The FINANCIAL — Her success story began when she was accepted by HEC Paris onto their full time MBA programme back in 2012. At that time Ketevan Liparteliani moved from Georgia to Paris with her family and started studying in Europe.
She is now in her final year and has already received important offers of work from different international companies. As she wants to develop her work experience and skills, she has decided to stay abroad, get the proper experience and come back to Georgia with a wealth of knowledge.
“I am convinced that Georgians have quite a good competitive advantage on the international market. But the challenge is going from Georgia to the international arena,” said Ketevan Liparteliani. “I have already had many interviews with international companies and I have received offers from them. This is an opportunity which is almost impossible to find in Georgia. Georgians could not have provided the international exposure, the leadership approach, field work projects and consulting projects – in a nutshell, I could have not got this amount of practical work by studying in Georgia,” she said.
“Generally, I think that it is good when successful Georgians use their intellectual resources for their country. As for me, I prefer to stay in a developed country, get more experience in working with an international company and return to Georgia with better skills. In that way, I think I will be more useful for my country,” Liparteliani added.
Currently, Ketevan is developing a business plan for a company that operates in the renewable energy industry and wants to construct and operate a hydropower plant in Georgia. Ketevan is doing a market study for them and is taking care of the financial side of the project. “This is expanding my area of knowledge as I have never worked in the energy industry before,” she said.
Before leaving Georgia Ketevan worked at TBC Bank as a senior risk manager. Her duty was to improve the risk management process in accordance with international standards. “I dealt with complex matters, executive strategies etc. Reserves registration had to be adjusted to the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). The reason was that all foreign investors and private entities were requiring the financial statements to be in accordance with this standard. This goal has already been achieved and I contributed to this achievement as well,” she said.
While cooperating with different foreign experts Ketevan was getting information from developed countries, where IFRS was already accepted and approved. “From this experience I saw how Georgia was behind the developed level which other countries had. I wished to get the same experience and knowledge and so decided to undertake the MBA for my professional and personal development. I thought that an MBA would give me career progression so I could climb the career ladder faster. Also, I was hoping to develop an international network,” Liparteliani said.
After lengthy research, Ketevan joined HEC Paris, which has a permanent faculty of 115 professors, 4,000 students and over 8,500 managers in executive education programmes every year.
“I chose HEC Paris because it is a diverse and internationally renowned institution. The class has 85% international students, I like their philosophy on leadership; learning by doing. You don’t only learn theory but you learn by doing. Also, I appreciated its legacy, MBA ratings etc. And of course the location is a bonus – I wanted to experience Europe. I have met people here which are high level professionals, lecturers and managers from different companies sharing their experience with us. I am only the second Georgian student at this university,” she said.
“The most significant challenge was that I moved here with my family, my husband and my newborn son. Doing an MBA and raising a child is no easy task. I did not have a nanny; I am raising my child on my own with the support of my husband. My son is 18 months old now. Because I had to deal with this major challenge, nothing else seemed as hard,” she said.
Q. What advice would you give to others who may be considering applying for an MBA?
A. I would advise anyone considering to take an MBA to aim for the best school there is; choose a top school – they give you the top experience. Study the schools closely, understand how they position themselves, what experiences they deliver and how these align with your goals.
Q. Where do you see your career taking you after the MBA?
A. I had aims for after finishing the MBA but the world is changing so rapidly. I am not sure yet but I will be in a role that is high paid and comes with a great deal of challenges to overcome.
Q. How do you feel a Georgian student could benefit from an overseas business education?
A. I think anyone who is leaving Georgia to study abroad would have a lot to gain. As Georgia has only recently moved from socialism to capitalism there are still a lot of reforms going on. By living abroad for a while you will broaden your mindset from local to global. Also, you have the chance to learn from wealthy countries and establish a worldwide network.
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