Jamile Feitosa da Cunha, 28, lives in São Paulo city and holds a position of Leadership at Bradesco (brazilian bank – considered one of the most valuable brands in Latin America since 2012, by the consultancy Brand Finance) . Our student, for the third time, completed the Business Strategy & Marketing Management program at CUOA Business School on January of this year.
Check out a little bit about her international experience, her point of view regarding the future of the profession and advice for those who are willing to join the area!

You attended the program Business Strategy & Marketing Management at CUOA. Was it your first program abroad?

No. It was my third, two of which were with IBS Americas. I attended the course Leading & Coaching the Human Organization and Strategic Thinking. . It was an incredible experience due to the cultural exchange that IBS provides in these programs! All my experiences were wonderful, but each one had its own special highlight and distinguishing factor. You will find many aspects of these other cultures to be very different from your own, but you narrow your sight to the individuals within the culture you will also find many similarities. Curiosity will also arise when learning the history of each individual. It makes you think, “Who is the other person?”. By learning more about others in these Short-term programs, I also learned more about myself.

What was the differential of this travel?

At CUOA, I had the opportunity to truly live a cultural exchange. During the IBS program there was an optional visit to Switzerland, so you end up dealing with different languages: the program is taught in English, but you leave the university, and everyone is speaking Italian, and then you go to Switzerland and where they are speaking in French. That was a life lesson, not only professional, but in my life! It was very special to have this contact with multiple languages. It encouraged me to learn other languages.

Preparation does not always require expertise, it requires disposal. When you have disposal, expertise will be gained by efforts. For the first time I shared my room with a student that was not Brazilian. I opened myself to this challenge and she became a good friend from Egypt. We liked the same movies, the same kind of music! I understood a little bit about globalization. It is very interesting: even Maroon 5 here, is the same Maroon 5 that plays in Egypt. So, even though the world is so big in some ways, in other ways its very small.

Tell me more about your professional journey. Was it difficult to reach where you are today?

Yes! Everything is a challenge, isn’t it? Nothing comes easy, we must conquer everything. My first job was as a trainee and it’s a very interesting story. SABESP (brazilian company for public services of basic sanitation), was with their first team of trainees, so my mother saw it in a newspaper and enrolled me. I started in Maintenance Engineering. For two years I had the opportunity to learn about administrative and engineering techniques, as I was working directly with civil, electric and mechanical engineering. I worked from Mondays to Thursdays, and on Fridays I used to attend a free course at SENAI (National Service of Industrial Learning. It was pointed out by ONU, in 2016, as one of the mainly educational institutions of South hemisphere), as an Administrative Agent. At the same time, at night, I was attending high school. Since the beginning I was extremely challenged.

Two years after the trainee contract expired, I left Sabesp. Three months after I was hired by Fundação Bradesco. I was hired as a temporary employer at the Educational Technology department and this department had a “Online School” and until now this website is available, offering e-learning from different fields. I had the opportunity to deal with a needy community. I started taking care of Intel Corporation programs in partnership with Bradesco. It was my first teaching experience. I was there for a year, and I was invited to take a technical course in computer science, by Fundação Bradesco. At the end of technical training course, I was able to start a IT area in the bank as a trainee. I was there for nine years, working as System Analyst. In these nine years, a lot of things happened! I gained experience and was promoted and a year ago, I was invited to change my field.

Now I am part of the Department of Bank Products. I was invited to start an area that did not exist until then. I am working with a Projects team, where I am the leader of the team. My challenge was to build not only a team, but a department, develop people. I think the most important thing as a leader is not its position nor the prestigious that this position gives, but the opportunity to make the difference in people’s lives. Knowing that your decisions will directly change someone’s life. Being a leader requires attention, judgment. Be aware of the details. One thing I think that helps a lot is to do it naturally. When you have this passion for people, this respect. I believe that leadership comes from an example. You are there to teach people.

With all the baggage that you carry, what is your overview of the future of your profession?

I believe that my area today is an area in potential growth and it will make a lot of difference in developing operational efficiency in a bank. My great inspiration and purpose in doing all of this, is simply return to society better products and bank services.

We must think beyond the corporate aspect, and the society aspect. Financial sector, in general, sells dreams. If you think about it, money is a resource necessary to build enterprises in life. I realize that my area is like this. I joke that the sky is the limit. Even though I’m a leader, I teach, and this enriches me and them. I care about providing not only the best bank, but also products and services.

What would you say to a professional that is stating as a System Analyst?

I would say: “Be curious!”. Learn everything that you can. A system analyst has to be updated, not think that because you were graduated from a university or did a MBA is enough. Every moment there are new tendencies, new systems and applications. So, you must be always updated. It is important this curiosity, because it forces you to learn something new. IT area allows for new discoveries that chang the world. Pay attention to Facebook, Google, Netflix. All these big companies were created by a student that simply realized something that no one else had seen before.

People starting now have everything to develop in this path of innovation and changes that the market requires. I would leave to new students this message: always study, try to apply everything that you learn. There are a lot of startups, initiatives inside universities to practice this knowledge. Everything you do, do your best.

What made you choose IBS Americas?

You see, it was very interesting! The first contact I had with IBS was through the website of FIAP university, where I was attending a MBA program in Technology Management field. One day, through this change that made me start planning the future, I decided to attend an international exchange program. I accessed my university’s website to find for a partnership and found IBS. I searched for information and called to know more about the offer. IBS was offering a partial scholarship in partnership with the university, which helped me a lot. With courage, I enrolled in the program. It was a big step in my life. It was extremely enriching in my professional life.

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