Oksana, who was raised in Ukraine, aims to work in Management Consulting when she graduates in 2014 and wants to return to Eastern Europe, where she frequently visits her family and friends back in her home country.
Prior to studying at Dartmouth College: Tuck School of Business, Oksana worked as a HR manager for Newton Trade/Consulting from 2006 to 2007, a Ukrainian company that manages the distribution of drinks, retail, transportation as well as internal consulting. After just a year, the Tuck MBA was promoted to Executive Manager and spearheaded the launch of a new EU department within the company.
Oksana believes that the responsibility of her role at Newton helped prepare her for the rigors of the MBA program at Dartmouth and thinks that she is now capable of almost anything. “Definitely, that job was a breakthrough for me as a professional”, she said. “It was incredibly tough – I actually started an affiliated company from scratch in a completely new environment and had to learn a lot and work really hard.
“However, after taking that challenge and succeeding in it, I know that I am capable of almost anything. I was exposed to business management in a very holistic way and the strong desire to understand it deeper resulted in my MBA journey starting from there.”
The Dutch arm of Newton Trade then closed down due to the transportation market freezing and the global economic crisis that sparked recessions across Europe. Although set on a decision to study for an MBA, Oksana then secured a job as Marketing Manager for MacHOUSE Video&Audio in 2010 and worked in broadcast solutions for two years prior to moving to Hanover in the US. “It was a career switch,” she said. “Yet it was challenging - in a good way - and exciting.
“After I left Newton, some people in my network knew I was in the market for a new job and I actually received an offer from the company. I was based in Kiev – the company was designing and building TV stations for major Ukrainian broadcasters.”
Born in a family with a military background, Oksana has been used to frequently moving homes since her childhood. “I seem to have developed a taste for it,” she jokes. The Tuck MBA is curious by nature and her experiences as a child have made her very cosmopolitan: a move abroad was always on the cards. Oksana loves experiencing new locations and cultures, and decided to study in the US because of the country’s style of business education.
She says her choice of Dartmouth Tuck was a simple one. “Tuck met all the criteria: it features a combination of academic rigor and amazing collaboration, both in curricular and extracurricular activities,” she said.
“Tuck does have general management concentration with a carefully designed core curriculum that perfectly covers all the key business areas and sets a solid foundation for specializing in any chosen sphere.
“Tuck comes with a great campus in a beautiful outdoorsy location, which makes your 2 year stay even more special!”
Oksana said her choice of study locations for an MBA program in the US had to meet certain criterion: a “top ranking” (Tuck was ranked #1 in The Economists 2012 MBA rankings), as well as financial aid options for international students.
A year into the two-year, full-time MBA program, Oksana says that her classes in strategy with Analysis for General Managers taught by Pr. Paul A Argenti have been a special highlight so far. “I love strategy,” she said. “I fell in love with micro and macroeconomics, especially Managerial Economics by Professor Hall.
“I also loved the Advanced Elective Finance course (Credit Risk by Pr. Rendleman), which was very challenging, given I have no financial background at the time. I deepened my understanding of the sphere and the processes so much, that this course became one of my favourites.”
She says that the program at Tuck has pushed her to the limits in all possible ways, yet she feels she is growing every day as a result. “I love steep learning curves and currently I feel that I am climbing a really steep one,” she said. “It’s amazing to look back a year, a month, sometimes even a day and see how much progress you made, both intellectually in terms of understanding business, and personally as well.”
Oksana is also reaping the benefits of Tuck’s extra-curricular activities. She participated in Tuck Students’ Consulting Services and completed a project for a local non-profit in her first year on the MBA program. She is an active member of the MBA Consulting Club, plays hockey and participates in the International Club - which organizes fun activities to share cultures.
Oksana’s post-graduation plans are to go straight into Management Consulting, and she wants a challenging job that “pushes your limits even further, features a steep learning curve and takes pride in impact it has on the economy”.
She says you should join her at the MBA program at Dartmouth Tuck because it has great opportunities. “Tuck is a great school: it has academic rigor, great career opportunities, top ranking and brand equity,” she added.
“Everybody is approachable and willing to help. It makes your MBA experience not only efficient and productive, but also enjoyable. There is a ton of extracurricular activities (formal and informal) you can engage in, which is great from the point of view of building friendships and simply having a great time.”
Read more stories about students, alumni and faculty at Dartmouth College: Tuck School of Business here. Read more about studying an MBA at business school or find your school in our interesting students' Why MBA? section.
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