Jumping from theory to practice
How a successful former student became a successful marketing professional: Silvana E.S. Leasi, from Lucerne, explains why, even as a college graduate, she chose to pursue continuing education while working—and how she made it to the very top.
She didn't actually want to go. After all, Silvana E.S. Leasi had only just returned from Rome, where she had celebrated her 30th birthday, the night before the marketing diploma ceremony. And she didn't have the feeling that she had done exceptionally well in the exam. But then came the call from Lex Ambühl. The principal of Simakom in Lucerne, where Leasi had prepared for the exam, knew that one of his 34 students had scored quite impressively in the marketing specialist exam. So Ambühl called Leasi: "You're coming to the graduation ceremony in Interlaken too, aren't you?" Leasi couldn't say no. She was not to regret it.
Unusual path
On June 25 of this year, Leasi was the big winner. She won the Swiss Marketing Award as the best of all 683 successful graduates. And with an average grade of 5.5, which had never been achieved before. On top of this, Leasi also won the award in the oral marketing category. This concentration of achievements is unusual. Even more unusual, however, is Leasi's career: before her triumph as a budding marketing specialist, the Lucerne native had already achieved success as an academic, completing a five-year degree in psychology at the University of Bern. The path from a diploma to a federal certificate is completely new, even for Head of School Ambühl: "In the history of our school, which dates back to 1999, I've never seen anything like it." He certainly thinks it's a clever move: "I'm fascinated by the way Silvana Leasi has followed up her highly theoretical studies with further training in a practical environment. A highly intelligent move!" What prompted Leasi to add a federal FA to her lic. phil. degree? A new work situation, a recommendation, an experience - and her innate urge to expose herself to new situations and benefit from them: that's probably how you could summarize it in telegram style.
Communicating at eye level
Leasi knows first-hand what a federal certificate is worth: "My brother has a federal certificate as an accountant, so I knew what it meant." And even if the academic herself had not initially planned to obtain such a certificate, it became an issue after her studies when she was employed as a consultant at the Hergiswil-based market research company GfK: "My switch there from quantitative to qualitative market research brought me into increased contact with marketing managers and CEOs from all kinds of industries - from construction to pharmaceuticals. "I increasingly realized that I lacked a marketing background." Leasi began to look around for further training that could help her here. A postgraduate degree, which would have led to a Master's degree, would have been appropriate. Within the company, however, she was advised to obtain a marketing specialist certificate. This was advice that she took - also in view of her brother's good experiences.
Her impression today: "It was the right choice. The postgraduate course would have been pure theory again, whereas the specialist certificate is much more 'down to earth'. It's pure practice." Of course, there were also critical voices here and there about her unconventional decision to continue her education: "Are you really going to sit in a classroom with the assistants now?" Leasi heard, for example. Gossip that doesn't bother her. Because now, with this specialist certificate in my backpack, "I can really communicate with our contacts at eye level - that's worth a lot in my day-to-day work." An everyday tool such as customer relationship management, or CRM for short, is something Leasi can now talk about off the cuff. Product life cycle? A familiar thing, let's talk about it.
Doctor's hat or marketing manager?
It is rare for someone to choose a practice-oriented course after their academic education. It is therefore all the more interesting to find out first-hand from such a person what the differences are between university and preparation for the marketing specialist certificate. One difference, says Leasi, lies in the workload: "I continued to work 100% alongside the preparation time at Simakom - that was already a burden alongside school." Although she also worked during university, her study work was clearly her "main job". Leasi does know how to juggle different tasks. After all, she prepared for the Markom entrance exam herself. However, the double burden - a job at GfK in the world of practice, alongside her time at marketing school in a practice-oriented environment - was a real challenge: "I basically had two main jobs." And yet Leasi would also recommend this path to others who come from university and want to acquire the practical skills afterwards: "It's a good thing in terms of time and money, it's a recognized and valuable degree, and it gives you new perspectives." If she were to lead a team herself one day, says Leasi, "and if I had people from university in that team, then I would advise them to do a marketing specialist course. You understand the customer even better afterwards and speak their language." Or to put it more succinctly: "Beforehand, you understand what people are talking about. But with the specialist certificate, you really get it." The only question that remains is whether Leasi would rather bet on academic or practical training. This is where quick-thinker Leasi, who is otherwise always on the spot with a well-formulated answer, becomes a little thoughtful for the first time: "No paths have been prepared yet," she says, "but if marketing remains my main direction, then the case should be clear. Then the head of marketing is certainly closer to me than the doctorate."
Take it leasi
What can you learn from a newly qualified marketing specialist who passed the exam with such flying colors? Silvana Leasi can help with a few tips. But she doesn't have any miracle cures up her sleeve: "Doing nothing definitely doesn't work."
As a neuropsychologist, Silvana Leasi naturally approaches the topic of knowledge transfer and internalization with a profound background knowledge: "Learning can be trained," says the Lucerne native, "anyone can learn well. It's simply always about anchoring the material with a good amount of repetition." This, says Leasi, strengthens the synapses, making the brain's convolutions glow so that the information read or heard fits together and networks. Of course, this requires the discipline to sit down to learn and repeat even when you don't feel like it. Of course, there is a somewhat bland element to repetition. You have to put up with it and take the positives out of the process with all its redundancies - the constant qualitative deepening of the material. Which leads to the second general tip: "Never lose the fun. The fun of continuing education, but also the fun of life alongside continuing education. If you want to put the whole thing into a claim, you could come up with this, for example: Good learning is like a cocktail. A mixture of equal parts repetition, discipline and fun. Because unfortunately no one has ever become a master without work, here are three tips on how to achieve top performance à la Leasi:
- Solve case studies. But not just one. But another one. And another one. And another one. Case studies are the be-all and end-all of exams. Anyone who recognizes the methodology in particular has already taken a big step forward.
- Show presence. Theoretical knowledge is not only acquired by cramming at home, but above all at school. Clever students can even save themselves a lot of study time at home by concentrating on their work at school.
- Be disciplined. Even if your head is buzzing after a night of debauchery, if you've decided to sit down for three hours on a Sunday afternoon, then you really should do it.
celebration: Swiss Marketing President Uwe Tännler
with award winner Silvana Leasi.
