From the dance floor, to sales floor, and then Deloitte
How this Latin dancer and mathematician made moves across Europe — and careers.
Born in Bjelovar, a small village outside of Croatia’s capital city, Antonija Mohar grew up curious about the world around her. At the age of 10, she surprised herself and her parents by secretly learning Spanish — an accomplishment she unveiled by translating a soap opera while her mother watched in disbelief. Today, Antonija speaks several languages, including Croatian, English, German, French and Spanish. She’s also a university graduate, mathematician, teacher, linguist, Latin dancer, and an eternal learner, as made evident by her recent Masterschool graduation.
But let’s take a step back, returning to the beginning of Antonija’s career.
“I was a good student at school, so choosing a career path wasn’t easy. With the support from my teacher, I decided to study mathematics at the university in Zagreb,” explains Antonija. “After graduating, I worked in an elementary school teaching mathematics and physics.”But in 2018, after a move to Germany to be with her mother, Antonija started working in sales — a career that left her feeling underwhelmed and unfulfilled. She knew she needed to make a change: starting now. “I had to do something else. I couldn’t and didn’t want to do sales for the rest of my life,” said Antonija. “Unfortunately, my university degree was not recognized in Germany, so I needed to study further or start all over again.”
Enter Masterschool, and, unfortunately, the pandemic.
“Covid started, which was a difficult time to be in a new country,” explains Antonija. “My job contract ended. I had no real social network, didn’t feel my best mentally or emotionally, and my self-confidence was low. I kept saying to myself: fear is the biggest enemy. Strength, courage and perseverance will overcome fear.”With this mindset, Antonjia began researching a new path forward, and noticed careers in business and data analytics—two areas that sparked her interest and caught her attention. At the same time, she stumbled upon the Masterschool program on YouTube. “I checked it out and realized this was everything I was looking for,” exclaims Antonija. “I could use my mathematics skills, my presentation skills learned from teaching, and the knowledge I would gain from Masterschool to begin a new career. The program allowed me to work and study from home – I didn’t have to waste time and money travelling. I was thrilled! I started coding the very same day.”
Crediting Masterschool for her boost in confidence, Antonija began applying for jobs soon after graduation. Given that the world was still in the throes of Covid, the hunt was challenging, but Antonija was determined to find a career that was right for her.“I decided to send my CV to Deloitte, and they got back to me!”Today, Antonija lives in Trier, Germany’s oldest city. She works at Deloitte as a junior Business Intelligence Analyst, and true to her nature, she’s taking full advantage of their training programs to continue her learning.
“Sometimes in life you need to follow your passions. You need some help, some pulls, and it just happens,” she explains. “For me, everything just fell into place with Masterschool. It was my savior. It helped me regain my self-confidence, made me feel that I can do whatever I wanted to do and put me back on track. It gave me the theory, the practice, the mentors and the kind of support I had never had in my life so that I could focus on my studies and make it possible to realize my vision. I am so thankful to Masterschool.”
Want to launch your own career in tech? Submit you application to Masterschool today.
