Sandra Guaman, Co-Founder, MPMatheis

In order to help current students and recent graduates to find their way in the working world, many of our alumni shared their career story. Here the story of Sandra Mariela Guaman Montero, Co-Founder di MPMatheis a Montevideo (Uruguay). USI Degrees: Master in Economic Policy, 2017.

How did you start your career?

At the Banking Supervisory Authority in Quito, whereby I directed research projects related to Indebtedness, House Price Indexes, Financial Inclusion and the First Financial Stability Report for Ecuador, all of this helped me to know the financial system of my country in perfection.

Why did you choose  to found MPMatheis?

After finishing my studies in Switzerland and were mixing with people from different backgrounds, I realized that developing countries need more people to create projects, that studying should give you the ability to create work, not necessarily to finish your studies and wait for find a job. That’s why my German partner, who also studied in USI, and I decided to
come to live in South America and create a company with German products.

What is your current role/duties?

Execute monthly all the obligations that the company has with the public institutions of the country, such as payment of pensions to employees, payment of taxes, etc. Find potential clients for the company and reach potential agreements. Look out for new opportunities for the company.

In your opinion, what are the qualities necessary for a successful career at MPMatheis?

Be versatile, be open to learn new topics, new systems, have the enough ability to apply what you studied to reality with different types of market.

What are USI’s positive featuresand qualities?

Being able to have a more direct contact with the teachers, there were times when with my classmates, we felt like having personalized classes which were wonderful! Having professors from different countries with different knowledge, having the possibility of doing doctorate courses and having classmates who are doing the PhD. gave me a lot of knowledge too.

What competences and/or skills acquired in your USI Study Program have been useful/are useful to your professional career?

Overall, these programs have allowed me to acquire a deep theoretical and quantitative background to complement my previous knowledge in Econometrics and economic analysis with the graduate-level courses in advanced Econometrics (Difference-in-differences, Regression Discontinuity Designs), policy evaluation (Evaluation ex-ante and ex-post, surveys on running a policy program) and multicriteria analysis. These studies focused on advance and complex theoretical notions that helped me to develop new learning strategies and critical thinking. This combined with my previous experience in research has served to hone my ability to develop problem-solving skills, and work within an interdisciplinary environment.

What is your advice to USI students entering the job market?

Search for a place where they allow you to create and to be able to exploit everything you've learned, to see yourself doing things you never could have imagined doing.