Always embrace new experiences: Career and Life Tips from Rao,VEON’s Global Director of MFS
“Just recently, during a long weekend, I booked a professional singing studio so my family and I could record tracks,” exclaims Rao. “It was so much fun to sing with my wife, son, and daughter. I really love doing new things like this.”
That sounds like an awesome time! For Rao, it’s important to make unique and wonderful memories with his family. When he’s working at VEON in London, he also seeks out fresh experiences (in fact, that’s been the key to his career).
From our great talk with Rao, we’ve come up with 4 cool insights to get you excited about getting out of your comfort zone and living a life that excites you.
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1. Be like a travel adapter
If you go abroad but forget to purchase one of those nifty international travel adapters, then you’re probably going to have trouble charging your device. You also won’t get to show off to others just how cool and sophisticated a traveler you are!
Anyway, the metaphor we’re making here is that a travel adapter offers different solutions for different sockets. There is no one-size-fits-all answer (that’s a lesson to remember).
Rao’s diverse experiences have taught him this. At VEON, he takes time to learn about a country’s market before crafting a solution.
There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy. Looking at the diversity, especially the socioeconomic and regulatory infrastructure, solutions need to be deployed. So learning before playing is the only way to go.
“We have this huge vision at VEON to enable payments seamlessly on our global platform — which we’re implementing,” notes Rao. “Locally, we must study each market and understand unique challenges. Our MFS (mobile financial services) solutions must be tailored for each market individually.”
This strategy has enabled him to make incredible gains in the MFS sector in many of our markets already. It’s all in an effort to make the lives of our customers more enjoyable and free.
For instance, in Algeria, because of unique regulations, Rao and the team at Djezzy have done a proof-of-concept and held an international conference in to show regulators how mobile financial services can improve life in the country.
In Bangladesh, Rao and the team at Banglalink have launched a post office mobile money order service. Rao says that, while a post office money order service may be unusual for a telco company to handle, it’s been instrumental in bringing more financial offerings to people in Bangladesh and positioning Banglalink as a leader in mobile financial services. This is the first of its kind public private - partnership where the post office (even after having countrywide presence) chose Banglalink’s distribution points to enable the end customers to transfer money instantly.
“Now our customers can use the Banglalink countrywide MFS agents to send and receive post office mobile money orders,”stresses Rao.
Clearly, each market calls for a different plan and solution. If you embrace the unique landscape of each one, you’ll be much more likely to reach the right solutions.
Discover all our current openings HERE
2. Gold is everywhere (well, figuratively at least)
You could actually go panning for gold in a place like the Klondike region of the Yukon territory (Canada). You may even strike it rich. But there are lessons worth more than gold all over the world.
Rao’s career shows the value of working in different industries and traversing the globe to improve yourself. After studying to be an electrical engineer at university, he worked for Siemens in Pakistan as a sales engineer. While at Siemens, his role became more business focused, which motivated him to pursue an MBA.
“After getting my MBA, I got a job at Zong, a mobile operator in Pakistan, as the head of value added services,” notes. “This was my leap into the mobile industry. The funny thing is that there wasn’t even MFS (Mobile Financial Services) at that time.”
Later, Rao took a job in London for G4S as a global retail product manager (cash solutions). Following G4S, Rao went back into telecom, accepting a job at Millicom in London as the global head of product management. Here, he would make his first venture into MFS. He also got to go around the world, from East and West Africa to Central and South America.
“I moved to London because I wanted an international experience,” explains Rao. “That’s exactly what I’ve gotten. At VEON, I’m now traveling a lot and working in all sorts of exciting markets, from Georgia to Italy. ”
If you ask Rao, he’ll tell you that all these different jobs and experiences have had a profoundly positive impact on his professional and personal life.
“My international experiences have enabled me to get to where I am today at VEON,” attests Rao. “They’ve taught me a lot about creating from scratch and being adaptable and understanding. I can take these lessons with me wherever I go.”
Rao’s thoughts on the importances of international experiences hold universal truths. As William Maddux, a professor of organizational behavior, has found in his research, people who have international experience are “better problem solvers and display more creativity,” and “are more likely to create new businesses and products and to be promoted.”
3. It could be like having chocolate for the first time
Remember the first time you had chocolate? It probably blew your mind. Indeed, there are few experiences like that. To know how delicious it tastes, you have to try it.
Before you run off and eat chocolate, let’s get to the deeper meaning here. This idea of trying things connects to how Rao goes about his career.
“When people are deciding their career path, they need focus — not just on what’s going on in their field, but also on what they want to do,” attests Rao. “When I was young, I did numerous internships for free, and found that I really enjoyed working in the mobile industry. I wouldn’t have known that if I didn’t try it out.”
To find what you want to do, try new things and go with what fits you best. The process is kind of like eating, isn’t it?
Once you know what you want, you need to focus, as Rao suggests. And you need to jump on the new trends in the industry. You must test them out and see how they can benefit you.
Discover all our current openings HERE
4. A ghost tour will make you feel alive
Don’t believe in ghosts? Well, go on a ghost tour in London, and you’ll be convinced!
“I took my family on a ghost tour. It’s fun to go off the beaten path with family, even if you’re just staying in London,” exclaims Rao.
“Life is about the people around you and building memories with them. New experiences with family just make me feel so alive.”
Whether it’s golfing with his son, singing with the whole family, or hanging out with friends, Rao makes a point to enjoy time with close ones when he’s not at work. It’s something that he emphasizes to those just starting out in their career.
“When I was young, I didn’t take enough moments to soak up the experience,” says Rao. “I would tell my younger self to look around and enjoy the journey.”
Well, if you ever feel like you’re too focused on your work, there is one experience that can wake you back up: A ghost tour!
Go greet the world!
Rao’s words and career show you the value of embracing new experiences. Have that same mindset — and you’ll find your way to greatness. Just be sure to stop and sing some songs along the journey.
BTW1: You can listen to Rao’s family here:
BTW2: You can check all our open positions here: http://bit.ly/2nMn0qQ
