This year, graduation was a bit different—Giacomo had to celebrate it online. Students had the opportunity to take part in all types of activities, which ranged from a Fortnite tournament, cooking with renowned chef Dani García, and being part of the after party with Steve Aoki, a world-famous DJ. This was all great fun, but they are waiting to celebrate their graduation in person as well! Here is what Giacomo has to say about his experience as a student at IE University.
Tell us about yourself. Where are you from, what do you study, and what year are you in?
I’m originally from Milan in Italy, but have been living in Madrid for the past four years while completing the Bachelor in Business Administration, which I just graduated from virtually. I have always been passionate about business, and recently I refined my job search, focusing on sales and marketing in the tech industry. In fact, I will start working for Oracle as a business development consultant in August.
Give us a summary of your experience at IE University?
IE University has been eye-opening. My time here has been a huge skill-booster. Studying here helped me to familiarize myself with the different aspects of businesses, specifically in terms of understanding how it is to work with people within any business. What I value the most at IE University is its practical, hands-on teaching methodology, which helps students analyze business cases and work in groups to accomplish a common goal—ranging from a startup idea or a business model/canvas to an operations solution or even a consulting service. This practical approach is unique to IE University, and I know this from working alongside people from different universities. They’re less used to giving presentations in public, providing practical solutions, or even working in groups.
What are your main learnings that you took from your university experience?
Firstly, I’ve learned that soft skills are way more important than hard skills. Like everything in life, when we dedicate time to learning something, we will eventually succeed. This means that any technical skill can be learned over time, but this isn’t the case with soft skills. Presenting, working in groups, or networking is what differentiates a good candidate from an average one.
Secondly, I learned that in life, your success is directly correlated to your attitude. It doesn’t matter how good you are, the important thing is to constantly strive to do better and improve. People who keep improving themselves and looking for new opportunities are the ones who are most likely to succeed.
I also learned that failure is the best part of success. Whoever says they succeeded at everything without failing, is lying. To improve and eventually succeed, people need to fail. By failing, you build on your strengths and self-confidence, preparing yourself for life. Also, by failing, you understand what went wrong, so when you get back up and try again, you know how to do it better.
Lastly, I learned that you have to go big or go home. Studying Bachelor in Business Administration at IE University made me understand one thing: everything is achievable. And this is something I translate to both my personal life and professional life. If you aim high, you will always go further than if you aim low. And that is a fact. Never put yourself down because the very first step of succeeding is believing that you can!
How do you feel about graduating right now?
I am a bit sad that my university life is already over, but on the other hand, I am so excited to start my professional life. I already found the job of my dreams, in Dublin, a new city for me, and therefore I can’t wait to begin! Anyway, my education is not over yet, maybe I’ll take on a master’s one day…
How was the virtual graduation experience, and what did you think about it being online? Which events did you attend, and how did you feel about it?
I only took part in the very first graduation, for the Bachelor in Business Administration. I have to admit that it was well prepared. The final video with all the student pictures was definitely my favorite part as it made the experience more personal. Anyway, I’ll keep waiting for the in-person one!
What do you want to do in the future?
In the future, I’d like to advance my career in tech, as I am about to start doing now at Oracle. At some point, I’d like to improve my education by studying a master’s degree and eventually I’ll stop working for a company and build something on my own. I figured that by starting to work in such an advanced company, I’ll be able to learn how a huge organization works and use that knowledge to build one of my own. On the side, I am thinking of dedicating my resources to investing in real estate.
We wish Giacomo the best of luck in this journey, and look forward to learning about the company he sets up in the future!