Tatyana Khandurova has two degrees: one in English and German languages, and the second in economics. Just after attaining her first degree, she spent a year in studying in the United Kingdom to get more language and work experience. While there, she enrolled in several courses in business and administration and English for international communications.

The Leader: How did you begin your career in Moscow?

Mrs. Khandurova: I returned to Russia in August 1998 and went to Moscow soon afterwards. It was not the best time to look for a job, but I was lucky and I found one within a week. I started to work as an account assistant at the Express Media advertising agency. In 1999, Express merged with another advertising agency to become Sorec-Media, and I got the position of account manager.

The Leader: Did your fluency in English help you find this job?

Mrs. Khandurova: English was doubtlessly one of the most important skills that helped me start building my career in advertising. It’s extremely useful because we have several foreign clients I have to communicate with.

The Leader: Could you explain a bit about what your company does?

Mrs. Khandurova: Sorec-Media is a full-service advertising agency. Basically, a full service agency is one that provides a full range of advertising services, from designing business cards to national TV advertising campaigns. There are two types of full-service advertising agencies here: international agencies and Russian agencies. The former have big accounts with their international clients and decades of experience in advertising and business. The latter are of course new and therefore inexperienced and not as well organized, though many compete well internationally.

The Leader: Could you describe your responsibilities at work?

Mrs. Khandurova: My main mission is to represent the agency to the client and the client to the agency. This means that I am the first person the client deals with as well as the first person to set tasks for the media, creative and production services of the agency. I organize the agency’s work in the most efficient way for satisfying my clients’ needs.

The Leader: What is your typical day at work like?

Mrs. Khandurova: My average day starts, I suppose, like that of any manager: I switch on my computer and open my notebook and think about what I have to do that day. If I have important meetings or presentations, I make sure that everything is ready. I might get a telephone call from the client in the beginning of the day and find out that we have to develop a new advertising or media plan for the following day. A client might ask me why she or he did not see the commercial the night before, even though it had been scheduled to be shown on TV. Then I have to explain that they had fallen asleep or there was a fire at the TV tower, etc.

The Leader: What are the difficulties in your job?

Mrs. Khandurova: Clients set deadlines and I have to make sure that they are kept. If the agency fails to do the work in time, I’m the one that has to listen to all the complaints. Also, clients have certain obligations and responsibilities to the agency , which they don’t always fulfil. They should provide the necessary information and materials, pay for the services, etc., in an appropriate way.

The Leader: What do you like about your job?

Mrs. Khandurova: I enjoy a variety of my responsibilities. The job requires creative thinking and gives me many challenges. I believe any young and ambitious person wants these elements in his or her work. I learn a lot about all sorts of businesses and markets and how they work in Russia. I communicate with successful and interesting people, which is very exciting. It is also very rewarding when an advertising campaign achieves its aims.

The Leader: Can you talk about what skills are essential for an account manager?

Mrs. Khandurova: You’ve got to be able to work in a team. I hope that when business gets more civilized in Russia, it will be normal for companies to have experts in team-building.

An account manager must have excellent communication and negotiation skills. It will soon be necessary for account managers to have special training.

At present the advertising market in Russia is very young, as is the concept of full-service agencies with a well-developed client-service structure. This means that there is little experience in the area and there is a need for people who can learn very quickly.