Heyerdahl-Larsen was first interviewed by London Business School at the American Finance Association's yearly conference where he presented his job market paper to several institutions. London Business School liked him enough (along with quite a few other institutions) to invite him to London for further interviews.
In London he presented his job market paper to the LBS faculty. Based on this, he was offered a position as an Assistant Professor. This means he is on the 7 year track, hopefully becoming an Associate Professor and finally a full Professor.
At this point in time Heyerdahl-Larsen’s position consists mainly of research, though he also teaches the course "International Finance" to MBA and master students. Teaching a course at this level can be challenging, as the students are about the same age as their Assistant Professor.
An Assistant Professor position at London Business School also involves challenging work as the standards for obtaining a tenured position at Associate Professor level are amongst the toughest in the world.
The way there
Heyerdahl-Larsen holds a Master in Business and Economics (siviløkonom) from BI, and a master in Financial Mathematics from Cass Business School in London. After completing his doctoral dissertation in the Department of Financial Economics on "Asset Pricing with Multiple Assets and Goods", Christian Heyerdahl-Larsen worked as a researcher at The Institute for Financial Research (SIFR) in Stockholm while in the application process with London Business School.
Heyerdahl-Larsen explains that his time as a PhD candidate at BI has helped him prepare for the position he now holds. The Department of Financial Economics is very international with faculty from several countries. English is the language used both for academic and social interactions. Heyerdahl-Larsen was also able to spend 6 months at Texas A.M University, developing the ideas in his dissertation and preparing him for an international career.
The Department of Financial Economics also provided invaluable assistance during and before the application process. The Department encourages the PhD candidates to send papers to top academic journals to be considered for publication from early on in the PhD programme.
Before the job application process, Heyerdahl-Larsen had several mock interviews with many professors in the department allowing him to prepare for the real ones.
