Matteo Spiller is a former student of Ca’ Foscari University, Doctor in Business Management with 110/110 cum laude. From October he’s in New York, where he works for BNP Paribas and expresses the excellent preparation offered by our University.
Tell me about yourself: why did you choose to study Business Management at the Ca' Foscari University?
I can say that economy is a family business; since I was a little kid I always heard talks about banks, finance, capital increases and financial news. Almost without wanting it, I became keen on these topics, they were my bread and butter. In 2010, I enrolled Accounting at the Istituto Tecnico Economico Riccati-Luzzatti of Treviso, where I was born. At this school I became even more interested in economic matters and, after the diploma, I felt it was natural to continue my education in Business management at Ca’ Foscari University.
What courses did you attend at University?
As soon as I started my university courses, I realized that what I learnt from books wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to discover more and more! The more I studied and the harder I worked, the more I understood that I needed to explore and get in-depth knowledge. That’s why during my university career I did different things: for example, I joined the University Association CaFoscariNow, I won the election and became Member of the Management Department and then I joined the Joint Professors Students Committee of my course. Additionally, I attended the innovative learning laboratory Active Learning Lab – Urban Innovation.
At University you were engaged in several activities, also as president of Invenicement. Would you like to tell us more about Invenicement and your experience?
Invenicement is a platform thanks to which students who are interested in Finance and Business can integrate their specific knowledge and step up their game through the various initiatives that are proposed and that they propose and contribute to implement. Thanks to Invenicement, the first Business & Finance Club of our University, I met very competent people who enabled me to grow more than any other professional experience, like Andrea Ropele e Mirko Cauci. My first contact with Invenicement was as project staff, then I became bursar and eventually the Club’s President.
What was your international experience during your university career?
In the summer of 2017 I went to Brussels where I interned for the Association European Union Experts. I joined the Finance Intern project, answering a task to improve the management of relationships between financial and industrial companies concerning EU funds. Afterwards, I went to Germany, namely to Stuttgart, at the Hochschule Heilbronn, on a six-month Erasmus experience. In the same period, the Startup Hevai was created; it was born out of the awareness that in Italy, to date, many people cannot receive home caring, often due to slow bureaucracy and the lack of a direct contact point between demand and supply. I can confess I thoroughly enjoyed university life. I spent two and a half busy years, but I’m really pleased with it! In addition to being involved in many activities and experiencing different training approaches, you managed to graduate early. Was it a random choice or was it motivated by your desire to start working? In February 2018 I had already passed all the exams and I decided to graduate early so that I wouldn’t waste time. I wanted to start working and experiment different and challenging work experiences. Initially, in Treviso, I started working for KPMG, a network that supplies professional services to businesses, but then I seized a job offer and moved to Milan to start an experience in Citibank.
From Treviso to Milan, and then to New York. How did you land a job in BNP Paribas and what exactly do you do?
During the last summer I felt the need to travel the world and I started sending my curriculum abroad. In New York, the BNP Paribas group showed appreciation for my curriculum and offered me a position in a team of experts in the Risk & Monitor Department. In particular, we monitor the bank liquidity and make sure that all the Federal Reserve System (FED) requirements are fulfilled. This is the most challenging work experience for me to date, I’m really testing myself. My job is very technical, but the group is investing in me, giving me this opportunity and teaching me many interesting things.
What do you think about your new international career and what convinced you to move so far away from Italy, in addition to your desire to travel?
New York is completely different from us. At a banking level, I can say that New York banks are more developed than ours. It seems to me that in Italy sometimes we study topics that our banks don’t often deal with, while here in the States everything is more technical, people are prepared and the topics we read in books are really put in practice. Another reason that convinced me to move abroad are the economic conditions of interns and newly hired young people. Often, in Italy students are exploited in their first work experiences and receive an inadequate pay, that sometimes is just a refund of expenses. Here in the States some of the people I know one year into their employment already earn astonishing figures. Eventually, I think that the American mind-set is different from ours: I feel like they assess my skills and not my age bracket.
Was it difficult to leave your routine and your loved ones in exchange for this new adventure?
The most challenging choice I made for my career was also the most important one, moving to New York. Here I’m learning many things, but deciding to leave everything in Italy wasn’t easy. I had to leave my family, friends and dear ones, even give up a job at the Bocconi University. I gave up some certainties and I threw myself into this gigantic experience, I’ve risked a lot, but with every passing day I’m happier and happier with my decision.
