Andry Chin
Class of 2019
Hometown: Makassar, Indonesia
Undergraduate University: Universitas Bina Nusantara (Binus)
Class Year: 2010
Major/Minor: Computer Science
Specialization: Consulting
Internship: PayPal
Employer: Grab
Andry Chin was working for a compliance technology company providing technical services to international banks headquartered in Singapore when he identified that his technical skills alone could not help him reach the next level in his career.
"I wanted to diversify my experience because my computer science degree had me in a very technical field. It's what I was doing for five or six years, but I wanted to learn more about the business perspective, so I thought an MBA was the right choice for me at that moment," he explains.
Andry had long planned to seek employment in the United States; he had grown up in his small Indonesian town of Makassar watching American television which depicted the vast number of available jobs and opportunities. So when he learned about the Executive Partner program, Andry knew William & Mary was the right school for him.
"I really wanted to get into business as fast as possible," he says. "Two years is not a long time to get all of the business knowledge I needed. The Executive Partners program really intrigued me because I felt that I could learn a lot from people who were successful business leaders who had diversified backgrounds and expertise."
Andry's Executive Partner has since helped him immensely as he transitioned into and went through the full-time program.
"I didn't have any finance background, and my Executive Partner is a retired CFO. I always talk to him to learn more about business in America," he says. "He also genuinely wanted to help us international students to get along quickly and learn how people do things here in the U.S."
One of the lessons that Andry has learned is that business here is more straightforward than in Asia.
"If you have the skills and you have the work ethic, you can be very successful. It's not just about seniority," he explains.
Andry's own work ethic paid off when he secured a coveted internship at PayPal in Silicon Valley the summer between his first and second years in the MBA program. His experience culminated with a presentation to the Vice President of Sales and Operations on the business implications technical infrastructure can have across the company's technology platforms.
"That is when I realized how much I had grown because of the MBA program. I didn't even know how to translate the graph I used in my presentation the year before," he explains.
As Andry looks towards graduation, he's hoping to parlay his MBA degree into a position as a product manager within a technology company.
"I grew up in a small town, and I felt like there were many limitations, so I've always wanted to be in a space where I can deliver products to help them," he says. "Even the smallest impact is very huge for our people. You may think that your job at Google is to just make sure Google Calendar actually works well, but that application helps a lot of small business owners in developing countries to build their businesses from the ground. A simple application can make a huge impact everywhere."
