We spoke to Veronika Antonova, manager, strategy group, advisory services, KPMG Russia, about her career. This is what she told us.

 What was your early career in Russia like?

Initially, I focused on marketing and PR and worked in travel marketing and IT. Later, my love of Italy brought me to an Italian company, where I added brand management and product management to my existing marketing communicationsrole. This was followed by a six-month stay inItaly, and upon my return I became the head of marketing and corporate sales at a small food retailchain inMoscow. I next tried my hand at strategic marketing and product management at Golden Telecom. In other words, my career had a dynamic start that is quite typical in the Russian market.

In that case, why did you decide to move out of Russia?

Despite the growth opportunities, I wanted to gain international experience and find amore structured work that would give me an opportunity to influence strategic decision-making process in company. At some point, marketing began to seem like a narrow field, but I was finding it difficult to decide on my next career move on my own, so I went to Italy to do an MBA in 2007.

How long did you spend abroad and what did you do?

All in all, I spent three years abroad. The first year and a half, I spent doing the MBA at SDA Bocconi in Italy and at the Chicago Booth business school on an exchange program. After the MBA I spent over a year in Italy, working on a consulting project offered by the SDA Bocconi alumni association. In parallel I was advising small Italian and Russian companies looking for new markets and partners. This work format brought me an income, but a relatively limited and unstable one.

Did you find work in Italy?

Italians graduate from university late and have very slow-moving careers. Because of this, many managerial positions have an implicit age floor of 35 years. There’s also a strong preference for men.

Combined with the issue of a work permit, this means there are few jobs for qualified Russian jobseekers inItaly. The greatest demand seems to be for personal assistants, trade show hostesses, hotel receptionists, and Russian-speaking sales assistants at boutique shops. Sometimes I’d receive two simultaneous offers at a job interview, a personal assistant/interpreter based in Milan or a marketing director based in Russia.

I would have loved to stay in Italy: the quality of life there is quite high, but only if I could earn good money (albeit relatively modest money by Moscow standards). After a year, I decided that staying in Italy wasn’t a feasible option. I came back to Russia in April 2010.

How did you come to work at KPMG?

While I was still in Italy, an HR consultant from KPMG Moscow contacted me and offered a senior consultant position. At the time I was contemplating working in either the UKor Russia. However, the role at KPMG sounded interesting and stimulating.

After a number of interviews in Moscow, I started work a month later. The first three months were very difficult, as the pace of life in Moscow is much faster than in Italy. Four months later I was promoted within my grade and a year later I became a manager.

This kind of career advancement is possible inRussia, where a premium is put on international experience. UnlikeItaly, there are unlimited growth opportunities for those who seek them here.

Where there any downsides to coming back to Russia?

At first, I really missedItalyand the friends I’d left there.Moscowhas a less sophisticated social life: there isn’t really an international expat community which is opened for Russians. But I can now afford to fly toMilanfor a few days to see friends, go to the seaside, go shopping. Based out of Russiaand with the higher salary I earn here, I can afford to do so much more in Italy than when I was actually living there!

What advice would you give those who are considering going back to Russia?

1. Don’t be afraid to go back. It doesn’t mean you’ve been defeated in your quest to live abroad (assuming this was what you’d intended).  There are simply many more opportunities to realise your potential in Russia.

2. Make the best use of your main advantage: the ability to communicate and find a common footing with different people. Don’t stay put, go out and network.

3. Be ambitious. It takes a lot less effort to get ahead inRussia than in Western Europe.