Community

Apart from solid background in economics, ICEF benefits its students by giving them the opportunities to pursue vibrant social life. Leia Sherman is in her third year of bachelor’s programme and chairs ICEF Student Council, helping her peers with academic tasks and personal queries. Here’s why Leia thinks ICEF community is special, how graduates provide career counselling to undergraduates, and what ICEF Student Council actually does to make everyone comfortable.

Alexandra Nalobina earned her bachelor's from ICEF in 2022. Currently a financial modeling and investment analysis specialist at Uralchem, Alexandra shares about the right approach to job search, the benefits of being employed in real economy sector, and what makes ICEF graduates perfect candidates for highly sought-after jobs.

Georgy Brutyan joined Otkritie Bank as a strategic analyst in 2018 when the bank was experiencing fundamental changes. Currently its Managing Director for Strategy and Business Development, Georgy leads the projects to enhance the achieved structural change. In the interview with Success Builder, Georgy reveals where students can improve their practical skills, why time management is key to career success, and why an MBA is necessary for being a good manager.

Denis Bondarenko enrolled in ICEF’s MSc Programme in 2020 after earning his bachelor’s in Economics from St. Petersburg State University. Currently a trader with Sparkland Trading (Dubai) – a company with extensive experience on crypto markets – Denis shares how his master’s study levelled up his tech skills, what adds value to ICEF Career Services, and why crypto traders are attracted to Dubai.

A 2002 ICEF Bachelor’s alumnus Vasily Storozhuk has also graduated from the London Business School, Northwestern University and Wharton Business School, as well as defended his thesis at MSU. He is now the CFO at UGMK Holding, and also Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Koltso Urala” Bank. In the following interview, he recounts why it is important to regularly update one’s knowledge, how to put one’s experience to good use career-wise and why it is important to have a forward-looking perspective.

Asan Kurmanguzhin graduated from the ICEF BSc programme in 2008, then enrolled on the MSc programme at the London School of Economics. After having worked in McKinsey he also received an MBA from Harvard. He is now a CEO at SberMarket, a part of Sberbank’s ecosystem. SberMarket is a successful online grocery delivery service, which was recently launched all around Russia. In the interview Asan spoke about career building in the technological sphere, e-commerce and the main difficulties of studying on the MBA.

ICEF graduates make successful careers in leadingcompanies both in Russia and abroad. Among the graduates, over 1750 to date, there are lots of great specialists, who contribute to the development of business and industry.Top managers of the leading companies share their opinions about ICEF graduates, talk about who they want to recruit in the financial field and in consulting and what demands are placed on the candidates.

Hyen Jin Han is doing her Master's at HSE International College of Economics and Finance. In her interview, she talks about her passion for economics, studying at the ICEF, and career aspirations.

The pre-New Year period traditionally brings together ICEF alumni for what is known as Unconference. Offering a unique experience, unfolded from onstage (or Zoom) by the alumni, this year’s Unconference featured un-PowerPoints telling all the truth about job search and how “failure” has become a norm, what mobile games industry is really all about and why big data is just hype.

Card game masters claim that careful analysis of the opponent’s combinations is a key to winning, enabled by the key capabilities in game theory data science. Anastasia Erastova, currently a data scientist at BNP Paribas' New York office, graduated in 2018 from ICEF BSc with honors and the title of Russia’s Bridge Vice-Champion. In her interview to Success Builder Anastasia explains why math and card games are entwined, what makes studying next door to Wall Street beneficial, and how mathematics students can get a work visa for the USA.