Alumni Careers
Professional Careers
Employment
For ISET graduates, unemployment is something only experienced on the pages of their research. From a total of 98 ISET graduates, with the exception of those studying abroad, all but three are currently employed. Moreover, they all occupy professional positions that utilize the skills and knowledge they acquired at ISET.
Zviad Zedginidze (Class 2008) | Ana Ebanoidze (Class 2008) Senior Consultant, Tbilisi Business Service Center (TBSC) |
| Lasha Labadze (Class 2008) Research Fellow, ISET Policy Institute; Assistant Professor, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilis State University | Ramin Danyarov (Class 2008) Head of Macroeconomic Analysis and Forecasting Division, Ministry of Economic Development, Azerbaijan |
| Levan Karsaulidze (Class 2009) Head of Price Statistics Division, National Statistics Office of Georgia | Nino Shanshiashvili (Class 2009) Senior Specialist, Foreign Relations Department, Ministry of Finance, Georgia |
| Davit Okropiridze (Class 2010) Head of the Social Protection Department, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Georgia | Natalia Shatirishvili (Class 2010) Analyst, Government Relations Department, JSC Telasi; Researcher, World Experience for Georgia |
Natia Shamugia (Class 2011) | Lilit Sargsyan (Class 2011) Economic Analyst, Inecobank, Armenia; Assistant Professor, Yerevan State University |
Internships
To practice what they learn in the classroom, many ISET students take part in internships, either during the academic year or during the summer. Recent internship placements have included:
| EBRD London Office | The Department of Statistics of Georgia |
| World Bank, Washington DC & Country offices | Electric Networks of Armenia |
| Central Bank of Armenia, Azerbaijan & Georgia | State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic |
| Ministries of Energy and Natural Resources | USAID Funded Projects |
| Ministries of Finance | AmCham, Georgia |
Givi Melkadze joined the London office of the European Bank fro Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the summer of 2011. During his three months in London, Givi interned with the office of EBRD's Chief Economist, contributing to the 2011 Transition Report - EBRD's flagship publication, and helping construct the corporate bond market development index for the 29 nations in which EBRD operates. Givi Melkadze will graduate from ISET in July 2012. Following in the footsteps of ISETers who have interned with the EBRD in previous years, Givi plans to apply for admission to a top PhD program in the United States.
Academic Careers
PhD Placement
To date, a total of 98 students have graduated from ISET. Of those 98, twelve are currently enrolled in PhD programs in the United States and Western Europe, all receiving full scholarships and stipends.
ISET graduates can currently be found at the following institutions:
| University of Chicago, USA | Stanford University |
| University of Pennsylvania, USA | Washington University, USA |
| Universitè Catholique de Louvain | University of Leicester, UK |
| McGill University, Montreal, Canada | Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA |
| University of Toulouse, France | CERGE-EI, Czech Republic |
| Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore | New York University, USA |
| Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, USA | University of Warwick, Coventry, UK |
Davit Tsirekidze, valedictorian of the Class of 2011, arrived in California in August 2011 to join one of the most prestigious economics PhD programs in the world at Stanford University. In his graduation speech, Dato recalled the trip he made two years earlier, from Kutaisi to Tbilisi: "I paid 10 Lari for a train ticket to attend the Open House day at ISET. For this modest price, I got three other tickets, as a bonus: to attend Open House days in Stanford, the California Institute of Technolog and New York University. For me, ISET was a great investment indeed - my Kutaisi-Tbilisi train ticket became a ticket to life".
Teaching Fellowships
Every year, up to 10 of our graduates receive Teaching Fellowships from the CERGE-EI Foundation to teach undergraduate economics courses at partner universities in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. These Teaching Fellowships allow ISET graduates to earn the equivalent of a competitive salary while gaining professional experience as teachers of economics and giving back to their communities. All Teaching Fellows take part in intensive pedagogical training in Prague.
ISET Teaching Fellows currently teach at:
| Tbilisi State University, Georgia | Yerevan State University, Armenia |
| Ilia State University, Georgia | Agribusiness Teaching Center, Armenia |
| Grigol Robakidze University, Georgia | Odlar Yurdu University, Azerbaijan |
| Grigol Peradze University, Georgia | Khazar University, Azerbaijan |
| Iakob Gogebashvili State University, Georgia | Qafqaz University, Azerbaijan |
| Batumi State University, Georgia |
