Written by Amanda Hidayat
Studying at ABS has been a great experience for me. Beside the academic studies, the thesis writing process was proven to be extremely valuable. I had a great thesis supervisor, Dr. B. Erke, under whose clear direction and supervision I was able to easily work on my thesis without any obstacles.
Such experiences and skills have helped me in my carrier with Citibank Indonesia. Even though working at Citibank Indonesia was my first work experience, I felt well prepared. I was able to put immediately into practice my project handling, impromptu presentation preparation and writing skills.
A fun fact from my experience with Citibank Indonesia was, on my second day at work when they gave me my first major task as a newcomer. I was required to prepare a winning skit for my department. This was intended for the Employee forum – Inter Group competition which was held at the end of that week. I have to say that I fully used the skills and experience I gathered during group projects while studying at Arnhem Business School. In this case I needed to create a choreography.. to teach bankers to dance.. to compile scene stealer songs and to come up with a genuinely funny and original script; all of which needed to be done in 3 days.
This task may seem like an artistic and fun task, but it required some seriously hard work. It involved deciding on a theme, planning a winning strategy, organizing people (employees who have worked there for far longer than I have) and building a close relationship with the potential jury. For me this task was extremely important – it was my first chance to impress the whole bank and to make a name for myself.
Needless to say, our skit was a success and we came in as the 2nd place winner, which was a first for us.
I really enjoyed my time at ABS, I had fantastic classmates, great teaching staff, as well as a great academic and diverse cultural experience. It was a truly satisfying and enriching university experience.
Master of Arts in International Business
(class of 2001-2002)
Indonesian Student
