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Chinara Nasibova was born in 1991 in Ganja. She completed her bachelor's degree at the Faculty of Agricultural Economics at the Azerbaijan State Agricultural University (ADAU) in 2008-2012, and in 2012-2015, her master's degree in the same field. She completed her doctoral studies In 2015-2020, and was preparing to defend her diploma the following year. In 2018, she completed a 6-month internship in Germany through Praxx. At the same time, she was working at the same company. She subsequently became a manager, a general manager and now the head of the company since February this year. The other day, Chinara visited the university where she graduated, met the rector and talked to the press and public relations department about her activities in Germany.
- Chinara, first tell us about your activities in Germany.
My main activity is the same, production and management of the agricultural sector. That means we are engaged in production and management there, as well.
- Education in our country and European education: what would you like to change, to see differently?
- In basic education, the biggest difference is that they give children very good chances in practice, that, in terms of experience. Students are sent to very good institutions for internships during their studies, on which there is a very strong reliance. For example, even if we have students sent to internships, they are often not interested in the outcome. But every certificate from an internship location in Germany is of great importance for graduation. And we hardly care about it at all. I myself have been here for an internship. The coursework I wrote on the experience was read, but it didn't make much difference. I also say that experience there makes a huge difference. The grade we get in practice, the grade we get at university, makes a big difference. We, and other students, were sent to internships. The line of business of the company we are sent to is agricultural production. There are greenhouse farms, there is an open field farm. It covers a purely agricultural area.
There is both a greenhouse and 30 acres of open ground.
- What do the activities there consist of?
- After I joined the company, the manager's position at the company was not stable. They had to look for employees there because our manager wasn't working well. So, they gave me the job. Being an intern and a girl, they were a bit cautious about me managing badly. First, they offered me to manage the interns this way, then, they saw that I had an interest in management. First, they gave me control of interns from other countries. After they saw there I was good at management, they gave me management of the general greenhouse and staff. After that, my manager suggested that we have a program, the electronic greenhouse management program is Priva. It is electronic management of the biggest greenhouses. All farms in Baku now use this program. They said you are given 17 weeks, if you learn this program we will transfer you to the office. As I said, I used to work on a farm. I said I would do my best. As it was in Dutch, I got it translated into English, I learned the program in English, after I got the certificate I was taken to the office.
- What is the working environment like?
- The working environment there is very precise. If you work in a German company where you are paid for 8 hours, you have to return all 8 hours as work. This is the first condition, and it comes from accuracy. If you are 2 minutes late for work, 2 minutes are automatically deducted from your salary. Secondly, you have to do what you do, not only as a business, but also to come up with new offers to bring the company a high income. For example, when I went there, there was no program to control the staff. How are these staff managed, how are the arrival and departure hours managed? And I found a new program related to electronic staff control. That is, all 2 employees line up at the same time, one comes out with 10 boxes, the other with 5. Both get the same paycheck.
- Your advice to students who will graduate?
- Firstly, knowledge of the language. Secondly, development orientation. Europe does not accept passive people.
- Why did you not return to Azerbaijan after your internship?
- Initially my aim was to do an internship in Europe and return to my home country. But then I saw that the knowledge I gained at ADAU I could improve here, improve myself. So, I was hired, and today my goal is to return to Azerbaijan and contribute to the development of the agricultural sector in our country by becoming a modern, sustainable agricultural specialist.
- There are many links between ADAU and higher education institutions in Germany. Can we call you a patron, a guide to our Azerbaijani students? Or do the students sent there justify the trust?
- When students are sent from here, sometimes there the wrong choice is made I terms of right country or institution to which they are sent. You could say I have been doing this since 2019. Even if they are with me, every year I gather a group of students from Azerbaijan and deal with them in some way. I do this even if I have no financial income from this field.
- What is your main goal?
- My goal is to progress step by step in my specialty. It's to support the development of agriculture in my country.
- Thank you very much for the interview.
- Chinara, first tell us about your activities in Germany.
My main activity is the same, production and management of the agricultural sector. That means we are engaged in production and management there, as well.
- Education in our country and European education: what would you like to change, to see differently?
- In basic education, the biggest difference is that they give children very good chances in practice, that, in terms of experience. Students are sent to very good institutions for internships during their studies, on which there is a very strong reliance. For example, even if we have students sent to internships, they are often not interested in the outcome. But every certificate from an internship location in Germany is of great importance for graduation. And we hardly care about it at all. I myself have been here for an internship. The coursework I wrote on the experience was read, but it didn't make much difference. I also say that experience there makes a huge difference. The grade we get in practice, the grade we get at university, makes a big difference. We, and other students, were sent to internships. The line of business of the company we are sent to is agricultural production. There are greenhouse farms, there is an open field farm. It covers a purely agricultural area.
There is both a greenhouse and 30 acres of open ground.
- What do the activities there consist of?
- After I joined the company, the manager's position at the company was not stable. They had to look for employees there because our manager wasn't working well. So, they gave me the job. Being an intern and a girl, they were a bit cautious about me managing badly. First, they offered me to manage the interns this way, then, they saw that I had an interest in management. First, they gave me control of interns from other countries. After they saw there I was good at management, they gave me management of the general greenhouse and staff. After that, my manager suggested that we have a program, the electronic greenhouse management program is Priva. It is electronic management of the biggest greenhouses. All farms in Baku now use this program. They said you are given 17 weeks, if you learn this program we will transfer you to the office. As I said, I used to work on a farm. I said I would do my best. As it was in Dutch, I got it translated into English, I learned the program in English, after I got the certificate I was taken to the office.
- What is the working environment like?
- The working environment there is very precise. If you work in a German company where you are paid for 8 hours, you have to return all 8 hours as work. This is the first condition, and it comes from accuracy. If you are 2 minutes late for work, 2 minutes are automatically deducted from your salary. Secondly, you have to do what you do, not only as a business, but also to come up with new offers to bring the company a high income. For example, when I went there, there was no program to control the staff. How are these staff managed, how are the arrival and departure hours managed? And I found a new program related to electronic staff control. That is, all 2 employees line up at the same time, one comes out with 10 boxes, the other with 5. Both get the same paycheck.
- Your advice to students who will graduate?
- Firstly, knowledge of the language. Secondly, development orientation. Europe does not accept passive people.
- Why did you not return to Azerbaijan after your internship?
- Initially my aim was to do an internship in Europe and return to my home country. But then I saw that the knowledge I gained at ADAU I could improve here, improve myself. So, I was hired, and today my goal is to return to Azerbaijan and contribute to the development of the agricultural sector in our country by becoming a modern, sustainable agricultural specialist.
- There are many links between ADAU and higher education institutions in Germany. Can we call you a patron, a guide to our Azerbaijani students? Or do the students sent there justify the trust?
- When students are sent from here, sometimes there the wrong choice is made I terms of right country or institution to which they are sent. You could say I have been doing this since 2019. Even if they are with me, every year I gather a group of students from Azerbaijan and deal with them in some way. I do this even if I have no financial income from this field.
- What is your main goal?
- My goal is to progress step by step in my specialty. It's to support the development of agriculture in my country.
- Thank you very much for the interview.
