Boris Bartenev

Economics and Finance BA (Hons)

Boris loved e-sports and economics in school, and these two very different passions have come together to shape his career and his working mindset. Now, Boris works at 3S Money, where he’s worked his way up to an Analytics Team Lead.  

“My focus in school was mostly on E-Sports, but I’d realised that I was unlikely to make a career of playing competitively, so instead, I decided to study Economics at BCU. At that time, I wasn’t sure exactly which field I wanted to go into, so I chose to study a subject that I enjoyed, but which also had a wide scope of career opportunities.

My course provided both strong theoretical and practical knowledge, which can be used and applied in real-life scenarios. I particularly remember the personal tax course, which has proved very useful for personal finance management.

I had a good balance between studying, getting involved in various societies like basketball and gaming, and I also enjoyed Birmingham’s great night life. The first year was mostly about enjoying the independence gained after living with my parents, but the second and third year were more about expanding my network, focusing on studying to get the best results, and thinking about the next chapter in my life. BCU taught me how to apply my athletic mindset, which I developed in basketball and e-sports, to an academic environment.

After graduating, I chose to pursue a Master’s degree. Following that, I worked as a Data Analyst, quickly moving to Senior Project Manager, where I would run process automation projects. But I wanted to work in a startup environment, so I chose to leave the company.

Nowadays, I'm an Analytics Team Lead at 3S Money, where I've been for just over two years. My objective is to implement and grow the Revenue Operations department. It is a centralised hub of operations and analytics, driving the data driven decision making culture.

At 3S Money, I grew from BI developer to Analytics Team Lead. The journey was about learning the ins and outs of the data and business operations, whilst creating a solid internal network with pretty much all core departments and individuals, which led to natural development into strategic operations role backed by data and analytics.

A typical workday involves implementation of business strategies, technical management, senior stakeholder relationship management, and work delegation with a team of Analysts who focus on business insights and solving operational problems.

So far, the biggest challenge for me has been becoming a leader and manager; I was always good at doing things myself and working with my hands. I found it quite challenging transitioning into a leadership role, accepting that someone will do a better job than me with their hands, or will have a better idea or suggestion. The idea is to grow and develop talent as a leader, the value is created when a leader brings to or grows talent within the organisation. It's a beautiful network of people to have in your future, too.

My ultimate goal is self-employment, leading a consultancy firm, which will specialise in A-Z data analytics integration, building the data flows, creating BI tools, integrating data driven culture and ultimately growing Analytics Rev Ops function.

My advice to fellow BCU graduates would be to grow your network, the wider the network the more opportunities will present themselves, the more knowledge you have collectively.

Economics is a truly interesting science; I would really encourage students to apply scenarios learned to real life scenarios and see how it all comes together and undertake placements if you can.

To me, ‘I AM BCU’ means origin; I was prepared for life and career rather than just another subject I learned at school.”