Name: María Eugenia Saldivia
Age: 32
High School: Saint Catherine's School
Degree Program: Bachelor's Degree in International Studies
Year of graduation: 2002
Job Title: Supply Manager for Uruguay and Project Manager for Latin America
Interview published in May 2011.
María Saldivia is the Supply Manager for Uruguay and the Project Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at Diageo. In 2002, she earned a bachelor’s degree in International Studies. She highlighted the program’s “multidisciplinary approach” and the workshops it offers, noting that she considered them “very important for professional performance.”
- What does your job at Diageo involve?
- I am responsible for the supply chain in Uruguay and work on supply chain projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- People generally associate graduates of the Bachelor’s program in International Studies with a variety of professional roles. In your case, however, you’re involved in logistics management. How do you feel about working in this field?
- All of my professional experience is related to international trade. I also supplemented my degree with studies in logistics. Working at a multinational company, a key part of the supply chain involves international business (primary distribution) and is directly linked to my field of study. On the other hand, my regional role requires analyzing various international treaties and their impact on potential supply chain designs in Latin America, for which the courses Regional International Relations and Regional Integration were particularly helpful.
- What do you think your degree has contributed to your work?
- The Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies provided me with a broad foundation of knowledge related to international business. Although in the early years of the program I had planned to pursue a career in diplomacy—one of the traditional career paths—inspired by courses such as Uruguayan Foreign Policy and Regional Foreign Relations, among others, I later shifted my focus toward international business, considering the possibility of working in private companies in a country (Uruguay) that offers many attractive features for various multinational companies or ventures to establish themselves and grow. In this regard, courses in the areas of Foreign Trade and the Legal Framework of International Business, among others, become particularly important.
- Beyond your professional life, what skills did your degree provide you with?
- The program takes a multidisciplinary approach and also offers workshops that are very important for professional performance. I particularly remember the Negotiation and Interpersonal Communication Workshop because they helped me professionally at different times. Perhaps if a student is very young and lacks work experience, they may not fully grasp the importance of the workshop content while taking the courses, but it is when one faces negotiations with suppliers and clients, and frequent presentations in various professional settings, that one recalls the techniques and discussions that took place in those workshops.
- Do you remember any funny stories from your college days?
- My class was very diverse and, as a result, a lot of fun. Some of the students were the children of diplomats, and a few didn't speak Spanish very well.