Bojan Mircheski (’18): ‘Clubs at AUBG are like little companies'
Meet our alumnus Bojan Mircheski (‘18). Originally from North Macedonia, he now lives in Sofia where he works as Lead Routing Manager EMEA at Hitachi Vantara. Back at AUBG, he was one of those active students who had positive impact on the community in more than one way. He says that his experience as part of several student clubs laid the foundation of a successful career upon graduation. Read our interview with Bojan, who majored in Journalism and Mass Communication and International Relations and did a minor in Film Studies, to learn more about his life and career in Sofia, his time at AUBG, and what advice he would give to prospective students from North Macedonia.
How does your life look like after AUBG? Where have you studied and worked since graduation?
Right after I graduated, I decided to use the opportunity to do one more year of Work and Travel. So I decided to go back to Nantucket again. I tried to explore Nantucket because during previous years I was working most of the time. After Nantucket, I came back to Bulgaria and started looking for jobs, specifically in Sofia. In December 2018, I started my very first job. I started working as a marketing events specialist for an events company that organizes scientific events internationally. It was really interesting. I got to learn a lot.
However, after seven or eight months I realized that I wanted to do something different and I changed the job. I started working as a marketing specialist for another company. At that time, our project was a market that is a world leader in intelligence data. Through this job, I learned how important and change-making information can be. At that time, I also started my master’s degree in Brand Management at New Bulgarian University. Soon after, I had a chance to join another company, the one that I am still at. I work for Hitachi and my position is related to operations management. I have a chance to work with the most important decision-makers in the company and I get to learn a lot from them. At the same time, I have a lot of challenging responsibilities because many things depend on me. When it comes to my master’s degree, I finished my third semester just now. I have one more semester left where I have to write my thesis and defend it.
How has AUBG prepared you for your career, both in terms of courses and extracurricular activities?
Since I made a combination of majors and minors, I felt like I was prepared for the field. The classes I took helped to a huge extent. But we should not forget about the clubs. I always make the point that clubs at AUBG are like little companies because they have their policies and relatively challenging tasks similar to real companies. For me, being a part of a student club is equivalent to having worked at a company. I was extremely active on campus. I was part of the logistics department at MEU, a journalist coordinator at MUN, producer in Purple, head of the video department in Olympics, president of Phi Beta Delta, and a student representative for the JMC department. In my opinion, both the courses and the extracurricular activities at AUBG have helped me prepare for the field.
Are you still in touch with other alumni and in what ways?
The ones that are here in Sofia are the ones I keep in touch with the most. We always organize zoom reunion calls or call the others [living abroad] out of nowhere to check on them. AUBG is a very strong community. We try to help each other as much as we can. I would say that most of my connections are AUBG students. I am surrounded by AUBG alumni 24/7.
What would you advise a student from North Macedonia who is wondering whether to apply to AUBG?
To begin with, this is a little joke, but once someone from North Macedonia asked me about AUBG and I started talking with so much passion and so much information that the person was like ‘how much are they paying you to say all of this?’ I was trying to explain that I am not getting any money but that I was just trying to depict the whole beauty of AUBG. I would advise the students to explore the option of studying at AUBG. It represents home not only because it is geographically close to North Macedonia but because everyone at AUBG becomes your family. Students not only from North Macedonia but everywhere are concerned that they will not be ready for the field once they graduate. Another thing is that most of the students are concerned about financing their way. However, I would say that there are a lot of opportunities to finance your education. You will also be prepared for the field. Just go for it and see how truly beautiful AUBG is.