Advice from alumni: Assem Zhanabekova

Assem Zhanabekova from Kazakhstan graduated from EF Academy Torbay in 2010 with A-Level qualifications. She studied Economics at London School of Economics, during which she completed internships with the European Union Delegation to Kazakhstan and Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation. Later, she began working for Bloomberg as an Equity Data Analyst and is now working more with project management and project execution. In the future, she would like to start her own think tank in Kazakhstan. Read more about her journey from Astana in Kazakhstan to the financial sector in London:

How did you hear about EF Academy and why did you choose to attend?

EF Academy came to my high school in Kazakhstan and offered a merit-based scholarship. I did not consider applying at first because we in Kazakhstan have a different system and we study eleven years instead of ten years plus two years, which meant that I had one year to go. However, my mother told me that it would be a good idea to apply anyways since I would be able to do the two-year long A-Level program and still graduate at the same age. In the end, I got the scholarship and decided to go EF Academy in Torbay.

Looking back, I really liked the experience. My time at EF Academy not only increased my chances to get into a top university and improved my subject-related skills, it also played a crucial role in my development as a person. I think I became a more well-rounded person through the constant exposure to different cultures, which made it easier at university. Back home, you are in your comfort zone and you don’t have to go out and about. When you are at a young age, being thrown into a community where people speak different languages and have traditions different from your own, it enables you to step out of comfort zone and learn about different ideas. The experience at EF Academy Torbay allowed me to develop my own anwers to many questions that were different from when I was back home. I am now much more open-minded, for which I am very proud.

What university did you go to afterwards? What did you study and why?

I studied Economics at London School of Economics. I always found the subject of Economics to be interesting but my plan to study the subject wasn’t fully defined when I was in Kazakhstan. During my A-Level studies in Torbay, I realized that I was really passionate about it. I remember discussing various economic models after classes and applying them to everyday situations, like the human interaction between men and women. We had so much fun during our economics classes and it was then that I decided that I wanted to pursue economics at university.

London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE) was an evident choice for me, since it is one of the best universities when it comes to economics. I mean, it even has economics in its name. I would say that LSE is somewhat different from other universities, since it has a much more even distribution of undergraduate and postgraduate students (almost 50/50). Thanks to this, I was more conscious about post-university opportunities since students at our school were quite often targeted by companies’ recruitment efforts. We also had a lot of different societies that we could engage in. I was, amongst other things, a part of the organization committee for TEDxLSE 2012 – 2013, which was one of my most fun experiences. To be honest, it was quite impossible to not be involved in a project or two at LSE. There was literally a club for everything and everyone e.g. Poker Society and Investment Society. The location in the middle of London also helped make it a great experience.

Tell us about the EU internship you did during your time at LSE…

After my first year at LSE, I got an internship at the administrative department of the European Union delegation in Kazakhstan. During that internship, I got to do literally everything that you would imagine an intern doing e.g. making coffee and archiving papers. However, I did my best at work while not forgetting to network within the department. In the end, they asked me to come back to cover for a person that went on maternity leave the following summer. During that fixed-term internship, I got to perform a wider range of tasks such as monitoring the news flow in Kazakhstan and write reports back to Brussels, analyze the political situation in Kazakhstan, negotiate with media and press, translate statements by important spokespeople. This was a great experience as it gave me taste of the professional life and helped me to develop my analytical side while keeping up-to-date with the political scene. So my tip when it comes to internships is to try to get a foot in the door somewhere and then do a good job there and network. You never know when the dream opportunity will come.

What are you doing now?

I am working at Bloomberg – one of the world’s largest financial software, data, and media companies. I started with an internship there more than three years ago and then converted into a full-time role as an Equity Data Analyst after graduating from LSE. In that role, I was mainly covering the commercial and financial performance of Russian companies and European Retail Companies. With time, my role has shifted more into project management and project execution. Since 2015, I have been working on managing the development of a new product which I think is much more fun as it is more about coming up with different solutions to problems. This role allows me to be more innovative and creative! I am happy that I am working for a company that embraces change, which has allowed me to develop my own career in a direction that suits me.

What is your long-term dream?

I would like to be working with education in Kazakhstan. I think there are a lot of possibilities to develop within this field in my home country and I would like to be a part of giving opportunities to young people there. Education in its traditional form is no longer a luxury, instead it is more of a luxury to be able to absorb education. With the digitalization, there is an oversupply of content but it requires a lot of discipline to be able to absorb it. My dream project would be to start a think tank focusing on different socio-economic issues in Central Asia.

Tips for current students who want to study what you study?

Try to be passionate about the subject that you want to pursue, since it is bound to be quite intense if you are successful in getting in. Thus, you should make sure that it is actually something that you want to do before you apply.
Start developing your critical thinking already in high school: Try to see causes of things that are going on in the world and start arguing for your own stand-point in discussions.

Do you keep in touch with your EF Academy classmates?

Absolutely, I still have a lot of good friends from EF Academy Torbay. It would be much easier to keep in touch if we all went to the same city after our studies.

What’s your favorite memory from EF Academy?

There is not one particular moment that I have as a favorite, but rather a cascade of different fun mental images. I just remember how we all went to the common room and we would play games and hang out. The Chinese students would teach us Russian-speakers their games, which was a lot of fun. I also cherish the memory of the time that we all went to Alton Towers – an amusement park in the midlands with different rollercoasters. I still consider taking the “Oblivion” ride, where you are quite literally dropped down at a 90-degree angle, as an achievement that I am proud of.

What do you miss the most?

The simplicity in terms of communication. When we started, everyone was very new to the United Kingdom and English as a language. However, we were all very eager to speak to each other so it was easy to make friends.

What is one thing that you learned from EF Academy that you found valuable for university? For work life? For your personal life?

The ability to learn independently: When I went to university, we had an even larger proportion of free time and independent study. Since I learned to manage my own time and how to prioritize at EF Academy, it was easier for me and it is still helping me a lot in my work today.

Who are the most successful alumni that you know of?

Olga Dozortseva – My classmate who also went to LSE and is now working at Société Générale
Natalya Zhirnova– Also a fellow Russian EF Academy and LSE alumna who is now working in Cyprus with auditing
Dmitry Vingurskiy – graduated from EF Academy a year before me, after which he went to on study at Oxford Brookes University, and is now working as a film operator for a hockey club back in Russia,

Any advice to fellow alumni at universities and starting their careers?

Try to learn everything, especially if you are just starting. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and do a lot of work. There will be a steep learning curve in the beginning when you learn so much, but the marginal benefit will decline after a while so appreciate it.

Try to network with as many people as possible; more opportunities will come your way in this way.

When you start working, don’t be too disappointed if your “best ideas” don’t go through because sometimes there are reasons that you don’t know. However, be persistent and don’t give up. I remember when I started working, everyone was so keen and fresh with so many “revolutionary” ideas. However, I noticed myself that it was difficult to get all my ideas through and now looking back I can understand why.

Short questions:
Name: Assem Zhanabekova
Age: 24
Nationality: Kazakh
EF Academy campus: EF Academy Torbay
Graduation years: 2008
Program: A-Levels (Maths, Further Maths, Sociology, Economics)
Residence or host family: Host family
Favorite subject: Economics, I really liked the teacher who was so inspiring.
Favorite teacher:
Andy Scott – My first teacher in economics, who really took me under his wings when I was struggling the first year at EF Academy since I ddin’t have any background in economics at that time. I remember that I almost failed my first economics exam and I was devastated but Andy never let me feel down about myself. Instead he helped me by suggesting books for me to read and we would go through the problems together and in the end, I got an A* in economics.
Favorite club/society:
Since I was at EF Academy when it just started, we didn’t have any clubs or societies. However, we had a lot of different co-curricular activities that we could do. I really enjoyed the TOK course that I got to take despite the fact that I wasn’t enrolled in the IB program. It was a really interesting class where we got to debate about different social dilemmas and problems, which helped my critical thinking.

Shouts outs to:
Andy Scott and Peter Welsby
Debbie Chatterton