Irina

My name is Irina and I am Russian and lived in St. Petersburg where I studied till the age of 21. I got my Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Saint Petersburg State University after which I went to the University of Hamburg where I got a scholarship for my Master’s degree in Management. After this, I worked in Brussels as a research associate at MSCI inc., and I have been accepted for an MBA and MS (joint degree) in Advanced Finance at IE Business School. I speak Russian, English, French, Spanish and German and my area of expertise is corporate finance.

I was working as a research analyst and wanted to make a career switch to investment banking and work as an M&A analyst. However, with the type of education and professional experience that I had, this type of position was inaccessible for me. Therefore a Master of Science in Finance from a top business school was essential.

I chose IE for various reasons, the first being academic excellence. IE comes among the top ten finance programs in Europe along with HEC, ESSEC, ESCP, Oxford, LBS, etc. Secondly, it is the only program that offers a joint degree that you can complete in one year. I could do both an MBA and MS, at the same time. Finally, I am a polyglot and love learning languages and I felt that after learning German and French it was time for me to learn Spanish.

Like everybody else, I found that the GMAT was not very easy. It was not the test that was difficult, rather it was finding the time to work on the GMAT to get the 700 required to have access to the course. It was difficult to manage work, family and social life and GMAT preparations all in one go. But I persevered and here we are. The second challenge was the application process itself. When I applied for the course, I already had a Bachelors's and a Masters's degree and I was pretty young. It was difficult to explain that at the age of 25 I wanted to go for two more masters after only two years of work experience. In this respect, the job that Dr. Hubert Silly did was essential as he helped me build a profile career and interest that would require an MBA and MS and something that IE could buy. All that requires a lot of expertise and having coached a lot of students since the inception of MBA Center Dr. Hubert Silly knows and understands the process and what the schools are looking for in the candidates.

Life as a dual major at IE is pretty interesting, to say the least. The classes cover a wide range of topics, from both the courses and it is quite exciting, co-relating both of these. The student body is very vast and you get to see a lot of different cultures in play on any given week. A great number of activities are planned to help the students get in contact with each other and form networks amongst themselves, which is a great way of building the IE spirit.

The first piece of advice is with regard to the timing of your degree. I was only 25 when I decided to go for my degree after only two years of work experience. Some people will do this degree at the age of 25, while others will do it at 30. There is no rule. Do an MBA when you feel that you are not improving fast enough and that it is time for you to speed up your career. When I was in class at IE I was the youngest but there were others who were 35-36, and all had their timings and their own reasons to do the MBA. Statistics, in this respect, don’t mean much.

I’d also encourage people to inquire if you can do a joint degree in the school you apply to. The degree that I did means that within twelve months I get the benefit of two degrees without any extra time required. Many programs offer dual degrees. With the start-up market booming, there are even joint degrees between business schools and engineering schools or social science schools. All this can be considered when you look for a program for yourself. You do not need to follow the rest of the world. Create your own path and explore the possibility of a dual degree.

Finally, when I met Dr. Hubert Silly and MBA Center after seeing an ad on the web I did not know what to expect. But I was immediately convinced by the concept when I attended my first class and met students who went to INSEAD, LBS, IESE, Wharton, Harvard, Columbia, etc, and who have all been successful. I saw the working of Dr. Hubert Silly and the MBA Center from the inside and I believe that they can really make a difference.