From Hyderabad to Bloomberg: how a Master's alum is living the dream

Saania Rahmatulla’s working day in the office begins not with the bustle of Hyderabad, the city where she spent the first 22 years of her life, but with the quiet, almost ceremonial sight of St Paul’s Cathedral rising beyond the glass of Bloomberg’s London headquarters.

It is a view that she still finds disarming “When I look up from my desk and see the cathedral, I feel grateful,” she says. “It makes you feel that everything you went through to get here was worth it.”

Her journey to that desk – and to a role helping to build Bloomberg’s private credit team – began with a decision to leave behind the only city she had ever known to study a MSc Business & Finance at Warwick Business School (WBS).

Leaving home

Saania, 23, grew up in Hyderabad in India, attending school, university and the beginning of her career all within the same orbit. After completing a business administration degree at ICFAI Business School, she joined Goldman Sachs in a role that leaned heavily towards operations.  

The work was rewarding but it did not offer the financial analysis she wanted. “I realised I needed to get out of my bubble,” she says.

“I was looking for some kind of growth, some change. People kept telling me that as long as you’re in your comfort zone, you won’t see real growth.”

The idea of studying a Master’s abroad – once distant – began to feel necessary.

England was an obvious draw. A cousin living in London spoke enthusiastically about the city, and the prospect of working there carried a certain allure. “Back home, working in London was a dream for many in my class. What a life! It looked so glamorous!”

The reality, she would later learn, is more complex. But the dream was enough to push her to apply for postgraduate programmes in the UK.

One day the offer letter arrived from Warwick and “I decided, yes, ok, let’s take the leap of faith”.

Finding the right academic fit

Warwick Business School had quickly emerged as her preferred option, not only because of its reputation for Finance and Markets research but also due to the help she received from the admissions team. Initially drawn to the MSc Finance degree, she was advised by the team to consider the broader MSc Business & Finance.

The guidance proved prescient. “I didn’t want something too technical,” she says. “The financial management modules gave me the depth I needed.”

Her electives allowed her to explore mergers and acquisitions, while the Business in Practice module – a capstone that replaces the traditional dissertation – offered a simulation of running a company. She served as finance head of a fictional automotive firm, making quarterly decisions on budgeting, investment and debt.

“It was an amazing experience,” she says. “You see profits, losses, where you’re bleeding, where you’re growing. You’re trying to figure it all out.”

The year was not without its challenges. The climate, in particular, was a shock. “I knew it would be cold but I didn’t think it would be so grey,” she laughs. “I kept wondering where the sun had gone.”

Yet the unfamiliarity also forced her to adapt. She immersed herself into the University of Warwick community, joining the Good Food Society and the Warwick Finance Societies as well as attending numerous talks and events on campus.

“You end up joining clubs and being involved in activities you probably wouldn’t have done at home,” Saania reflects.

“The people you meet, the people you surround yourself at university – it changes you. The kind of person I am now is very different to the person I was back home.”

A job with Bloomberg

As Saania’s studies drew to a close, Bloomberg, the global financial news and analytics provider, approached her for a role in its newly formed private credit team in London.

She joined last November, becoming one of the first private credit analysts hired for the London team as the need to provide a spotlight on deals going on in that market expanded.

As well as supplying intelligence to the Bloomberg Terminal, a key deliverer of information and analysis to the financial markets, the WBS graduate is also involved in building the team. 

“Now that new people have joined, I’ve started training them,” she says.

Crowded tube trains and 10-hour shifts are the other side of the coin. London, Saania admits, can feel isolating. But she has come to see that solitude as part of the city’s appeal. “It’s isolating, but empowering,” she says.

“You’re working hard and you’re working on yourself. It gives you time to work on the areas you think you need to improve on and become the version of yourself you really want to be.”

It all came from the leap of faith that took her to Warwick Business School. Now, when she looks up from her screen and sees the cathedral dome, she takes in more than a landmark. She sees the distance she has travelled – and the personal transformation she has undergone.

Discover more Change Makers who realised their potential with Warwick Business School.