"I want to travel a lot and work in different countries and cultures"
Roman Syumaikin, MIB alumni 2014, talks about his current projects and shares future plans.
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| Roman Syumaykin |
Professional areas of interest: Supply Chain (FMCG), Project management
Languages proficient in: Russian, English
Favorite book: “The Financier” by Theodore Dreiser
Dear Roma, please, tell us, what were your primary motives to enroll in the Master of International Business program at the Higher School of Economics? To what extent your expectations about the program have been met?
I finished Moscow Aviation Institute, so I have a strong technical background. Before entering the HSE I had been working as an engineer at Boeing. The main motive to enter MIB program was the lack of knowledge in different areas such as finance, management, marketing, etc. I was looking for an opportunity to study everything in English. I considered three universities which offered similar programs. After collecting all the information and a couple of meetings, HSE was chosen and now I am happy about that choice. The program definitely exceeded my expectations. I was happy to be a part of a great group of highly educated students with different backgrounds and every day I learned a lot from them. I also was impressed by the professors and guest speakers (It was my first experience in case studies/presentations approach which helped me a lot in the future).
In your opinion, what are the most important and useful skills you have acquired while being an MIB student?
The following skills were the most important for my future career:
- Working in a team (one of the most difficult but absolutely necessary skill)
- Analyzing case studies
- Presentations (From the technical preparation of amazing presentations to the ability to present the main point during a short period of time)
- Exchange program with the University of Parma.
Speaking about your career path, we know that you have some significant achievements and opportunities. Would you, please, share with us your story.
During the HSE MIB program I changed a job and joined Accenture Consulting. I always wanted to try consulting as I’d heard a lot about the skills and opportunities it could give. It was an extremely difficult time in my life as I had to work as consultants usually work (12 hours a day) and finish the Master Thesis. I still think that I deprioritized my Master Thesis and did not do my best. Thanks God I didn’t fail at least and graduated from the program.
At the same time, during these 6 months I took part in the selection process for Heineken IGP (International Graduate Program). All the skills from HSE and international exchange helped me a lot (I would not be even considered for IGP without these experiences). Finally I was among the 14 students selected from 22000 from all over the World. This is one of the most significant achievements in my career for now. But I am not going to stop here on this achievement. One of the most important goals for me now is to be the best during IGP (3 countries, 6 months each). All the International Graduates are evaluated according to the following table:
1. Unsatisfactory
2. Partly meets Expectation
3. Meet Expectation
4. Exceed Expectation
5. Outstanding
My first assignment was in France; I worked at the HQ in Paris. It is an extremely difficult task to deliver any value to a company having only 6 months and a huge language barrier. The quality of work and all the standards are high, people are real professionals and highly educated. Despite everything I had a great time there, did a good job, met a lot of interesting people and finally was evaluated by managers as Outstanding. The first target achieved. The next step is Mexico where I’ve been working for 3 weeks now.
What are your plans for the future?
The plan for the future is to build a great career and become a top manager of a company as soon as possible. I want to travel a lot and work in different countries and cultures. It is a great challenge which will not allow me to relax and stop developing myself.
What would you say to the current and future students of the MIB program?
If I can say something to the students it would be only two main things which came to my mind:
1. Never give up. Someone said, "Success is going through failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Nothing is easy, we have to fight with all the circumstances and create ourselves. No excuses.
2. Keep dreaming. “If we fill our head with the knowledge, there will not be a place for a dream”.