Moniqua Raiad (EMLV 2018), Financial Analysis and Reporting at PwC France

Moniqua Raiad, a 2018 graduate of EMLV, returned to campus for the 2025 Alumni Fair. Halfway between nostalgia and sharing her experience, she looks back on her career path and sends a message of encouragement to all those who are still searching for their path. Having been there herself, Moniqua offers her best advice for getting your career off to a good start, drawing on the solid foundation she acquired at EMLV.

How did your studies at EMLV contribute to who you are today?

I joined EMLV at the start of the five-year program. So I did two fairly general years. The third year allowed me to do an internship at an accounting firm because I was starting to develop an appetite for numbers, but I realized that it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do.

For the last two years, I decided to specialize in financial management control. As I learned more about the profession, I graduated in 2018 and now work as an Operational Management Controller at one of the largest firms: PwC.

Can you tell us more about your job? What aspects do you particularly enjoy? 

My job involves supporting operational staff and managing their activities, which means analysing their data, preparing financial statements, and assisting them with strategic business decisions, with the aim of improving the company's performance as much as possible.

And that's what I love about this job: making numbers meaningful, bringing them to life, interpreting them, explaining them so that I can support operational staff as best I can, and even enable them to be a little more independent and autonomous in their work.

What challenges are you facing right now? Do you have any particular ambitions, on a more personal level?

I'm currently facing a major challenge with AI and the digitization of many elements. Since we were part of the Big 4, we are very focused on AI, particularly in finance. We are often asked to move towards a more robotized approach, using PowerBI, for example, for reporting on activities and entities. The challenge is therefore to transform these reports. 

My ambition? To develop my skills. In the second phase, to take on a managerial position. This also requires a lot of experience, a lot of professional perspective, and therefore also a maturity that develops through professional skills.

What are the key factors for success in this profession? Any advice for getting started?

Listening skills, rigor, organization, and curiosity, especially for a management controller! These are soft skills that I recommend to anyone who wants to pursue this career path, because you really have to seek out information to understand and interpret the numbers.

Any advice? In a world that is quite hybrid and constantly changing, you have to find yourself, know what you really like, what suits you.

What does being Alumni mean to you?

It's a little extra baggage, an additional professional network. 

It also means mentoring and supporting others. I've had students contact me on LinkedIn about internship opportunities and ask me for advice on internal school projects.

Being Alumni means staying connected to your school and passing on what you've learned. I think it's important because it gives future graduates and current students a glimpse into today's business world, where it stands, what the challenges of tomorrow are, and what is expected of them as future executives in companies.

An Alumna to follow!

LinkedIn Moniqua RAIAD