When Brazilian MBA Fernando Sasdelli joined Copenhagen Business School in 2013, he was the only Latin American student in his class. Today, 20% of the Copenhagen MBA class come from Latin America.

Why? “It’s a way to boost your career,” he says. “Latin American companies have a more old-fashioned way of doing business. In Copenhagen, there are a lot of innovative, high-tech companies that can help with your development.”

An engineer with a decade’s experience in energy in Brazil, Fernando relocated thousands of miles to gain access to a cutting-edge renewable energy industry, light-years ahead of what he knew back home.

It was his first time living abroad. And, after his MBA, he landed his first ever finance role at DONG Energy, Denmark’s largest energy company and one of the biggest developers of off-shore wind farms in the world.

He owes it all to the Copenhagen MBA. At Copenhagen Business School, sustainability is embedded throughout the MBA program. And Fernando gained global exposure, taking part in a sustainability-focused case competition in Canada, where he strategized over the development of a coal mine.

Fernando was part of the 2014 MBA class where 80% of students stayed and found roles in Denmark after graduation. In the future, he hopes to take everything he’s learnt in Denmark to contribute to the development of the renewable energy industry back home.

Why did you choose Copenhagen Business School for your MBA?

I wanted an international career. I’d worked mainly on the technical side of engineering projects, and I wanted to get more into the business side and see the whole picture. An MBA was a good opportunity to get more connections, open my mind, and think about business in a different way.

I knew that I wanted to work with renewables. Although renewable energy in Brazil has potential, Europe is much more advanced. And it was important to find a country with a good energy industry where I could stay after my MBA.

I was looking for a one-year MBA with a small class size. And Copenhagen had a good balance in the program regarding entrepreneurship, leadership and sustainability.

What should applicants think about when deciding to do an MBA?

Take your time to research the schools and talk to students. Just talking with the school is not enough, you need to open up your search to get different opinions.

From my perspective it’s much better to choose a school with a smaller class size where you can interact better with other students, have better access to your professors, and make much more of an impact.

If you’re an international student and want to leverage the MBA to stay in the country afterwards, it’s crucial to check if the local government provides for that. Here in Denmark, they give us a six-month visa after graduation, where you can do your job search.

How did Copenhagen Business School help you find your first job in Denmark?

The post-MBA job was my first ever finance role. Without the MBA, the transition into finance would have taken much longer. I wouldn’t have had a formal education, I wouldn’t have had the proper vocabulary, and I would’ve had to work at a lower level.

During the MBA, we had a career advisor who provided us with a structure on how to do the job search, how to do the networking and how to leverage your network in Denmark.

In Denmark, networking is crucial. You really have to put yourself out there and start telling people what you’re looking for. You also have complete access to the line manager even before applying for the role. You can ask them questions directly.

Coming from Brazil, how does working life in Copenhagen compare?

Compared to the big cities in South America, Copenhagen is a very livable city. There aren’t any traffic jams; you don’t have to commute for an hour and a half to go to work. The society is equal; you have access to everything independent of your level of income. It’s open and everyone is welcome.

The work-life balance is incomparable. The hours that we have are much more reasonable; we don’t do much over-time and everyone is aligned with that. And you have much more access to the CEO here than you have in Brazil. Even if they don’t know you first-hand, if you introduce yourself they are always open to new ideas.

What are your plans for the future?

For the next five years, I’m definitely staying in Copenhagen. Here, I’m part of such an advanced energy industry. One day, I’d like to bring the concepts and the technology back to use in South America.