VTB, L'Oréal, P&G, Uralsib, Teremok, Ozon, Microsoft, Bacardi and a dozen other leading companies took part in the brightest career event this fall — Management Career Week 2021: Autumn, which is traditionally held by the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg University (GSOM SPbU).

For seven days, more than 30 meetings, master classes and panel discussions took place, highlighting the features and nuances of building a career in various industries and areas. The participants took part in 88 individual career consultations. Students studied the art of negotiation with top managers, learned the secrets of trading, discovered the prospects of cryptocurrencies and discussed unusual marketing techniques with experts. The most interesting moments are described in our text.

The week began with a conversation about emotional intelligence and a meeting with graduates of GSOM SPbU. Yesterday's students shared their experience working in such large companies as Johnson & Johnson, Yandex.Practicum, Veeam and talked about what you need to know to enroll in doctoral programs. Anastasia Laskovaya, Academic Director of the Bachelor in Management program at GSOM SPbU, summed up the long conversation: "Nothing is impossible if you work hard and move toward your goals."

On Tuesday, the participants visited the Central Exhibition Hall, "Manege",  and learned about the work of curators — people who support the organization of exhibitions. However, the second day of Management Career Week 2021: Autumn was dedicated not only to art. Olga Silyutina, head of the Analytics Group in the Advertising Technology Department of VK, spoke about the profession of an analyst, and Pavel Gusev, CEO & co-founder of Digital Assets Capital — about the prospects of blockchain. According to this expert, the development of the economy in the future will be closely linked with the development of intellectual competencies and capital accumulation. Even the banking sector is becoming associated with crypto technologies and, to move with the times, it needs to further adapt to the IT world.

On Wednesday, the students tried their hands at being traders, at being the head of the purchasing department at Teremok and as an Ozon Express courier.

Thursday was entirely devoted to the financial sector. Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, GSOM SPbU Director Olga Konstantinovna Dergunova told the audience about her career in IT and banking. The meeting was held in the format of an interview. Questions were asked by Timofey Pushkarev, a 2005 alumnus of GSOM SPbU and by current students. In the late afternoon, Roman Dzugaev, Head of Fixed Income Trading, OFZ trader, PJSC "Bank Uralsib" held a master class "Make Money". Students were able to look into investing — one of the most promising ways of earning money, which is increasingly gaining momentum in Russia. 

On Friday, the participants talked about advertising. Roman Bordunov, Senior SMM Manager of Aviasales, introduced the participants to the main trends of 2021 in Social Media marketing. And Artemy Shibanov, a product designer at Zunami Protocol, discussed the nature of design and how it relates to emotions and the reflection of personal values.

The weekend was no less eventful. This season, the HR buffet — a traditional career week event — attracted specialists from more than 19 companies — from FMCG to Auditing. Students learned firsthand about the prospects of working in specific organizations and could ask potential employers any questions they might have. Of course, the Management Career Week could not leave the participants without internships: this season, students tried their hand at the possibilities in VTB, PwC and UNIQLO.

The week ended with Q&A sessions with professionals, where students had the opportunity to communicate directly with representatives of PwC and UNIQLO and winners of competitions being awarded.