|
Alex A. |
| 职位： |
创办人 总经理 |
| 城市： |
上海 |
|
|
姓名：Alex Abrahams
职位：General Manager
位置：Shanghai
My Background 我的经历：
Born in London, to an English father and Chinese mother, I studied at a top London Sixth-Form College before going to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds.
生于伦敦的我，父亲是英国人，母亲是中国人。我曾就读于伦敦一所知名的中六学院，之后升入利兹大学机械工程专业。
After university, I was pretty sure I did not want to work as an engineer, so I returned to London and started work at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the regulator for the UK’s financial services industry. After spending a year at the FSA, I moved to the private sector with Canada Life, to work as a pensions analyst, and eventually found my way into a similar position at Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), working as a (part-qualified) actuary, directly under one of the senior partners of the firm.
读完大学后，我十分确定不想做工程师，于是回到伦敦进入英国金融服务管理局（Financial Services Authority，FSA）- 监管英国金融服务产业的一个机构工作。在FSA 工作一年后，我进入加拿大人寿保险公司（Canada Life）从事养老金分析员的工作，继而又获得在普华永道会计事务所（Price Waterhouse Coopers，PWC）一个相似的职位，在该公司的一个高级合伙人直属部门从事精算师的工作（part-qualified）。
About 5 years at PwC was enough to earn considerable savings, and looking for something different, I left for Hong Kong. In 2006 I established Blue Sky Study in Hong Kong, setting up the Shanghai office in the following year, and developing the company gradually from there.
在PWC工作大概5年，足以令我攒下不少收入，使我有能力寻找一些不同的东西，于是我离开英国到了香港。2006年，我在香港创办了蓝天留学，并在接下来的一年成立了上海公司，并在上海开始了一步步发展之路。
Although everybody seems to want to work in the finance industry these days, and PwC is many people’s dream employer, I can honestly say that working in the education sector is far more personally rewarding. Working with young people, helping them to achieve their dreams – it’s a really great industry to work in.
时下虽然几乎人人都想从事金融工作，而PWC又是很多人梦寐以求的公司，我可以坦诚地说教育领域的工作对我个人的满足感要大得多。与年轻人打交道，帮助他们实现梦想 – 这真的是非常棒的一个行业选择。
My Company 我的公司：
At Blue Sky Study, we provide a bespoke service to anyone wanting to study or immigrate abroad. Whether it be a short summer camp in the UK or PhD study in the USA leading to employment and a green card – we are able to offer a high level of personalised service and professional advice.
蓝天留学真诚为有志留学或移民的朋友提供各种定制服务。不论是英国夏令营，还是美国博士课程，或者绿卡申请，我们均能满足您的要求，为您提供高水平的个性化服务以及专业咨询意见。
Over the years, we have succeeded in placing students in some of the best, highest ranked, most prestigious schools and universities around the world. Many of our past and current clients speak very highly of us, and do not hesitate to recommend us to their friends and family.
几年来，我们已经成功向世界名列前茅、声名卓越的学府输送了学生。真诚专业的服务深获好评、有口皆碑，很多新老客户纷纷向亲友推荐蓝天留学。
I am lucky to have been able to find some really great staff to work with me, who have a wealth of experience in study abroad consulting, and together we all try our best to help every single one of our students to not only get into the best school that they can, but to also succeed in their studies and reach their full potential once they are there.
我很幸运能够拥有一支出类拔萃的员工团队与我一道工作，他们有着丰富的海外教育顾问经验，大家齐心协力、竭尽所能地帮助每一个学生客户申请其力所能及的最好学校，与此同时帮助他们取得学业的成功并在国外充分挖掘自己的潜能。
Since this is my company, I am free to run it the way I want, so make no mistake - Blue Sky Study is very different to most other study abroad agencies in China. I run my company my way – focused on servicing our students above all else. So ALL our students are treated like VIPs and given the highest possible level of service, even though we do not charge them RMB10万 or more, like many other agencies.
既然是我的公司，我得以按照我的想法来进行管理，有一点很确定 - 蓝天留学与中国绝大多数的留学中介都有着显著的不同。我在经营管理公司的过程中，坚持奉行自己的理念 -‘服务学生至上’，把所有的学生都当成VIP来看待，即便我们不像很多其他中介那样收取10万人民币或更高的费用，依然要向客户提供尽可能最优质的服务。
My company’s success is not based on how many clients we have or how much income we generate – it is based on getting students offers from their dream schools and getting good feedback from our clients. This is what motivates me and my staff.
我公司的成功不以客户数量或收益多少为衡量标准，它注重的是学生被多少目标院校录取，以及客户对我们的良好评价。这才是我和员工们的动力来源。
My Work 我的工作：
Being the General Manager, I tend to be involved in most things that go on at Blue Sky Study. Although working regular 70 hour weeks, I still find much satisfaction in my work.
身为总经理，我参与了蓝天留学的许多日常工作。尽管常常每周工作70小时，我依然从工作中收获了很大的满足感。
I ensure that all my consultants are giving suitable advice to their students, assisting students with writing their personal statements, double checking visa applications, and doing a lot of correspondence with schools and universities abroad, as well as general management and marketing duties. It certainly keeps me busy, and there always seems to be a long list of things I need to do and people I need to speak to…
我要确保顾问给予学生的建议是合适的，要协助学生完成个人陈述（Personal Statement），审核签证申请材料，并与国外的中学、大学保持大量的沟通，此外还有日常管理与市场工作。这些都让我忙碌不停，似乎总有一长串的事情待我去处理、很多人等着我去交谈。
I especially love travelling back to the UK whenever I can to visit some of our students. It is wonderful to see them adapting to their new surroundings, growing in independence and maturity, improving their English and working hard at their studies.
我尤其喜欢利用回英国的机会访问我们的一些客户。看着他们适应了新的环境，变得更加独立与成熟，英语也显著提高，并在为学业孜孜不倦，着实令人开心。
I do not have much time outside of work, but when I do have free time, I enjoy playing with my daughter (she is fully bilingual, and her Chinese is better than mine), reading books, walking my dog and eating good food!
工作之余我没有太多闲暇时间，一旦有时间，我喜欢陪女儿一起玩（她会两种语言，中文比我的都好），看看书，溜溜狗，以及享受美食！
My View of China’s Study Abroad Market 我的观点—— 中国的留学市场：
Although China’s education system is steadily improving, it is still a long way away from that of other countries. The UK and USA, as well as Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and other countries around the world have excellent schools and universities, while China has a huge surplus of students wanting to get the best education they can, to help them get ahead in their lives.
尽管中国的教育水平也在稳步提高，相比其他国家仍有很长一段路要走。英国、美国、加拿大、日本、香港以及世界上的其他国家和地区拥有卓越的教育资源，而中国则有着庞大的学生群体希望在经济能力允许的情况下，尽可能获得更优质的教育，以期为今后的人生增加优势，领先他人。
Chinese parents are also looking to send their child abroad at younger ages. While postgraduate study is still the largest part of the market, most popular study abroad destination countries are seeing huge increases in undergraduates and high school students arriving from China.
低龄留学也越来越多地被中国家长所接受。虽然研究生仍是最大的留学人群，去热门国家就读中学和本科的中国学生也在大幅增加。
The dramatic rise of the Chinese upper and middle classes, the strong Renminbi, and cuts in government funding for education in many western countries all continue to contribute to the growing popularity for Chinese students to seek study abroad in ever larger numbers.
中国上流和中产阶层的迅速崛起，人民币的坚挺，以及很多西方国家教育经费的缩减，都成了中国留学市场持续升温的原因。