Piotr Pobikrowski

1. What influenced you to pursue an MBA at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology?

My biggest inspiration for professional development has always been my wife. Seeing her attitude and successes, one couldn't help but feel that one can achieve satisfaction and professional development simply by improving oneself. I yearned for just such development, and with this desire came other goals: searching for answers on how to be a good employee, a good boss, how to co-create a friendly work culture, how to build my own future. At the same time, PJAIT has a reputation among technical universities, and it offered an MBA in the context of the IT industry, which was important to me. I figured it would be a good investment in myself and my development, and I was not disappointed.

2. How do you recall your time at MBA 4 IT at PJAIT? What was the most significant thing for you during the studies themselves?

I have to admit that at first the class was a weekend school for me, but very quickly we established deeper relationships, both among the participants and some of the instructors. I have to admit that it was learning with this particular team that was the most significant value for me. It made the content we listened to and discussed even more valuable, because we were open to talking about our experience and listening carefully to each other. Some of the relationships are still ongoing.

3. What areas from the curriculum covered during the MBA program were most relevant and useful to you in your professional life?

Above all, the ones on project management, people and team management, business and even on security were certainly useful. No less, the others were also a solid dose of knowledge, and were often the background that allowed you to better perform your professional duties and understand the business, such as all the knowledge of financial or economic mechanisms.

4. How do you assess the cooperation of MBA students during the course and the contact between the student and the lecturer. Are the relationships that have been established important to you?

In a way I answered in previous questions, but developing the thread, I ended up in a very open group. We had cases of people with different experience and in different positions, but there was always full openness and acceptance of every student. Also the lecturers, professionals in their fields, treated us as partners. From all of you relationships, many spontaneous team-building meetings and many non-business contacts arose. I'm sure that after a few years everyone would be ready to help others without hesitation if there was a need. This is a very great value.

5. How did your MBA study contribute to your career
?

Thanks to my studies, acquired knowledge and skills, I got very interesting job offers. In the end, I work as the head of the PMO team, which fuses many different competencies, but mainly communicates with customers, understands the business and collects requirements, plans production work and is responsible for product quality and timeliness. I can say that my work is still full of new challenges and I'm still learning new things, but very often I see how much my MBA studies at PJAIT have contributed to who I am now. And it's not the end of my road yet.

7. What tips could you give to potential MBA candidates?

Trust, invest your time and commitment, be open to people and content, and value will appear very quickly. Appreciate the value of networking and relationships, these days a lot of business and contracts are done by referral. This is a value that cannot be overestimated.