Edurne Romano Vitas works as a Senior Manager Lifecycle A&E at Verizon. She loves reading, traveling, meeting new people, learning new things and discovering different points of view. Edurne collect friends and adventures and nothing makes me happier than laughter. She says she wants to become a better professional and a better person and studying seems as good as any other choice to get there.
That’s why she chose MBA.
What brought you to Prague?
Work. When I finish my engineering studies I couldn’t find any company that would give me the first chance to start on the workforce. I got that opportunity from a company based in Brno, 2 hours away from Prague. After 3 years I had offers on my mailbox weekly from different employers around Europe. I chose Prague because I loved the job I was about to do and because I grew to like the work-life balance I can have in this country.
When did you start thinking about joining the MBA? What was the trigger?
For the past few years I had the clear vision of developing myself to start working in management. The opportunity came last year and I happily took the challenge. It only took me a few months to understand that I needed more than intuition to be capable of taking responsible decisions and design strategy plans for both, business and people. An MBA seemed like a great option, and this one in particular emphasized Leadership techniques and what seemed a coaching culture, so I signed up for the ride.
Can you make a comparison between an MBA and your previous studies?
I After High School I had a 2 years course of Vocational Studies. I liked how practical it was, for once
I studied something practical with direct applications to the real world. Afterwards I studied two engineering degrees where I went back to a theoretical type of study. Undertaking this MBA after having some experience on the field makes it highly practical, the experiences teachers share are useful to not only understand but remember concepts.
You have seen a lot of the world. Can you make some comparisons between countries and markets? Where was the least exciting and where was the toughest?
Work is work wherever you are. The difference yields on the people you get surrounded by. The toughest for me was definitely London because I never reached a work-life balance where I could enjoy my time off work. Every country obviously has its culture, and some of them I experienced in completely different ways; it is not the same being a student than a working professional, so it wouldn’t be fair to compare them. Despite their difficult language, living in Czech Republic is pleasurable for me thanks to my flexible working hours and a great balance between what I earn and what I need to spend to enjoy my hobbies and time with friends.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Living by the beach, baking my own bread in the mornings and loving my job, like I do now :).
