Tämä blogi on kirjoitettu englanniksi, koska liittyy koulutehtävään.
Maiju Virtanen, Degree Programme in Sales and Marketing, Bachelor of Business Administration.
I am 22-year-old student living in Lappeenranta and studying in Kouvola since September 2016.
When I started my studies, the school I applied for was still called Kyamk. There were only two campuses, in Kotka and in Kouvola. I was living in Kotka at the time, and chose Kyamk because it was nearby, and because I had heard about the merger between Kyamk and Mamk, thinking it would give me huge advantage and better options in my studies in the future. At first my plan was to apply to a degree programme at Kotka campus, but quickly fell in love with the Sales and Marketing degree description, so ended up starting my school in Kouvola. I’ve never regretted my choice, I’m definitely right where I want and need to be.
The entrance examination was at the campus in the late spring 2016. There were simple yes/no-questions, based on an online material given us about a month before the exam. Most of the material was in Finnish, but one shorter article in English too, so in the exam there were questions in both languages. Every right answer was worth 1 point, and wrong answers -1. There were also 10 quite simple mathematical questions followed by a group interview, where we discussed about good and bad customer service experiences together. The examination situation wasn’t stressful, and everybody – staff and fellow participants – were really nice and helpful from the beginning.
The degree normally lasts for 3,5 years, so I will probably graduate in December 2019. After that I plan to work for a few years (hopefully in marketing industry) before applying to a Master’s Degree of Business or Marketing.
I want to have a career in marketing, and my dream job would definitely be in some kind of leading position within this industry. Luckily Xamk has many different kind of leadership courses to support my dream. Overall, I feel like Xamk has everything I need for the future, and offers the vital things for me to become a professional in the field I’m passionate about.
5 Reasons to Pick Xamk
- Lots of practical projects for real, existing companies. Studying here isn’t just based on reading books or theoretical matters. These projects open new doors when it comes to your future career, and gives an authentic touch to something, that might be your future job.
- Nice staff who is always ready to help. All the staff I’ve met has been really easy to approach. When you have something on your mind, you can turn to anybody and know they will genuinely be interested in helping you, and solving the issues you have.
- Having freedom in your studies. In most of the courses, you can choose a topic or a segment you are interested in, and thinking outside the box is widely encouraged.
- Delicious lunch and variety of food. No need to explain this one, right?
- Good services around campus. Such as the school’s restaurant, library, nurse, psychology, priest etc. There’s everything you need – and much more.
5 Reasons to Choose Sales and Marketing
- Wide range of future jobs to choose from, because basically everything in this world happens through selling something, and marketing it.
- Interesting projects. We do many, many different kind of projects for different kind of (existing) companies. Every single one of them is a new learning experience, and a little bit different than the ones before.
- Practicality. You get an authentic touch of the industry. Among the prjects we do, there’s many interesting lectures and inspiring lecturers from all over the world coming to tell about their lives.
- Working in groups and networking. We do basically almost everything in groups, which helps you to network with different kind of people and learn from them. I’ve widen up my perspectives tremendously.
- Lots of courses to choose from. You can study more about the things that interest you, and there’s a lot of completely new, optional courses coming up every semester. For example, the new YouTube-course, since social media has become a huge trend in the industry.
5 Things I’ve Learned During My Studies
- Time management. I travel constantly between 3 cities, study, work and coach, play and work as a referee in basketball. That’s a lot, but somehow, I’ve learned to make it work.
- To like Kouvola. It’s known as a “concrete jungle”, but the more time I spend there, the more I actually like it. Seriously, it’s not as bad as the rumor says.
- Blogging. In one of our courses I decided to start a blog, something I’ve never done or even considered before. At first the WordPress-platform required a lot of time and nerves, but it was totally worth it! Now I couldn’t imagine my life without it.
- To enjoy studying. I’ve never been too keen on studying, but here I actually love it. The euphoria and adrenaline rush you get from finishing a task you never ever thought you could, it’s something truly unique.
- Working with all kinds of people. There are many different kind of personas in our class, and the projects allow us to do different kind of tasks with all kinds of people. I’ve learned plenty, and made some lifelong friends.