18.02.2009
"I want to bridge gaps between cultures"
"I want to bridge gaps between cultures, be it here in Germany or in Brazil." (Copyright: private photograph)
“There is more German industry in Brazil than anywhere else outside of Germany; almost all the major German companies have important offices in Brazil,” explains Victor Silveira-Camargos from Brazil. After graduating from the
Universität Mannheim with a diploma (or MBA as they are now called) in Business Administration in 2005, he landed a job with the reputable company “Roland Berger Strategy Consultants”. Today he holds the position of Senior Consultant at the Competence Center Automotive. “Roland Berger recently wanted to send me to Brazil for a 2-year assignment, but I decided to make use of the opportunity to do my doctoral thesis here.” However, in the short to medium term Victor Silveira-Camargos will most probably go back and apply in his home country what he has learned in Baden-Württemberg.
The 27 year old found that in Germany, and in Baden-Württemberg in particular, people work in a highly concentrated and single minded fashion: “Some people at the Universität Mannheim, but even more in the business world, seem to live solely for their work. My personal goal is to eventually find a work life balance which makes it worthwhile working hard for a pleasant standard of living.” At the moment, the business expert in production logistics has taken 18 months off to work on his doctoral degree at the famous ETH in Zurich. “I’m sure my diploma from Mannheim helped me to get a place in Switzerland at one of the best universities in the world,” he states.
Speaking six languages, he is the perfect person to be sent all over the world. “I want to bridge gaps between cultures,” he says, “be it here in Germany or in Brazil.” Victor has worked with the Catholic Church Council (KHG) and is a member of the well-known and prize-winning “Absolventum”-Club of the Universität Mannheim. “We have collected money during services and organized cultural events to help foreign students in need who live in Mannheim,” he recalls. The very international atmosphere in Mannheim with students from all over the world has always attracted the successful consultant from Brazil. Although he now lives in Bavaria and Thuringia, he is always glad to hear from his “alma mater” in newsletters and mails. “I have to travel a lot and I’m constantly on the move, but we have regional meetings, so-called “Stammtische” with alumni from Mannheim in various cities, including Munich and Frankfurt. I recently attended such meetings and it is really fun to get together and talk about earlier times but also to establish new networks,” says Victor Silveira-Camargos.
www.uni-mannheim.dewww.mannheim-business-school.com/programs/full-time-mba.html
