Video - Ivan Dimikovski

MBA student testimonial

Video of Ivan Dimikovski at the MBA Residential School in Brussels, 2011.

Text Version

Q1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Ivan and I'm from Macedonia, but in the last ten to 12 years I've lived all around the world, from the States to the Czech Republic to Malaysia, and now finally I'm in Germany.

I've been working for Deutsche Post for the past five years doing IT consultancy. Now I'm moving into IT audit, and started doing my MBA as a part of further development, both career wise and personal development.

Q2. Why did you choose an MBA with The Open University Business School?

It’s mostly because I wanted to continue studying. I missed school, I loved school, that’s why I enrolled in an MBA programme, specifically choosing The Open University because it provides a lot of flexibility. 

You can rearrange your time, you can do your time management around the school and you don’t have to sacrifice as much as you would do in let’s say a full year MBA programme, so it allows you the flexibility to work and to study on the weekends, and also you don't have to travel or be physically present in a school all the time.

Q3. How is it going?

I like it. It was challenging at the beginning to get used to the concept of distance learning, to adapt yourself and because I come from a different background which is very typical, going to school, being physically present in a school, so that was a bit of a challenge, but once I overcame i, it’s fun. It’s exciting and it lets me learn new things every day, and I'm surprised by that.

Q4. They call it distance learning. Is it really at a distance?

It is distance learning per se because everything you do you have to access the website, you go to get the materials. You study by yourself and then send your exams or your papers to somebody who is far away, so that’s kind of the distance learning, but also we have a lot of day schools so we meet each other, we exchange ideas, we interact, we have workshops. Also this residential school gives us the opportunity to meet each other, like, the entire group of people who are present, and learn from other experiences and from different perspectives.

Q5. Has it already had an impact on your day job?

Yes it has, because I've learned a lot of things. The most important thing which I learned in doing this, since the start of this MBA is reflection, reflection on action and reflection in action, so whatever I do I put more thought into it, so really it has changed my mindset, the way I think and the way I work, and it has changed my daily routine, so I really wake up in the morning, think about what I'm going to do. I make a plan then I go, and after the end of the day actually reflect on it and say, okay, I've done this, I've done this and that was good and that was bad.

Q6. Early days, but would you recommend it?

Yes, I would definitely recommend it to other people. It’s good value for money, good quality, great reputation, so I would definitely recommend it.