Maggie always dreamt of working in New York City.
Hi, my name is Maggie Krasteva and I studied BSc (Hons) International Relations and Sociology at Aston University.
I'm originally from Bulgaria but I currently work for IBM here in New York City. It has always been a dream of mine to work here. I am a leadership development and inclusion partner and I work with leaders to help them identify the next leaders in the company and help to develop them.
I've worked with people from across the globe. I've had the opportunity to travel to pretty much every continent as part of my work.
Why did you choose to study at Aston University?
I chose to study at Aston because it was a great mix between a big vibrant city and the small compact campus, and the calibre of education there was amazing. The lecturers were incredible. They were very open, approachable, they were experts in their field, but also, they had worked in companies that we learnt about. There was a lot of learning about the theory, but then testing it out in practice.
How did your placement year benefit your career?
Our third year was a year in industry, or a placement year and I did my placement year in IBM in the UK. Aston prepared us well for applying to many different companies and IBM happened to be the one that I clicked with the most.
After graduating from Aston University, I came back to a full-time role in IBM UK and in 2016 I was invited to come here to the States, where I joined the IBM HR team. My placement year at Aston University directly led to the career that I now have in IBM, New York City.
Maggie commented:
For any students considering Aston University, I'd say it’s a great choice. Take advantage of all the opportunities, all the classes, network as much as you can. Aston University gave me a lot of skills that I use to this day in my career.