Alexandre Vacante

Since graduating from his Master’s in Intercultural Management in 2013, Alexandre has managed to find himself a great job thanks to a well-defined career plan.

What did you study before being admitted to ISIT?

I enrolled at ISIT in 2008, after studying languages and literature in high school. My hunger for culture, knowledge and literature inspired me to find a professional environment that demands fluency in several languages and the desire to continually learn more.

Why ISIT?

ISIT matched my initial ambitions to become a translator. The school’s reputation is second to none and being surrounded by experienced professionals seemed the best way to gain valuable, in-depth, and first-hand knowledge, reserved for those who get to attend the school.

What were the benefits of ISIT: what did you learn both on a professional and personal level?

Discipline, passion and identity.

I realize now that ISIT gave me a real insight into the world around me: fluency in French, English, Spanish and Italian, cultural and academic foundations that serve as a platform on which I a able to stnd out in a very competitive professional environment, but above all the skills to organize, prioritize, understand and anticipate, as much in my personal life as in my professional life. I also learned from my professors and peers, as well as from the academic staff and the internships and projects I completed, that a career-plan or professional project must always be coherent. ISIT helped me determine a guiding principle: to understand, emphasize and apply my skills, but also to identify my limits and overcome them by drawing on team work skills and training.

What are your professional goals and plans for the future?

I run the Marketing and Communications Department for a design agency with a network of 25 agencies in 19 countries. My grasp of intercultural issues gives me an extra edge in my everyday work, and the my outlook and analytical skills developed at school help me to work efficiently on both urgent and longer-term projects.  

What is your advice to candidates and future ISIT students?

It is important to determine your career objectives in three areas, as soon as possible: what you want to do, what you can do and what you like to do. The first, because it is not the opportunity you are given that will decide what you do, but rather what you make of that opportunity. The second should help you determine your skills: the skills needed for your target market and the skills you need to work on. The third helps you to define goals that are motivating and flexible, not static and restrictive, as we tend to do at the beginning of our careers.