It’s hard to believe that the MBA International Management students are at the point in their semester where the MBA programme hosts the Alumni Meet. HSPF invites alumni back to campus, or in this case virtually, to connect and network with the current students to help build their professional network. This semester, five graduates joined us to share their experiences during the MBA and their current professional careers. Continue to read below on the insights each alumnus shared:

FRANCO DIAS, Financial Analyst at Amazon, Munich, Class of 2020.
Franco Dias finished his MBA in 2020 and currently works as a Financial Analyst for Amazon in Munich. Coming from Brazil, Franco’s background is in management consulting, and after 5 years in this role he decided to pursue his MBA abroad to experience a different culture and learn from a new perspective. During the MBA he worked part time in finance for a pharma company and was involved in other company projects that helped steer his career path towards finance. Upon graduation, his position with Amazon serves as business partner that derive business and financial insights to support strategic decision making. His takeaways from the MBA include vast business acumen, international exposure, and data and finance skills. Franco also praises the great classes of the programme that were taught by practically experienced professors, the possibility of networking through company visits and university events and the good friends he has made who he calls his “European family”.

HIMANSHU SHARMA, Social Media Coordinator EMEA, MAHLE, Stuttgart, Class of 2019
Himanshu Sharma, Class of 2019 serves as Social Media Coordinator EMEA with MAHLE Aftermarket in Stuttgart. Himanshu comes from Northern India and has a master’s degree from Leeds in the UK in International Marketing. Himanshu previously worked in advertising and learned many skills where the most important was attention to details.  He stressed that one must be very careful with details in a business environment. During his studies, Himanshu worked as a working student for MAHLE and later wrote his master thesis also for MAHLE. Himanshu, who describes himself as a very visual person, gives credit to the company project provided by the MBA IM programme at MAHLE where  the students´ report got implemented and is still being used as a basis for further research. He stressed that companies take such project work delivered by students as very valuable information, and this is one of the reasons why the third semester was his favorite. Further, the business simulation in the fourth semester was an additional valuable experience to his career.

MANUEL PAREDES, Technology Consultant, Accenture, Bonn, Class of 2013
Manuel Paredes Castro works as a Technology Consulant for Accenture in Bonn and is a graduate of the 2013 Class. Coming from Peru, he has a background in electronics engineering and worked as a network engineer before his MBA studies. He applied for the MBA IM programme at HSPF because it is practice-oriented. Along with the company project with Bosch, he also gained experience and developed a network through the company visits provided by the university. He also attributes sustainability and intracultural skills to his success. After his MBA, he completed an internship with Deutsche Telekom and worked with KPI reporting within a data warehouse system. Manuel is now working as a Solution Architect within a more technical role in IT. His tip for the current MBA students is to find a way to relate their previous expertise to the job they are applying for.

JEETIKA LAMBA, Government Consultative Sales Leader, Nokia, Munich, Class of 2013
Jeetika Lamba, who graduated 2013 from the MBA programme is now a Government Consultative Sales Leader with Nokia in Munich. Currently, she builds Digital Transformation journeys using technology and design to solve problems that governments, communities & citizens experience.
Before her studies at HSPF, she had several years experience in India ranging from private banking to microfinance and ICT (Information & Communication Technology), then went to work for the hospitality industry. She decided to pursue her master’s degree and attended HSPF because of the strong focus on sustainability and development. During her MBA studies, she met amazing people from all around the world, and the MBA taught her to think critically and challenge each other, while basing theory from reality. She attributes much success to the company projects and industry experience provided by the programme. After starting with a finance leadership programme at Nokia, she went on to work for the transformation &  internal consulting department of the company, as Chief of Staff for the fastest growing business unit before making the move to Sales.

JOHN REED, Gas Project Engineer, Eversource  Energy, USA, Class of 2002
John Reed joined his first alumni event almost 20 years after his graduation in 2002! Coming from the US and serving as a Gas Project Engineer with Eversource Energy, he considered the MBA IM programme as an excellent opportunity to detach from his professional career and reassess what he wanted to do for the remainder of his live. At the same time he wanted to learn more about the fundamentals of business. He originally joined HSPF at the advice of a banker in the US to do something more challenging if he did not plan to attend a top 10 business school in America. About the programme, John states that the curriculum is exceptional and taught by many professors which are leveraging from their own careers. John further states that many students – like him - will have unforgettable experiences during their studies. He attributes being able to successfully puchase a real estate corporation and later starting in an engineering firm (by degree) to the marketing and finance curriculum taught at HSPF.  He advises to take the time to get to know each classmate and build relationships as those relationships will carry you far.

After the alumni presentations, the students had the opportunity to join various break-out rooms to personally speak with our guests and gain further industry insight and networking opportunities. Thank you to all of our alumni for attending and providing our students with all these valuable insights!

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