European USD Alumni Association
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An American in Europe: experiences and feelings.
It's great to receive some opinions and experiences of American alumni in Europe.
Here is Michaun's view over his life in Geneva.
I'm actually an american - born and raised in Reno, Nevada. I lived overseas for a few years as a young child (in New Zealand) and the experience always stuck with me, so I wanted to see what 'adult' life abroad would entail. I don't know if Geneva was the best choice for trying to really feel a specific culture, but I'm very happy with the broad cultural mix I've encountered here.
The UN and related organizations seem to populate more than half of the city. I, so far, have only completed an undergraduate degree. I've thought about applying to MBA schools, but haven't been able to justify the cost yet (having finally paid off all the loans I took out to go to USD as an undergrad). Ideally, I'll spend another 12-24 months in Geneva (or Neuchâtel) and follow that with a return to the US - probably Northern California, possibly Vermont or the DC area. I'm working to change the direction of my career, in the long term, toward social responsibility/community relations work within a multi-national corporation. In the near term, I'm looking to broaden my experience base to add skills in budgeting and financial analysis and reporting support for a business line as well as participating in special projects relating to acquisition targeting and integration - preferably within a corporate environment which also recognizes the value of community.
Transferring into USD was truly a turning point for me, USD's great local reputation and the direct attention and assistance received from the career center as well as the professors in the school of business, provided me with the opportunity and support to obtain a referral based position in Palo Alto right out of school. Had I been at a larger University or a school where the recruiting network was less developed, I would have been much less likely to receive this one to one coaching and mentoring. My two years at USD were equally focused on Crew (rowing) and Business (e.g. the business of making sure I had a good job lined up before graduation).The first years of my career couldn't have been in a better learning and mentoring environment than EY Palo Alto. The rapid growth of the practice was actually a positive influence on the emphasis placed on developing the newer staff and offering us challenging assignments, while providing a 'safety net' of available experienced managers to help as tricky issues arose and plenty of reference materials. I did spend many hours on the job; however, the collegial environment with colleagues also becoming good friends and the incentive of working toward an international transfer (not to mention the carrot of 'early promotion' to manager) made the time enjoyable as well as professionally rewarding. I was so focused on achieving both of these goals, which I did after four years in Palo Alto, I never really looked ahead to ask myself what I wanted NEXT - both personally and professionally.
Much of my first year here in Geneva was spent tackling the challenges of the European work environment. The hurdles I faced were primarily cultural rather than technical or service based. New hires had much different technical backgrounds and are not necessarily motivated by speed of advancement and monetary reward or as enthusiastic about or participatory in 'offsite seminars', age and sex became a significant hurdle, my poor to non-existant french language skills - while not necessary for my client base - were an issue as far as internal office politics and interaction were concerned, even the ways of posing questions and commenting on sensitive topics was new. I was surprisingly unprepared for changes as simple as entering an office environment where smokers were free to smoke everywhere and where the receptionists in some of our regional offices barely recognize Ernst & Young and answer the phones with the name of a local firm (defunct for almost two decades through the series of acquisitions which created what is now ATAG EY). I arrived in Switzerland expecting the culture shock to be limited to personnal areas and found that these, in fact, were the easiest changes I faced. I now have a much better appreciation for the challenges of transplanting a distinctive and valuable 'corporate culture' in a global environment. In my second year, having adjusted to and accepted many of the differences in working styles, I developed a keen appreciation for the 'smart but short' work day which is acceptable here. This has given me time to ponder the 'what next' question and again develop a plan (actually several in quick succession - each very different and distinct from the last) for the short and long terms. I've also rediscovered the joys of fitness, developed new personal interests and inquiries, and become involved in, at least at the periphery, the diverse social circles powered by the ILO (fondly, and not to sarcastically, referred to as the int'l leisure organization) and the UN. I like the idea of an event somewhere up in the Nordic countries - haven't made it up that way yet.
Mr Michaun Carnahan - BA'93 - E mail : michaun8@hotmail.com
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Last updated 21/04/03