Alexander Yashchenko has competed in the International Olympiad on Financial Security three times, earning both winner and prize-winner titles. This year, he joined the Sodruzhestvo team and hosted his first Graphus VR game at the Youth Day during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024.
Alexander discussed the Olympiad and the impact on his career path and shared his excitement about conducting a Graphus VR game.
Hi, Alexander! You have made it to the Olympiad’s finals more than once. What are your most memorable moments from the Olympiad? And how did you decide to join again?
I have competed in the Olympiad three times. In 2021 and 2022, I earned prizes, and in 2023, I became the winner.
The Olympiad seemed like a great vacation opportunity, and a wonderful chance to meet people from all over the country, and a real shot at a permanent job or an internship. By the second time I attended, I had made several friends and contacts. We even arranged to meet at the Olympiad and study for the competition together, as well as explore Sochi, of course.
The Olympiad finals are not only a competition for titles or prizes but also a place to meet potential employers. How did it work out for you?
The Olympiad was indeed a significant milestone for my career. I had a chance to communicate with the Promsvyazbank team that organizes the Sodruzhestvo digital platform. My high performance at panel discussions, sessions, and workshops led to an invitation for a job interview once the Olympiad ended. I was offered an attractive job, which I happily accepted.
While PSB wasn’t my first job or internship, the Olympiad truly was the springboard for my career, providing me with valuable experience in working with systems and financial security, of course.
At the Olympiad, you competed in tournaments using the Graphus training system against other teams. Now, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, it was your first time conducting a Graphus VR game for the visitors of the PSB stand. How was it?
In 2022, our team won first place in the cyber tournament using the Graphus system. We were the fastest to solve a financial crime and offered balanced recommendations on how to curb it.
It was amazing that eighteen months later, I was presenting the Graphus VR game as a professional. This experience provided me with a dual perspective. I remembered my initial experience with the system, the mistakes I made, and how I wanted to improve. I applied this knowledge when hosting the Graphus VR game at the Youth Day during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Inviting the kids to play a virtual version of the Graphus system, I felt both the excitement of a participant and the responsibility of an expert teaching them to pay attention when solving the game's cases.
What was more challenging, solving Graphus cases yourself or serving as an expert presenter?
Probably, participating as a player in Graphus was easier for me than hosting it. When demonstrating Graphus VR to the Forum participants, I was revisiting not only my own experience but also the experiences of other kids. I wanted them to have the same vivid emotions and excitement with the digital education system that I had.
In your opinion, are the Graphus training system and Graphus VR game useful for future financial security professionals?
Absolutely. The experience and knowledge gained through Graphus are useful not only for students. At the Forum, my opinion was confirmed. Probably a third of the visitors we engaged with were established specialists, representatives of companies and banks who have been working with the financial system for years. Still, they were curious to learn how the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, organizations, and credit institutions work together to work out links within the financial schemes and to determine the validity of payments and transactions. The feedback from the Forum attendees confirmed that Graphus VR is valuable and important for modern society, education, and the business community. Graphus helps understand the financial relations system in a simple and comprehensible way, helps identify potential restrictions for clients and prevent them, and enhances the transparency of the financial system as a whole.
I am happy to have made the journey from contestant to expert and to revisit my knowledge and experience; today I am part of the larger Graphus digital team, contributing to our country’s development and achieving set goals.
