One of them dreamed of becoming a writer, another lived in Madrid and the third grew up in a small town in Abruzzo: Mattia Fiore, Alessandro Mario Ferraro and Mattia Montepara are the three LUISS graduates selected by UniCredit for the Impact Graduate Program. Of the eighteen graduates chosen across Italy and hired for a permanent job, three are from LUISS, which is the only university that can brag of having three of its former students in the program. The program includes three job rotations in a two-year period, which will allow the graduates to compare various departments within the company.
Mattia Fiore chose to enroll at LUISS with some reluctance: "If you want to study Political Science, go to LUISS or stay home," his parents told him. He studied Political Science and International Relations, but after writing his thesis on Contemporary History, he decided to switch to Economics and did a master’s degree in General Management. Then, Mattia says, "I worked for a month as a real estate agent so I would no longer have to depend on my parents." Afterwards, he wrote an experimental thesis at the Aarhus School of Business in Denmark, thanks to an Eni scholarship, did an internship at the American Embassy and got a job at Mercedes in Maastricht: "I was at a point in my career and my personal life where I strongly felt the need for a professional change and to come back to Italy. I happened to come across the UniCredit application on the internet, so I sent my CV." Mattia dreamed of becoming a writer but now finds himself in the advanced professional training program which, as he says, "allows employees to feel like they are in the middle of a focused and ambitious project for growth."
Alessandro Mario Ferraro, who graduated from LUISS in Economics and Finance in November 2013, is now in Verona, where he works in UniCredit’s Corporate Banking center: "In April of last year I was in Madrid, but I wanted to get into banking. By chance, I saw the link to apply and so I did.” It was Alessandro’s experience at LUISS that gave him a solid foundation: "LUISS offered me the chance to enter a competitive, meritocratic world, where, as long as I studied, I would get an education that was highly suitable for entry into the work world. I learned how to analyze details more carefully, while the numerous encounters organized by the University with global figures in economics and finance opened a window to the world of economics." Alessandro still dreams of doing a Master in Business Administration, but in the meantime he is having "a really unique experience.”
Mattia Montepara, like Alessandro, graduated from LUISS’s Economics and Finance Department. He grew up in Orsogna, in the province of Chieti, and was working in Milan when he sent “Impact” his application: "I was looking for something more than just a job. Before UniCredit called me, I had sent out at least 150 CVs and in the summer of 2013 I had done at least 30 interviews." Like his colleagues, Mattia had to pass an online test, go through a phone interview, take an assessment and then do a final interview to become one of the 18 students chosen by UniCredit. "It was a long and tiring process,” says Mattia, “but that just meant I was even happier when I got the offer!"