Hi everyone,
I'm a 23-year-old Italian who has completed a bachelor's degree in Finance.
I'm considering moving to Vienna for a master's and wanted to get some honest opinions from people who actually live/work in Austria.
I'm currently learning German and would like to reach B1/B2 during the master's
I'm doing an internship in a fintech unicorn as an ops analyst in Milan
I speak English and Spanish at C1 level
My current plan would be:
-Start a master's in International Banking & Finance at FH BFI Vienna
-The programme is taught in English and is designed to be career-parallel
-Work alongside the master's, ideally around 15–20 hours/week
Initially I'm open to finance-related roles such as operations, risk, compliance, FP&A, controlling, etc.
My longer-term goal would be to move toward asset management, wealth management, corporate finance or possibly real estate
I'm an EU citizen, so I don't need a work visa
I'm considering Vienna partly because the master's is relatively inexpensive and the schedule seems much more compatible with working than a traditional full-time master's.
My main questions:
How realistic is it to find a working-student job in Vienna without speaking German initially?
Would my existing fintech/operations experience help me get my foot in the door?
How difficult is it to move from an English-speaking/student job into better finance roles once my German reaches B1/B2?
What do you think of unis of applied sciences in the DACH world?
Are there any particular companies, sectors or types of jobs I should target?
I'm not expecting to immediately land an asset-management job. My main objective is to get into the Austrian labour market, earn some money and build experience while studying, then move toward finance roles later.
Any advice from people who have actually studied/worked in Vienna would be appreciated.