A growing number of Ukrainians are hoping to expand their career prospects or start working abroad by beefing up their resumes with additional degrees and professional certifications.
Possibly the best known way for career growth for ambitious professionals is the masters in business administration, or MBA. Yet the golden standard for future executives is costly, time consuming and hard to attain.
While good local schools can be helpful for those with solid career plans, experts say, a real boost requires an MBA at one of the world’s 10 or 20 top schools where entry criteria are very stringent. Typical candidates have to pass international mathematics or language exams, need three or four years of middle management experience, and are usually 27 or 28 years old, said Dmitriy Bondar, head of MBA Strategy, which helps prepare students.
This means that out of 500 to 600 applicants, only a fraction are serious contenders, he said, adding that two or three Ukrainian students accepted per top school is a good result. Moreover, such degrees typically cost $100,000 or even $200,000, said Bondar, which makes the investment very risky.
“You need clear and realistic goals,” he said. “The worst is getting an MBA but having no opportunities.”
Professional diplomas, like the Association Chartered Certified Accountants and Chartered Financial Analyst certificates, can be a more accessible route for many Ukrainians.
ACCA, the diploma of choice in accounting industry, is often financed by employers, who find the $2,000 to $4,500 cost (late registration fees increase significantly) for a total of 16 exams worth the expense.
“Over 95 percent of ACCA members in Eastern Europe have reported their employment within the largest international companies. Salaries also increase strongly during their career, rising significantly higher than the national average,” said the head of ACCA Ukraine Nataliya Vovchuk.
“This is not an easy program, but this way it is kept at a global level and employers are confident in the ability of our graduates.”
ACCA currently counts 1,900 students and 420 members in Ukraine, representing a 10 percent increase compared to last year and an almost threefold jump since 2005 when the organization arrived in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, about 100 Ukrainians this summer sat down in Kyiv to take one of three levels of the chartered financial analyst exam – part of a global cohort of 150,000 that was tested on their knowledge of statistics, accounting rules, bond valuation techniques and other aspects of financial analysis.
According to CFA Ukraine head Andrey Bespyatov, who holds both a Ph.D. and CFA charter, the number of charter holders in Ukraine took off together with the local stock market after the 2004 Orange Revolution, jumping from just 20 in 2004 to around 80 today (a further 20 or so graduated this year). With passage rates of around 40 percent, the financial analysis test is considered by some to be one of the toughest out there, second only to medical exams.
“It’s a tough exam, but it can open a lot of doors,” said Maria Kovalenko, who passed the level one CFA exam this year and works with statistical surveys at international auditing giant Ernst & Young. The cost typically ranges between $600 and $1,000, plus $420 to $505 for first-time enrollment. Then come exam preparations of 290 to 320 hours, on average, memorizing each of the 3,000 or so pages in six tomes by heart. And that’s just for the first of three levels.
But the potential rewards compensate the effort. While no numbers are available for Ukraine, globally CFA charter holders with less than a year of experience can expect salaries above $50,000. Over five years on the job moves median salaries upwards of $90,000 annually.
By comparison, Ukrainian MBA graduates can expect, on average, to see their incomes of $3,000 or $4,000 per month to multiply by 1.5 or 2 times, Bondar said. This can vary significantly, he added, and many simply enroll to improve their career prospects or move abroad.
“For young people (who have just graduated from Ukraine’s universities), the main motivation for acquiring an international diploma is the chance to work at an international company that will allow to go work abroad,” confirmed Svetlana Artemenko, a veteran recruiter.
“For experienced specialists gaining an international diploma increases the chances of moving up a notch on the career ladder, and increasing their salaries,” she added.
An international diploma, globally recognized and with high credibility, is also a great way to stand out on the job market.
Nowadays working in a professional environment means that you need to deal with many overlapping fields, Ernst & Young’s Kovalenko said. And taking the CFA exam is a great way to boost your understanding of finance and get a competitive edge, she added.
Looking over dozens of resumes, with five minutes to eliminate a candidate, having a CFA can be the difference between the top and the bottom of the pile, said Bespyatov, who also heads the research department at leading Ukraine-based investment bank Dragon Capital.
He also pointed to another advantage, particularly to those Ukrainians fed up with the corruption and nepotism that pervade the nation’s business spheres.
For just around $2,000 you can get a globally accepted professional certificate, Bespyatov explained, significantly less than the hundreds of thousands you would need to earn a MBA at one of the world’s top schools.
Unfortunately, this means that talented young professionals use it as way to leave Ukraine, but at least they don’t need to leave work and can do it on their own, he said.
“It is a great equalizer. You don’t need rich parents to send you abroad,” Bespyatov said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Jakub Parusinski can be reached at [email protected].
