From Bangalore to Frankfurt: How Frankfurt School Shaped Ritwik Nayak's Global Career

For Ritwik, studying in Germany wasn't just about choosing the right university; it was about choosing a country where he could build a career from day one. Every experience helped Ritwik build a career that has now taken him beyond Germany, from discovering the value of Germany's work-student culture to moving from relationship management into risk management.

Ritwik's Journey at a Glance

• From: Bangalore, India
• Course: Masters in Finance, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
• Decision: Chose Germany over admits from ESADE (Spain) and HEC Paris (France)
• Career Start: Built experience through Germany's work-student program and internships
• Now: Risk Management professional at Commerzbank, currently on a secondment in Malaysia

Here's Ritwik, in his own words.

Q. Tell us about your background.

Right now I'm working at Commerzbank, one of the biggest banks in Germany, as a risk management analyst, and I've been there for five to six years now. Before that, I didn't have a clear plan for Germany at all. I was studying Business Administration at Alliance University in Bangalore, and I was just offered some German language classes as part of the course. I took them, and that's really where I started developing a love for the country. I had always wanted to study abroad, and that’s how I came to think of Germany specifically.

Q. Why did you choose Germany over other options?

Honestly, I assumed it would be too expensive at first. But once I actually researched it, I realized it doesn't cost nearly as much as I expected compared to a masters in India. In Germany, public universities are actually free; you only pay for living expenses. I studied at a private university, Frankfurt School, so I did take a loan for that. During my bachelor's I was also preparing for the GMAT and scored 690 out of 800. Since I was studying business administration, I was always leaning toward finance, so a Masters in Finance felt like the natural next step.

Q. What made you decide on Frankfurt School specifically?

It was a long process, with interviews involved, but I got in, and it's one of the more reputable schools in Germany, highly ranked according to the Financial Times rankings for Masters in Finance programs. I actually got admits from ESADE in Spain and HEC Paris as well, both of which rank higher than the Frankfurt School. What made me choose Germany instead was visa status and convenience. In Spain, you only get about two months after finishing your studies to find a job, and if you don't, you're expected to go back to India. Germany gives you about one and a half years to search for work after any long-term, full-time course, and all you really need to worry about during that time is your living expenses.

Q. Why do you think Germany has become so popular with Indian students recently?

Germany has genuinely always been beneficial in terms of what it offers, but I think it's more popular now because Germany has been actively advertising itself as a destination for people to work. The core reason is demographic; Germany doesn't have a young population. Most people there are older, and the country relies on public healthcare and social contributions that young workers like me pay into through taxes. They simply don't have enough workers, so they've been marketing themselves heavily to India and other countries to bring in that younger population. That said, I do think many people come here just expecting to upgrade their life without really putting in the work. You have to be a little prepared, learn the language (though it's genuinely not that difficult), and be sincere about what you're doing, whether that's focusing on your grades or actively looking for jobs.

Q. What was the biggest thing you discovered once you actually started your masters?

The course structure itself. We only had classes two to three days a week, and we had the rest of the time to ourselves. Most financial companies and banks in Germany run something called a work-student program, where you work alongside being a student, two or three days a week in a genuinely professional capacity, with pay good enough to cover your monthly expenses and then some. Not a lot of people know about this going in. I only discovered it by talking to seniors after I arrived; before that, I genuinely didn't even know what a bank actually did day to day. I'd heard of Deutsche Börse but didn't even know it was the German stock exchange until I started talking to people around me.

Q. How did your first job search actually go?

I applied for internships everywhere, constantly. Out of maybe a hundred applications, I'd get one callback for an interview, roughly a one percent success rate for me personally. Some people have better profiles and get called back more, but that was my reality. The thing is, if someone applies for a couple of jobs, gets rejected, and gives up, it just doesn't work that way. You have to keep applying and keep working on yourself. And honestly, compared to India, where applying for a position at somewhere like the RBI or a big bank headquarters would be incredibly more competitive, the path here is genuinely more accessible if you have a good profile, a reputable school behind you, and some internships to show.

Q. How did you end up at Commerzbank specifically?

I finally got through working as a working student at the German stock exchange, Deutsche Börse, for about six months. Around the same time, I'd also interviewed with Commerzbank, and I got a callback from them a few months later. The role there was more interesting to me, so I made the switch. Since 2019, I've worked at Commerzbank, first in front office relationship management, building pitchbooks and working on trades and deals with other banking clients. Later, when I was looking for a full-time role, an opening came up on the credit risk side, and I applied for that. Applying internally is so much easier than an external application; they already know you. That said, my very first interview with Commerzbank, for the working student position, was still five rounds, an hour each, back to back for five hours straight. It was a genuine grilling, but if you've read up on the bank and the financials, trading books, and products and models from your coursework, you can get through it.

Q. What's the work-life balance actually like at a bank in Germany?

Genuinely good. You don't have to work around the clock. Some projects have deadlines that require extra hours, but on a normal day, it's not overly demanding. If you get into a good bank or company here, the pay is relatively strong too, and you can build a genuinely good life around it.

Q. Can you share a sense of what the finances actually look like?

As a working student or intern, you can expect to make around 2,000 euros a month, which is enough to cover expenses in Germany. When I transitioned to a full-time role, my starting salary was in the range of 60,000 to 65,000 euros a year. With about five years of experience, my base salary before I moved to Malaysia was around 85,000 euros a year, excluding bonuses, which added another 10,000 to 15,000 on top of that. After taxes, health After deducting insurance and social contributions, which total about 40 percent, you're left with roughly 4,500 to 4,800 euros a month in hand on that kind of salary. For living costs, a one-bedroom apartment with an extra room in central Frankfurt runs somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 euros a month, and the rest depends on your lifestyle.

Q. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I'm a licensed skydiver, actually, and I go pretty much every weekend. Germany has the infrastructure to make a hobby like that genuinely accessible; you can just go to a drop zone and follow your passion. There's a lot to do here if you're inclined to look for it.

Q. Can you walk us through the visa process, from student visa to something more permanent?

You really don't need to set aside much money for it, which honestly surprised me compared to what friends studying in the UK have told me they spend. When I applied for my student visa seven or eight years ago, it cost around 6,000 rupees; it might be closer to 10,000 now. Once you arrive, you register your visa at the immigration office, and that's it. After graduating, if you already have a job and specifically a permanent contract, not a temporary one-year contract, you can apply for an EU Blue Card. The salary threshold for that has actually been lowered recently; it's somewhere between 45,000 and 50,000 euros a year now. If you don't have a job lined up before graduating, you're eligible for a job seeker visa, valid for about one and a half years, which in my opinion is more than enough time to find something. Both of these visa processes cost around 100 euros, maybe 110 or 120 now, so about 10,000 rupees total.

Q. What does the path to permanent residency look like from there?

Once you're on a Blue Card and paying social contributions in Germany for about two years, and you have a certain level of German, which used to be A2 but I believe it's B1 now, you become eligible to apply for permanent residency, called the Niederlassungserlaubnis, here. There's also a naturalization-style exam now, which wasn't a requirement when I applied. It's thirty questions pulled from a public bank of about 1,200 possible questions, covering basic German history and everyday integration knowledge, things like how to sort your trash properly or that you can't make noise between 10pm and 6am. You need 60 percent to pass, though most people score much higher than that.

Q. What would you tell someone considering this path?

Don't expect it to be some impossible hustle. It's not about working yourself to the bone; it's about being sincere in what you do. If you're here to study, focus on your grades. Look for jobs actively rather than waiting for them to come to you. I've personally advised a lot of friends and friends of family who were considering Germany, and the biggest thing I tell them is not to get discouraged early. You'll get rejected plenty of times; that's normal. You just have to keep applying and keep working on yourself, and it will genuinely work out.