I graduated, what's next? - Vladimir Zhumakhanov
Before our students turn into alumni, they do one last thing here at Maastricht School of Management. They write a letter to themselves. A “one year after letter” to be exact, where they write down what they expect of the upcoming year. Now a year has passed and our alumni received their “letter to themselves” in the mail. Did their expectations come true? We asked and our alumni answered.
In the third blog of “I graduated, what’s next”, Vladimir Zhumakhanov shares his story. Vladimir is an MSM alumnus who graduated from the Master in Business Administration (MBA) program in 2018. He quickly found himself a job as a Financial Analyst at Medtronic where he worked for over a year. Quite recently, Vladimir started his new job at Catella IM Benelux where he works as a Business Development Analyst. Let’s have a look where he expected to be one year after graduating and if he realized his expectations.
“I always set my expectations too high; in this respect, comparing to what was written in the "one year after letter", I'm pretty much on track, assuming too much risk and accepting challenges.
Honestly, devising a career plan is not an easy task, especially for someone who has "one billion" ambitions. As my boss at Medtronic once said: "There are multiple roads which lead to the North Star."
I feel that I achieved a lot over the past year. I was able to gain experience in a huge multinational corporation in the shared service center, where I was involved in projects for the EMEA region. The scope of my work and my responsibilities were quite broad. I learned here that being a “team” is one of the most important factors. Even one of my closest friends mentioned to me - the most important thing in life is a team. Whatever it is, whether it is "family", "colleagues" etc.
Currently, I work at Catella IM Benelux working for the Acquisition department. The environment here is different compared to my previous job. It is less teamwork and more of a fast-paced business where the execution and speed are crucial. It is a more conservative business, which also has its benefits. At Catella there is a very professional atmosphere, everyone is an expert in what they do. Professionalism is key here. I have always dreamed of a work hard, play hard environment where I can close deals. My current workplace gives me that opportunity and I feel that it fits my requirements at this point in time.
I would like to add that steps have been taken, on a wide organizational level, to internationalize and grow the organization smartly.
For me, this is another step of my life towards glory, which I need to pass with dignity and capture as much as I can in terms of skills and knowledge. I will keep you updated on my pathway, and, again, I would like to express my gratitude to MSM in a sense, that studying an MBA here has certainly played a role in my development. Thank you, MSM. And hopefully, one day my name will be engraved on the stone, devoted to great alumni achievers, in front of the MSM entrance."
Got inspired to start your MBA journey? Have a look at the program page for more information.
