Vafa Kazdal: Vice Rector for Strategy and Advancement

Vafa Kazdal

MA English Language Studies and Methods, 1998

Based in: Azerbaijan

Formerly from: Azerbaijan

First job: a personal assistant at the submarine construction company, McDermott

Ambitions for the future:

Have a broader impact on education in the country. Another ambition of mine is to pass on all my experience to future generations through a book.

Vice Rector for Strategy and Advancement at ADA University

Describe your current role and what attracted you to it.

My current role primarily includes the implementation and evaluation of the 2030 strategy development, and its implementation and evaluation. In addition, I manage several University-wide strategic initiatives like the design and launch of academic programmes of new campuses in the country, international partnerships, and projects. While working as a Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, prior to my current position, I developed a great interest in strategy because many decisions starting from internal policy formulation, quality improvement and ending with external collaborations that require a strategic approach. So, I wanted to challenge myself in the area that I was familiar and experienced with, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone and exploring new horizons. As we love to say at ADA and, as Rector Pashayev always teases us, “ I felt time has come for new challenges”.

What’s your favourite part of the role?

My favourite part of my current role is community building, bringing people together around a shared mission, values, and goals. During the development of our new strategy, what I enjoyed most was the collaborative process itself: the constructive discussions, healthy debates, moments of agreement and disagreement, and ultimately, finding common ground.

What are the key skills you learnt at Warwick that have helped you with your career to date?

Analytical ability, critical thinking, structure thinking, writing, feedback, and the English language.

Did you have a specific career path in mind when you chose to study at Warwick?

Yes, I always envisioned myself in academia.

What top tips do you have for Warwick graduates who would like to work in your sector?

1. Get as much out of Warwick experiences as possible: academic, cultural, and social.

2. Try not to be anxious and enjoy the journey of learning.

3. Time management – discipline matters a lot.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Checking my emails in the morning, various meetings and committee work during the day, enjoyable lunch with the faculty and colleagues, and sometimes with the Rector in the afternoon. Very often these lunches include meaningful conversations around various themes. Some days I travel around our campuses, some are out of town, and some are in other regions of Azerbaijan. Twice a week, I teach in the evenings.

What has been your greatest career challenge to date and how did your experience and skills help overcome it?

My greatest challenge has been managing people - the art of working with people. It is probably the most challenging, but at the same time the most interesting part. My experience, my failures, reflections, and accumulated wisdom helped me to gradually learn this art.

What’s the strangest interview question you’ve ever been asked?

I was once asked at an interview: "Are you happy?". I first thought of it as a very philosophical question when it was actually more, “Are you okay?”

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in relation to your career?

Sometime ago I gave an interview to our Department of Organization and Personnel where they asked me the same question and here is what I answered: Work hard, do the best you can, have as much fun as possible, and have the courage to be yourself!

What should current students or recent alumni be doing to move their careers forward?

They need to constantly grow, they should enjoy their work rather than think about career. It is always like this - process matters more than the result. If the process is right and you enjoy it, there will definitely be a result.