Alumni Success Story: An Interview with Mariam Petrosyan (IESM ‘11)

2 min read

Alumna Mariam Petrosyan, IESM ‘11, agreed to answer a few questions about AUA’s impact on her life and career.

What influenced your choice of profession initially? How did you choose AUA? Tell us a little about your AUA years.

After receiving my bachelor’s degree in business and marketing, I was thinking about continuing my education with an MBA, but then one of my friends suggested that I apply to the Industrial Engineering and Systems Management (IESM) program at AUA. At first I wasn’t sure whether I would fit into the program with my educational background, because the first thing that comes to mind when you hear engineering is physics, which I had not mastered. But I decided to learn more about the program anyway. After speaking with Aram Hajian, the dean of the Zaven & Sonia Akian College of Science & Engineering (CSE), I realized that the program was not just about physics, and that there were many interesting directions in which I could go, such as operations research, statistics, alternative energy subjects and CAD/CAM, which was one of my favourite subjects during my studies.

As an AUA alumna, how would you evaluate AUA’s contribution to your current achievements?

AUA gives me the confidence to believe in myself. This is something that can’t be learned by reading books and watching Ted talks. The other thing that I really appreciate is networking, as AUA gives you a great opportunity to meet different people in different spheres. If you’re considering studying at AUA, it’s a chance you need to take.

What was the role of AUA in molding your future choice of profession? Tell us a little about your current status – what do you do?

When I was in my last year of studies, I heard about an internship opportunity at HSBC and decided to apply. Now it’s been more than six years that I’ve been working there. It’s been a very interesting journey to start my career with an internship in one of Armenia’s leading international companies. Currently I am the manager of the Banking Operations and Customer Due Diligence department, and simultaneously, starting from this term, I am an adjunct lecturer in AUA’s CSE. After I graduated, I didn’t want to lose connection with my alma mater, and so I was a teaching associate for about four years.

In general, how would you define success in career?

My belief in myself is what motivates me to learn new things and explore new spheres. If you can achieve that confidence, you will have achieved success.