and goal-oriented plan, composed of classroom learning, project works, extracurricular initiatives, and networking activities; and finally master the core finance and investment knowledge required by the new role, as finance industry is a technically intense field, and the interview itself will very likely involve testing on investment knowledge and skills.