For the fifth year now, the Canadian programs for training specialists in the field of business and HR management have been successfully developing at MIB. This educational project started in 1999 as part of intergovernmental cooperation between Ukraine and Canada. On the Canadian side, the program is implemented by Grant MacEwan College (Edmonton), and on the Ukrainian side, by the International Institute of Business. Graduates of the program receive professional business education and an original Canadian diploma, the Management Studies Diploma.
About how the training goes, what new things the program participants learn, and how the acquired knowledge changes their lives, is our conversation with program graduate Alexander GRIKUN, head of a department at the state enterprise “Ukrservis of the Ministry of Transport”.
- So, in 2001 you became a student of the Canadian program. How did your path to the Canadian diploma begin?
- I learned about the Canadian programs of the International Institute of Business from a friend who completed his studies on this program in 2000, received a diploma, and left for permanent residence in Canada. It is no secret that many of our compatriots have to start their working path there literally from scratch. So, the diploma from Grant MacEwan College, and most importantly, the level of knowledge he acquired, allowed my friend to get a job in a bank almost without difficulty.
- But apparently you weren’t planning to go abroad...
- Yes, by that time I was working as a head of a department at the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine. By profession, I am a transport operations engineer, and I have experience working in commercial structures. But, imagine, despite my work experience, I felt that my knowledge was not systematized; rather, it was the result of independent work with literature, practical experience of trial and error. And here I needed to manage a team of specialists, conduct negotiations, and plan serious projects. In general, the set of subjects offered in this program was simply vitally necessary for me. For example, finance, managerial accounting, fundamentals of accounting. It was important to learn to work in a team, where the final result of a common cause depends on the effective activity of each person.
Sometimes you don’t even realize what and how much you don’t know. For example, all the students in our group had computer skills. But during the classes we were shown how to program complex calculations in Excel, how to efficiently and well format documents in Word. Now what we used to do for half a day, we do within half an hour! And, of course, we learned a lot of new things. For example, now in almost every serious company any report is prepared in the form of an electronic presentation made using the special computer program Power Point. Skills are qualitatively improved.
- Tell us in more detail about the training itself.
- I would like to draw attention to two significant points. First, I believe that the greatest benefit from training is received precisely by those students who pay for their own education. I paid on my own. Yes, it was not easy, but I tried to take the maximum from the program. The second point is that classes are held in the evenings, from 18:30 to 21:30 every day. And so for two years. Of course, on the one hand, it is difficult, but on the other hand, it sets a wonderful pace, teaches you to use every minute of time rationally, and disciplines you to the maximum. The training program is structured in such a way that it gives a huge impetus and awakens a very strong desire to learn. Moreover, all the educational material is a constant connection between theory and practice. The learning process is organized in such a way that we not only gained knowledge and skills in this area, but also actively engaged in various research and developed a practical base ourselves. Literally everything we considered in class was applied in practice the next day. I did my internship at my own workplace: for a month I performed the duties of the head of the financial department.
- And did you cope?
- Of course! The structure of the program consists of separate modules, and when in a real production situation you are faced with the need to carry out some complex project, you need to clearly know which production “bricks” should ultimately form the “building” of your project. The knowledge I gained allowed me to clearly formulate my requirements, freely communicate with employees of different departments and different levels of hierarchy.
By the way, the program provides a very interesting opportunity to undergo an internship at leading enterprises of Canada for three months. In our group, about 15% of graduates went there. Canadian employers are very pleased with Ukrainian specialists. And one of our graduates was even asked to stay longer: he alone did the work of almost an entire department there! Also, as the guys told me, there was a case in Canada when two specialists applied for a job: one with a diploma from Grant MacEwan College, and the other with a diploma from an English college. And preference was given to our colleague!
In Ukraine, MIB graduates also enjoy well-deserved respect among employers. Today many of them work in very large companies. So, they said that during interviews employers always paid attention to the fact that the program is two-year, intensive, and that it is a synthesis of joint developments of Ukraine and Canada. Our graduate, Anna Sytnikova, got a job in an international audit company. So there they made a copy of her diploma and posted it on information boards: look, they say, what specialists we have working for us!
And yet the most important thing is the qualitatively new knowledge and skills that all students receive. In our group there were both beginners in business and company heads. Some came to gain experience, and others came with the experience of their own trial and error. And everyone got what they wanted.
— And so — you're a graduate, congratulations from teachers and friends, diploma in hand. What next?
— You know, I want to keep studying! There's simply a pressing need to move forward, learn something new, and grow professionally. By the way, before we started our conversation, I applied to the Ukrainian Program in Business Administration (UPBA) of the International Institute of Business, majoring in finance. I made this choice largely thanks to our wonderful finance professor — Mikhail Eduardovich Sorokin, an excellent specialist and member of the European Financial Management Association (EFMA). Our program had a strong block of finance disciplines, taught specifically in the context of making business decisions. It is extremely difficult to master finance on your own. Yes, you can, of course, read specialized literature, but sometimes it happens that you understand 90% of what you've read, while the remaining 10% is unclear to you. And in the end, it is precisely that 10% that often proves to be fundamentally important! This is where timely advice from a practicing specialist is simply indispensable.
It seems to me that all our graduates feel a desire to continue their education. And my classmate Nikolai Fabro, who during his studies in the Canadian Business Management Program grew from a sales manager to commercial director of the company Yugkontrakt, sent five of his employees to study at MIB this year. Many took an interest in the seminars. In general, I think we will soon meet again within the walls of the International Institute of Business!