Nordic Brilliance Blogs

Hello, my name is Maggie Knorr and I am back as an International Student Ambassador this fall with my third blog post. If you want to know a bit more about me, you can read my two previous posts here and here, or my profile on the ISA page. 

Today I want to talk about something that has been a big part of my life outside of class here at Hanken, Masters’ Committee (colloquially know as MC). I joined MC as a way to get involved outside the classroom and to meet new people. 

Last spring I was selected as the president for MC for this fall. The role of MC is to represent all the master’s students in Helsinki. We guide students through study practicalities and organise corporate and social events to integrate them into student life at Hanken. We want you to have an international study experience by making contacts from all around the world, great memories, friends for life, and get a start on your future career. 

MC is currently made up of 12 eager students. A few have done their bachelor’s at Hanken, and the rest hail from a variety of countries and educational backgrounds. We have a PR team, a Careers/Excursions team and a Programming team. Now we are almost a month into the new school year, and we have already done a lot of cool things and have more planned for the rest of the semester.

MC: A fun bunch!

Orientation
As part of orientation, we organized a couple of social events for new and returning master’s students. We hosted an afterwork before orientation and a picnic one day after orientation. This gave students a chance to meet each other outside of the information sessions during orientation. It was also a great chance for new students to meet some of the people who were in their shoes last year and get some advice. We also attended the second day of orientation to talk about what we do in MC, give tours, and help students register for classes.

MC Welcome Picnic

Tutor Groups
Another thing we do as part of orientation is arrange tutor groups. Now, I know when I first came to Finalnd the word “tutor” confused me a little bit. Don’t worry, we aren’t the academic kind of tutor, although sometimes I wish I had one. We are more like student mentors. Each new student is assigned to a tutor, and we are there to answer any questions incoming students may have about classes and practicalities. We also do our best to get together as a group socially once in the first couple of weeks. I went with my group to an island in Helsinki, had a small picnic and played a game. 

Career Events
Our career team has been organizing our monthly afterworks during orientation and again during September. These have been more social in nature, but we hope to collaborate with Danske Bank for October. We are also working on a collaboration with Suomen Ekonomit. The most exciting thing they have cooking, in my opinion, is a career-oriented excursion to Stockholm. We hope to go for two days in mid-November to do some company visits and networking, and also to see some sights. 

Fun
Now, all of our events are fun, but our programming team organizes activities which are strictly social. Last Saturday we hosted our fall sitz which was called Sitz of the 90s Kids. We relived our childhoods with a dinner and sang some songs in swedish, but also some from the 90s. Wannabe, anyone? For October we are arranging a more relaxed games night, and then in early November we hope to arrange our first “Running Dinner”. 

So that is a little bit about what MC does to support Master’s students outside of their classes. It is a ton of fun, and a great way to develop those teamwork skills. Please feel free to contact me at maggie.knorr@student.hanken.fi for any questions you might have about Masters’ Committee, the economics program, or life here in Helsinki. 

At the kick-off event, we received materials that should help to plan the meetings in a more structured way. They included several topics for discussion that served as a kind of a guide to set up more feasible questions and clear objectives. Although I consider them to be valuable as a starting point, with my assigned mentor we decided to primary follow my ‘urgent’ inquires checking the given list now and then. I definitely needed a fresh perspective on how to improve my profile and feel more confident during the job search process.

Together with my mentor, we had informal meetings averagely once per month over the academic year in some cozy places in the city center. We were grabbing a cup of coffee and talking about things that we considered to be crucial for improving my professional portfolio and own confidence. However, this flexibility was always in line with the overall pre-defined structure that we followed quite strictly. 

Thus, we outlined three main goals to achieve at the end of the programme.

We started with my CV and it took almost three meetings of the in-depth analyses to improve it up to the level both of us wished it would be. The style, the format, the content – almost every part was modified. Once my mentor told me, that CV drafting is the ongoing process and sometimes you need to rest your mind in order to see it with new eyes. So true!

Then, we moved to my cover letter modification. It was also a pretty challenging job to write a compelling draft that should be only slightly altered depending on the positions I am applying for.

Finally, we looked at recruitment channels and spent a lot of time discussing interview questions, how to prepare for an interview, and how to interact during the interview. This helped me a lot in several interview rounds I successfully passed for one international company. Thus, I was ready for such questions as for example what are your main strengths/weaknesses? What are your salary expectations? Why did you decide to apply for this position? How your best friend would describe you in three words? We also prepared a list of questions I could ask in the interview about the company, working environment, etc.

With no doubts, both participants should invest and commit to achieving these goals and have good results at the end of the programme. Indeed, I am very happy that it was exactly my case. 

To conclude, I wish everyone who feels a bit lost or has any challenges in the professional realization to participate in the mentorship programme. You will definitely have a fresh start! 

Happy Summer and Greetings from sunny Italy! J

Jenni 

Hi all, This will be my last blog entry. After almost two years at Hanken it is finally time to say goodbye, I am going to graduate. I submitted my master’s thesis at the beginning of May. This also means my time as a student ambassador comes to an end. During my time as a student and student ambassador, I had the chance to meet new people from all over the worlds and become friends with them. Furthermore, I extended my knowledge in Finance and deepened my already existing economic expertise. The studies were not always easy but overall very interesting, fun and rewarding. If I had to choose I would do it all over again. For my future, I am going to stay in Helsinki, and I will start working in September and until then I will enjoy my long summer holiday. Thus, this blog entry will be kept very short because I am enjoying the good weather and the sun. I wish you all a nice summer and only the best for the future that is about to come. Marcel

Hello there Hanketeers et. friends,

You might remember having read about Academic Business Consulting last year in Marco Eckhardt’s blog “ The Layover”,  well, we are #backinblack, to tell you a bit about this year’s ABC adventures. As you might remember, ABC is both, a course in Hanken and a student-run consultancy company that sells consulting services to real customers. The best type of course for those who enjoy learning while doing, I became this year’s CEO and the amount of learnings from a business and people management perspective is unimaginable.  

This year was full of very exciting projects, customers and host companies. The background of our consultants varied from entrepreneurship, finance, economics, and legal and the projects ranged from our regular market research, academic research for white papers to developing the internal operations of ABC. So if you’re interested in participating do not be discouraged by your background, in fact many of our consultants have their own companies so their expertise while executing their projects was very valuable. We had a total of 24 consultants engaged in 7 different projects and we landed the biggest ABC project ever!

For the ones not familiar with ABC, the company pays for an educational trip for the consultants with the profits of the year. The aim of the trip is to meet with companies and learn more about their business strategies, good practices and also to create a network for the future entrepreneurs. This year the chosen destination was New York #thecitythatneversleeps. NYC has been named the world’s tech capital by the media, and it is not surprising to think that it would attract entrepreneurship students. Nevertheless, we cannot leave out the impressive skyscrapers, the city vibe, the recognizable places from the movies, the different hipsterish and artistic Brooklyn views and the Manhattan fancy style, it was breathtaking. No wonder why NYC is the capital of the world, you can find everything in the city, a concrete jungle and a contrasting beautiful central park that will remind you of green Helsinki.

We were about 18 consultants and spent roughly a week in New York, where we had the chance to visit the Consulate General of Finland, the New York University where we had the chance to hear the final pitch of startups looking for funding in the $300k Entrepreneurs Challenge, which is one of the largest and most innovative accelerator programs and startup competitions in the world. Also, during our visit we met with the CEO and VP of hospitality at Brooklyn Brewery where they explained how their business evolved and revolutionized the craft beer industry in the US.  Finally, we had a day trip to Boston where we had the chance to meet the Dean of the Division of Continuing Education at Harvard Extension School and a Senior executive from Education First.  The main message from the host companies was around “networking” and the importance of creating partnerships and connections in order to achieve a goal.

Have you ever heard the expression “the more the merrier”? Well, we lived up to it. The 18 of us stayed at a very nice and cozy 4 story house in Brooklyn, and if you have ever wondered what is like to live in a sorority/frat house, well so did we but now we know!  It was a lot of fun, but can you imagine how challenging it is to organize 18 people to be ready at 6 am to take a bus to Boston? Well, believe it or not, we made it. In our free time, we visited Manhattan, walked the Brooklyn bridge, explored Central Park, tried all the different restaurants in the center, went for brunch – the fluffiest pancakes I have ever seen in my life! We had team building activities, one of those was a cooking contest where the #guyz cooked some Asian type of food and the #girlz  made taco tortillas from scratch (mind blowing right?). Another one was to watch Game of Thrones altogether in the living room and #spoileralert be shocked by Dany and Drogon go rogue …whoops, I warned you about the spoiler.

All in all, the trip was a great experience, many of us had never been to New York, while the ones who had already been there enjoyed coming back. The trip helped us to create bonds that will last for life, and to create the great experiences and memories together about our Hanken days! Personally, I developed my people managing skills. Once I started the position as a CEO, and as #MichaelScott would say, “I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do”, but now I can say that I have survived and learned a lot!

This year’s ABC course will begin in October 2019, so if you are interested in a life changing learning experience, I fully recommend ABC 10/10 Hanken course.  For more information on our previous customers and projects, please visit our webpage (www.academicbusinessconsulting.fi) and for more pics of our NYC trip check out the @Hankenofficial Instagram account. Also, our new ABC newsletter is out and live, so go and check it out from ABC Newsletter

Now #ourwatchhasended  and we wish the new consultants the best of lucks in their projects!

xoxo

Damarys

Hello, it’s Maggie, back with my second post for the semester. As I took my exam last Tuesday in the lecture hall, I was reflecting upon the beginning of the year when I was sitting in the same room during orientation. They overloaded us on information about the year, and I got a bit nervous. I had no idea what was in store for me here at Hanken, and what a year it has been! So here’s a little bit of advice to myself last year at this time as I reflect and look forward to the summer and the second year of my master’s program.

Say yes to everything! You never know where opportunities will lead you, and there are plenty at Hanken. A networking dinner in September eventually led to getting a job in April in a roundabout way. There have been so many opportunities to meet people and learn about different fields over this year. Of course it is impossible to take all opportunities, but certainly do not let them all pass you by.

…Except for when you need to say no. Sometimes I have a tendency to say yes too often until I have taken on too much. This happened to me period 3 trying to juggle too many classes because I refused to let any of them go. While it all turned out fine in the end, I’d certainly recommend learning your limits and forcing yourself to stick to them. Evaluate what you want most out of your Hanken experience and focus on that. 

Try something new. One of the best things I have done this year was to join a friend in her finance class. It was a class called Fintech and Blockchain. Even though I avoided the classes about money in economics, in this class I was learning about cryptocurrencies and the possibilities of Blockchain. The class was difficult, but it was so beyond my previous knowledge that it is certainly the class I learned the most from. Try something new, that is what your elective credits are for.

Get involved. Since I have not worked for this whole year, it was important for me to have something outside of classes going on in my life. While I have pursued some of my own hobbies, I also really enjoyed getting involved in the student union. I joined the Masters’ Committee in December. Masters’ Committee puts on events to support masters students, whether it be social events, work and networking events, or excursions outside of Helsinki. This spring I had the chance to be involved in planning a Game of Thrones themed sitz. Despite the way the show has turned out, I personally believe that our sitz was a big hit. A whole team of us came together to really bring the theme to life, and we had a lot of fun doing it. Two weeks ago I was selected as president from now through December, and I am very excited for the opportunity to be involved in welcoming new masters students to Hanken in the fall.

Learn Swedish. Seriously, studying Swedish has been such a beneficial part of this year. Not only are the classes at Hanken excellent, language classes have been a great break from the theoretical depths of economics. It also has allowed me to learn so much more about Hanken and the student culture here. I attended a dinner at the end of the year where I was the only non-Swedish speaker, but I was impressed with how much I was able to understand that I would not have last fall.

I look forward to meeting any new students who are coming to join us in August. Please feel free to contact me at maggie.knorr@student.hanken.fi for any questions you might have about the economics program, or life here in Helsinki. Have a great summer!

Hello,

I was thinking of what to share with you and in the process, I thought I would just share with you my experience and the impact moving here has had on my life, both personally and business-wise. As I mentioned in a previous post, I moved to Finland in 2010. Although it does not feel that long.

When I first moved here, I had a culture shock (as Kenyans are usually extroverts), a climate shock and a food shock, among others. Despite all these, one thing I could immediately pick out was that things “actually work”. Usually when touring abroad many people only get the touristic view of the places they visit. Growing up I used to get frustrated with the deteriorating standards in our country. This was one of the motivating factors that discouraged me from attending a university back home. Looking back if I were to choose, I would make the same decisions all over again.

During my stay here, I have managed to visit home frequently. When I go my friends and family always like pointing out that my mindset has changed a lot. Observing the Finnish resilience (SISU) during the long winters and despite the natural challenges they manage to get things done has made me start believing everything is possible. I am starting to feel like I am getting ‘SISU’. This theory could be supported with the fact that I nowadays eat Lakritsi (Liquorice) which I never liked in the beginning and also I drink coffee without sugar which was not the case during my earlier time here 🙂 .

While studying, I have had the opportunity to interact with many people. My fellow students, teachers and special guests who attend lectures and networking events. Finnish people are the humblest people I have come across. I have talked to CEOs, managers, teachers who have published books and they all are very modest. This is a trait I will practise no matter which position I will have in the future. Thinking about some of the challenges we face at home, having humility would go a long way to reduce excessive spending especially by people occupying public office.

Another lesson I have come to appreciate is the value of planning. Although it sounds very basic and obvious as it is part of culture in Finland, I admire the amount of effort put into planning. From the curriculum in school to the city of Vaasa maintenance of the infrastructure, I always get amazed with the efficiency. Of course, the trains experience delays every now and then but sometimes its due to the harsh conditions especially during winter. Having many hours of self-study and team work projects at Hanken have had a big contribution in helping me practise this skill.

Personally, I think Finnish people are very innovative and have very strong competence especially in the technological field. The main challenge could be the marketing due to ‘being shy’ and ‘too modest’. However, building networks with people from other countries could provide a breakthrough into other markets. This is needed, as Finnish products are of very high quality. A good example is when my parents came to visit me in Vaasa, they bought an enormous amount of things, ranging from household items to machinery. Most were Finnish brands and to this day my mum still tells me how much she likes the products she bought.

Finally, looking into the future, my wildest dream would be having a stronger connection between Finland and Kenya. Although at a governmental level the two countries have a cordial relationship, I would love if we could have more co-operation on all levels. Personally, I feel grateful receiving all this world-class education (knowledge) and it would make me happy to help Finnish companies set up shop in Kenya. While there are many hurdles to cross before reaching there, the ideas for mutually beneficial cooperation are endless. For example, there are many opportunities of co-creation when going for tourism. When one visits they can offer their knowledge and in exchange they are hosted by locals in Kenya. This would also foster responsible tourism. Finns love coffee and Kenya produces very good coffee so both countries could also benefit.

All these ideas would not be possible had I not come to study here. Hopefully I inspired you and Glada Vappen to you all.

-Mwangi Magana

Hi there,

As you may have seen, Helsinki is an amazing place to run -from central park to the seashores. This is the reason why today, I am going to write about one of my passions: running.

When I first came to Finland, about two years ago, I was immediately surprised by the huge number of people running around the city. Here, it is not only about running fast but also about the social and wellbeing aspects. I think that this is also what really hold my attention. To be honest, what is better than discovering hidden and beautiful places while running with friends? For me the answer is clear. Running is the perfect way to meet new people, to do sports, and to get to know Helsinki better than anyone else.

Actually, I quickly realized that Helsinki had a lot of running groups which are very closely aligned with what I was looking for. These are free, motivating, and not implying any long-term commitment. I first joined Adidas Runners Helsinki which is nowadays named Helsinki Social Runners. We meet every Thursday at 18:00 in the city center and run around 10kilometres. In addition, every now and then, events (with free food, obviously) are organized by partners such as Garmin, and Adidas. So, you don’t have any excuses, join us!

If you are more a beer person, no worries! There is also Mikkeller Running club which organizes a run every first Saturday of the month. In addition to running with great people, you can also enjoy a free beer at the end of the workout! Just a runner’s dream.

Personally, since I joined these groups, I have even been travelling with friends from there and running races in several countries such as Croatia and Austria. Actually, I met my coach there and thanks to him, I realized a runner’s dream to run a sub-3hours marathon. Furthermore, I have gotten to know amazing people and especially, I discovered Helsinki better than the majority of locals. However, if you are not a race person, you do not need to worry. You can still come, enjoy running in a group, and enjoy free food and beers during the events. I guess that I am just an exception.

So, don’t think two times. Check on Facebook when do the groups meet, put your running shoes on, and come. We all know how Finnish weather is negatively affecting people’s motivation and mood. Actually, it is proven that running is doing exactly the opposite: it makes you feel happy, empties your mind, and improves your health. Personally, I do not need more reasons than these. And I really hope that I will also see you there very soon.
 

Robin

Hi everybody,

Today I want to give students tips about work life balance from my own experience. As an international student, apart from studying, working has also been a major part of my student life. Working while studying is not an easy combination for anyone. The workload from school particularly Hanken is demanding since most courses have a project that entails working in teams, doing extensive research and very tight deadlines. As I write my thesis now, I can reflect on some issues I learned along the way.

1. Set your priorities – My friend challenged me one day and asked me why I work so hard and the obvious answer was to pay bills. Then he sat me down and we made an excel file showing my income and expenditure. I realized the more money I earned I was sending it back home or just spending shopping. The point is making priorities involves defining what is important or not. This exercise helped me reduce my work hours significantly hence free up time to do things I like more.
2. Learning to say “No” – This is something I think everybody experiences. Not being able to turn down offers be it taking too many courses, joining many clubs or not being able to refuse to attend those Sitsitz. Too many engagements lead to one feeling anxious and stressed. It took me a while but nowadays I do feel confident enough to turn down commitments that do not fit with my priorities. You too can achieve this if you practise.
3. Setting quality objectives – The objectives determine the kind of activities you engage in. Hence it is important to choose those activities that you like. I have many friends who go to the gym, but I am more into sports, so I go to futsal, tennis, badminton. For me this makes me happy. I have many friends who pay for the gym every month but never go.
4. Planning – Time management is a widely covered topic in almost all self-help books. One way I discovered that worked for me is creating checklist and scheduling my tasks. Prior to my first summer job I used to plan mentally but I learned about a Kanban board. This systematic tracking of activities has improved my time management and also boosted my productivity so much that I have managed to get more free time to indulge in other hobbies and take better care of myself.
5. Taking care of oneself – I woke up in February 27^th only to realize my birthday marked crossing over the 30-year mark. As I blew my birthday cake I wished for health and wellbeing. Since then I have made looking after myself a big priority in my life. This includes sleeping more, taking healthier foods and am starting to feel amazing.

Am sure there are many other things that are covered in work life balance. This for me is what has been some of the lessons I have learned the hard way. Luckily, Hanken does care about this issue. In Vaasa we have had work break exercises on Tuesdays targeting different parts of the body such as mouse arm or neck that strain due to long sitting. Furthermore, there are coupons that can be used in various fitness places such as gyms or swimming hall. The student membership also entitles students in Vaasa campus to ÅA motion sticker which gives Hanken student access to sport activities organized in conjunction with Åbo Akademi.

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to contact me at silas.magana@student.hanken.fi for any questions about the general management program, or life here in Vaasa.

-Silas Mwangi

Hello! My name is Maggie Knorr, and I’m a first year Master’s student in economics. I’m originally from the great state of Minnesota in the U.S.A. I have wanted to move back to Finland ever since I lived in Iisalmi for a year as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student in 2011-2012.  In 2016, I completed my Bachelors in economics and philosophy at Hamline University, and then taught English in Malaysia and worked in Student Affairs for a year before deciding to go back to school.

I think one of the coolest things about studying economics at Hanken is their participation in Helsinki Graduate School of Economics (GSE). Through this cooperation with Helsinki University and Aalto, I am able to take courses at all three universities which offers me a wide range of economic topics to study. I also got to attend the Opening Ceremony of the GSE this October, and the Finnish Nobel Prize in Economics winner Bengt Holmström speak!

So far I’ve taken 3 economics classes at Hanken, 3 at Aalto, and 2 at University of Helsinki. Each school has their own strengths and group of experts, and I would definitely encourage everyone to take at least one course at each school. My favorite class at Hanken has been Behavioral Economics, which looks at the way traditional assumptions about human rationality are often inaccurate, and how we can account for that in economics. 

By far my favorite class so far from the GSE has been Development Economics. It is taught by Aalto University in collaboration with United Nations University- World Institute of Development Economics Research (WIDER). Each lecture was an expert in a different field of development economics, so we got exposure to many different topics and lecture styles all in one class. In September I also got a chance to attend their conference, held here in Helsinki, where researchers came from around the world to present.

Many of my classes have been incredibly challenging, and pushed me to learn and understand economics at a much more theoretical and mathematical level. I am thankful for the variety of courses I have been able to take here, and look forward to incorporating them into an interesting Master’s Thesis topic next spring.

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to contact me at maggie.knorr@student.hanken.fi for any questions you might have about the economics program, or life here in Helsinki. 

 -Maggie