"The Dan­ish work-cul­ture made me stay"

Fernando Fiat grew up in Costa Rica, the sustainability pioneer of South America. When Fernando was exploring his MBA options to accelerate his career, he was looking for ways to integrate sustainability into his studies, since sustainability is deeply anchored in his mindset. As Denmark in one of the leading countries in terms of sustainability in Europe and the MBA offers a sustainability focus, he applied to the Full-Time MBA programme at Copenhagen Business School.

When he arrived, Fernando realized that life in Denmark differed in many ways from life back home in Costa Rica, including the educational experience.

“This experience was completely different from my previous educational experiences,” he recalls. “It was completely international, which was something that I was looking for in an MBA. We were a small class, we were only 32 people, but there were 16 different nationalities in the class, so that was very interesting.”

However, his classmates not only came from different countries around the world, but also from a lot of different professional backgrounds, which enriched his experience and extended his view on problem solving.

“Having that many people with all different backgrounds and experiences trying to solve the same problem, you can see that the problem can be solved in many ways,” he says. “So that also opens your mind a little bit to understand that maybe there are better solutions out there than the ones that you are aware of.”

A little into his MBA Fernando worked on a consultancy project for a Danish start-up, which gave him insights into the Danish working culture, where a proper work-life balance is highly valued. This experience prompted him to see his career in a whole new light and consequently, alter his career path.

The transitioning from working in the real estate industry in Costa Rica, to being employed by Maersk in the transport and logistics industry, would not have been possible without the Copenhagen MBA. Even though Fernando chose CBS to focus on sustainability, the unique Danish working culture made him stay.

You can find the original article here.