Maxim Kazhdan

An alumnus of the Bachelor in Management program in 2019 in the direction of financial management

Finalist of consulting case championships

Since 2021 Business Analyst at McKinsey

Entering the GSOM SPbU, where did you see yourself after graduation?

I graduated from the second St. Petersburg gymnasium and took the exam in 2015. When I was choosing study programs and universities to apply for admission, I did not have a clear picture of the future.

However, there were several desires that determined the final choice of the place of study and subsequently the profession:

• I wanted to combine my love for mathematics and the exact sciences with the opportunity to develop soft skills.
• I did not plan to become a researcher and dive very deeply into the academic environment.
• I wanted to better understand how the economy in general and business in particular work, since this topic has always interested me.

Why did you choose the Business School?

I chose GSOM SPbU for several reasons. Firstly, it is an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills that would be really in demand by employers. Secondly, the new campus "Mikhailovskaya Dacha", which was opened just in the year of my admission. During my studies at GSOM SPbU, I felt from my own experience that very few campuses at SPbU and other universities can compare with Mikhailovskaya Dacha in terms of learning comfort. Thirdly, GSOM SPbU has been and remains the leader in the business education segment in Russia. Moreover, this is confirmed not only by all kinds of rankings, but also by the quality of the courses taught and the environment created around the Business School.

Did expectations match reality?

Yes, at GSOM SPbU I got exactly what I wanted. In addition to the high level of education, at the Business School I was surrounded by inspired and versatile peers who set the bar high and motivated me to try not only in academic disciplines, but also to try in extracurricular activities: I successfully participated in case championships (Champions Cup 2019, Above Dreams 2018 and McKinsey Business Diving 2018) and was involved in the development of the GSOM SPbU Case Club.

Why was it important for you to participate in case championships?

I started participating in case championships only in my third year, before that somehow it didn’t work out with the teams. It so happened that almost all the competitions in which I participated were organized with the participation of McKinsey. It is one of the most prestigious and difficult in terms of competition for getting into the final rounds. Nevertheless, participation in such competitions greatly improves you not only in terms of hard-skills (you learn how to build financial models and structure slides), but also teaches you how to work in a team, discuss constructively and find out-of-the-box business solutions and tasks.

I participated in these case championships because they allowed me to compare my level with the best students from all over Russia and understand where I need to improve, participate in a real consulting project, see how the work is built in the process of its implementation and, of course, get acquainted with guys who, after graduation, also started working in no less prestigious companies.

How did your career path develop after graduation?

I graduated in 2019 and went to work in consulting. I liked solving non-standard tasks, but I did not want to focus on any one industry. Moreover, at the time of graduation from the university, I wanted to better understand how large corporations in their industries work, what real problems they face today at the strategic level and how they solve them, what large-scale projects they create.

This is exactly what you can do while working in strategic consulting:  to implement projects with leading market representatives in almost all sectors of Russia, having key significance at the level of the sector, region and country.

In 2019, I started working for Roland Berger, an international consulting company with headquartered in Germany. I spent two wonderful years here and I feel that during this time I have grown a lot professionally. He managed to participate in many projects: from the launch of services for smart cities to the construction of a plant for the processing of medical waste.

In 2021, I moved to the position of Business Analyst at McKinsey — the largest and most famous company in the world in the field of strategy consulting, and not only in my opinion, but also in the opinion of many rankings.

Tell us about your work at Big3 McKinsey.

As I already said, while studying at GSOM SPbU, I participated in case championships that were somehow connected with McKinsey. During this time I was able to get acquainted with the corporate culture, values ​​and employees of the company. I understood that working at McKinsey would be a logical and worthy continuation of my studies at GSOM SPbU — difficult, but very interesting.

In the corporate culture of the company, I am pleased, despite the stereotypes, that there is no undue pressure when performing work tasks, and colleagues on the project do not feel like rivals. There is no fierce competition between consultants; there is no stress that you are worse than someone else - this allows you to build good and healthy business relationships.

In addition, there is a very “driven” atmosphere in the office: there are a lot of cool specialists from all over the world from whom you can learn something, and the smartest, most interesting and versatile people constantly come. It all motivates to grow and continuously learn new things.

What are your future plans and ambitions?

I would like to continue developing in consulting: to work in various industries and on foreign projects. In the future, perhaps, I will go to one of the foreign MBA programs.

Give advice to the guys who are now eyeing the GSOM SPbU. How to prepare and what to look for?

GSOM SPbU really focuses on the best students, therefore, in order to enter a state-funded place without unnecessary worries, you also need to spend enough time preparing for the Unified State Examination.

I started training in the 10th grade: I went to courses organized by teachers at school, I solved tests. Some people may need more or less time. I would advise at least once every couple of months to write a full exam. This will help you get used to its duration and develop the most comfortable strategy for solving the test.

Good luck! Everything will definitely work!