Ljiljana Rajacic

Quantic School of Business and Technology

“Jack-of-all-trades, Master of Business Administration. Bad at making memorable statements.”

City, State, Country: Zurich, Switzerland

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m a college dropout. I studied two degrees in parallel before I dropped out of one after 3 years. Statistically, that increases my chances of becoming a successful tech entrepreneur.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Belgrade, Faculty of Electrical Engineering (Department/Major: Software Engineering)

Current Employer and Job Title: Google, Software Engineer

Why did you choose an online format like Quantic? Due to my work commitments, I wouldn’t be able to relocate for more than a year in order to study. Also, the online format allows me to study at my convenience which is super important when juggling work commitments and studying.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Quantic’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school, and why was it so important to you? Quantic seems to be the only top MBA school that wouldn’t require me to relocate, so the online concept was very important to me. The opportunity to network with classmates is also very important to me as I’m seeking to meet similar-minded people and discuss ideas. To me, this is invaluable.

Quantic is highly competitive and only about 10% of students who apply to the MBA program are admitted. What advice would you give to someone who intends to apply to Quantic to increase their odds of being accepted? I’m not sure what got me in. If you really want to do an MBA, your enthusiasm and motivation will shine through during your interviews. I, for example, asked so many questions that my interview went way over time.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? In 2013, I joined Microsoft and Bill Gates became the richest man on Earth. In 2017, I joined Amazon and Jeff Bezos became the richest man on Earth. In 2020, I joined Google and now Google generates an all-time record revenue. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal and how has your MBA studies helped you make progress in this area? When I was a kid, my parents owned various small businesses so I grew up in a very entrepreneurial household. Considering that those were times of historical-record inflation in war-torn Yugoslavia, many of those businesses would fail and my parents had to work a lot, iterate fast, and be extremely business-creative without having a formal education for it. I hope I learned something from their hands-on experience, but I’d also love to fill in the gaps (or rather, build a more stable base) through an MBA. Ultimately, I want to try out entrepreneurship too.

DON’T MISS: THE DISRUPTERS: MEET THE QUANTIC CLASS OF 2022