Training for students of the Higher School of Economics at Vipservice

In a company that approaches everything thoroughly and systematically, implementation of any process will affect different levels. Thus, when the top management of Vipservice began to improve their qualifications in the MBA system at the Higher School of Economics, the idea came to engage university students to practice. Most successfully, it was embodied as part of the business development for the General Subagent of Airlines (GSA) which has been managed by Konstantin Nesterenko since the end of last year.

Students representing not only the HSE, but also several republics at once: Belarus, Kazakhstan and Niger, were involved in analytical work. Its goal was to develop a range of recommendations for introducing a new airline to the Russian market.

While students were able to dive deep into the real workflow and gain unique experience, the company itself also has had bonuses from such cooperation. And they are not limited to beautifully designed graphics and presentations. According to Nesterenko, this project had the following positive impact on the business area:
- there was a need to lay out the process in detail for explanation to students, which allowed themselves to identify shortcomings and make adjustments;
- a fresh look from the "theory" viewpoint and simple questions contributed to the correct formulation of tasks;
- An exchange of views with developing professionals is always helpful.

The practice program was maintained with all the accuracy adopted at Vipservice. First, they discussed the tasks set at the university, compared them with the urgent needs of the business and drew up a phased work plan. The organization of the process consisted of both face-to-face meetings and online consultations (by the way, the guys now periodically turn to Konstantin for advice, preparing to defend their diploma). Nesterenko provided trainees with materials, prompted them to search for information in various sources, and most importantly, explained the practical significance of the research. After all, working with numbers is not the numbers themselves for their own sake;, everything must be dedicated to some purpose, predetermined. In the framework of the theoretical study of the material, this is not so obvious, the more valuable for students is this "fighting the battle", work in real conditions.

The result of the practice was creation of projects and their defense in front of the management of Vipservice, receiving recommendations, feedback - the most valuable for students. By the way, Konstantin was pleased with his trainees: “Good guys, with some understanding of statistical methods, business processes, having a little practice and excellent English. In general, it’s interesting to listen to young experts!”

Vipservice, working with new airlines for the Russian market, develops competent recommendations for them. And the contribution of the analytical group to this is quite substantial. Marketing tools were compared in terms of effectiveness, pricing, market capacity, the schedule was studied, the formation of tariffs and the concepts of steps within them, especially preparation of a roadmap, preparation of a marketing plan and many other equally important details. The data obtained made it possible to prepare a sound program of actions for the development and promotion of the airline in the domestic market.

Satisfaction from the process was felt by both sides. And just as students really want to go on training at Vipservice again, Konstantin mentioned that if the trainees have a desire to come to work in the company, it could potentially be considered.

Curriculum Vitae. 
Konstantin Nesterenko reinforced the Vipservice team with impressive experience in aviation and related businesses: both in the largest Russian main carriers (North Wind) and in regional airlines, for example Angara. Also, his experience is not limited to work in the capital - he also had a chance to work in Siberia (Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk), the Far East (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Khabarovsk), the Urals, and abroad: Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey. Foreign practice now helps him in the development of many projects, as technologies are actively implemented around the world.

Nesterenko stood up to work with airport structures for organizing flights and servicing flights, which is especially valuable in crisis situations (revolution in Tunisia, Egypt, Maldives, terrorist attack in Domodedovo, “Moscow ice collapse 2010”); collaborated with an agent network in order to build and develop sales.