Alexandre El Ghaoui
Current job title, company: Senior Associate at Albright Stonebridge Group
Location: New York
Interests/Hobbies: Geopolitics, international affairs, playing soccer, cooking, reading, and running.
Did you ever consider going to graduate school? How did you decide to apply instead of going into the workforce?
I plan on going to business school next Fall (Fall 2026). After my MBA, I want to pivot to Investment Banking in the short-term and then eventually Private Equity, with a focus on the Gulf region. I decided to apply to business school because to I need the degree to pivot to IB.
What is the main piece of advice you’d like to share with current econ majors?
If you are undecided about what you want to do in your career (completely normal at your age) and consider yourself a hard worker, go into Investment Banking. While it will be incredibly challenging, you will a) earn respect from other employers; b) learn a ton (including many transferrable hard and soft skills); c) make a lot of money. It is much easier to start in Finance and pivot elsewhere than the opposite without the expensive and time-consuming endeavor of business school.
What was your favorite econ class? What did you like about it?
Econ 302: intermediary macroeconomics. Taught me everything I need to know to read and clearly understand the financial section of the WSJ and Financial Times.