After graduating in Business Management from CEU UCH in 2017, Carmen directs the Corporate Social Responsibility area of  White Investing , an innovative company in the investment sector

A little over three years ago, Carmen Salvador graduated in  Business Management from CEU UCH  . And only for a few months she has been part of the investment company  White Investing , to leading its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project. When Carmen was asked in the job interview what she thought she could contribute to the company, she did not hesitate: for her, the development of CSR brings “a dose of humanity in the conception of business relationships”. She has already drawn up the Code of Ethics of the company and is working on its implementation and development. Because, for Carmen, «every company worth its salt has to incorporate intangible values as part of its assets». In addition, she has come to her University, to the CEU UCH, to share her experience with the current students of the  Degrees in Business Administration  and  Marketing .

How has your career evolved since you finished the Degree in Business Administration at CEU UCH in 2017 until you joined White Investing in 2020?

When I finished my Degree in Business Administration, I was lucky enough to start working, just the day after I presented my Final Degree Project. It was at the Castellón Town Hall, thanks to the EMPUJU program. I combined all this with my Master’s Degree in International and European Union Studies at the University of Valencia, it was a very intense year. After this experience, and seeing that there was a large call for a public job offer in the Valencian Community, I decided to start preparing for a public examination, but seeing that all the deadlines were delayed, I started looking for work. This was a time of great uncertainty. For several months I have been part of  White Investing , and I combine it with studying for the public examination in the afternoons.

Carmen believes that «every company worth its salt has to incorporate intangible values as part of its assets» .

White Investing’s business model is very innovative in the investment sector, how would you define it?

White Investing  is a Valencian company that focuses on managing capital through real estate assets, identifying projects with attractive returns for its clients, investors. In such a changing environment as the one we find ourselves in, White has been able to adapt its business model. This added to the ability to define the appropriate Business Plan for each opportunity, enables its continuous monitoring and the creation of value in each of its investments generating high profitability. Another noteworthy aspect is that White co-invests in each of the vehicles it promotes with its own capital, which implies a total alignment with the investor’s interests.

How did you get the chance to lead White’s new CSR area? What is your current position in the company’s organizational chart?

I think everything was funneled during the first interview. They asked me many questions and one of them was decisive, and in fact companies should incorporate it in their manuals: What do you think you can contribute to this company? I thought it was my moment because I wondered what value I could provide, regardless of the purpose and operation of the company, of which I knew little at the time. I resorted to the knowledge acquired during my degree and its application on the subject that I had really been passionate about in my last year of my degree, Corporate Social Responsibility, taught by my professor Elisa Marco. This was an area that they had not developed in the company and, as an innovative company, they saw the opportunity to incorporate CSR into their structure.

At this time, and although I carry out other functions within the Marketing and Business department, I mostly take care of the CSR department and as a milestone, our Code of Ethics has already been approved by the Board of Directors.

Regarding the organization’s chart, White’s management is committed to this area and understands that CSR, in order to be correctly implemented, must go hand in hand with management, since it is a cross-cutting element that involves the company as a whole.

At this time, and although I carry out other functions within the Marketing and Business department, I mostly take care of the CSR department and as a milestone, our Code of Ethics has already been approved by the Board of Directors.

You have just developed White’s first code of ethics, what was the most complex aspect? What are your new challenges to promote this area of CSR?

Indeed, White’s first Code of Ethics has just been approved by the Board of Directors, being subject to subsequent modifications as CSR is implemented in all White structures and in its subsidiaries.

The most complex thing was to start a blank page, identifying all the interest groups and establishing the commitments that White was going to take on with them; but I have to confess that I received great help from the professor Elisa Marco, who has advised me at all times.

From its approval, the next step is to establish an internal action plan, that is, the specific measures that allow the materialization of the commitments acquired in the Code of Ethics and that, subsequently, will be evaluated in terms of their compliance with the indicators that we will establish in the Annual Report.

 «I would tell to today’s students not to forget the values learned at university: they have their own imprint that will help them make good decisions throughout their lives»

You have been able to return to your University, as a guest precisely to the CSR course, where the students of Business Management  and  Marketing  have worked on White’s case. How was this experience of returning to the CEU UCH classrooms, now as a professional?

It has been very rewarding, I feel that CEU has been my second home for a while and going back to the places where you have felt good is always fulfilling. When I contacted Elisa to inform her of my new challenges in terms of CSR, she offered me the opportunity to return to the classroom and present the company White. A mixture of enthusiasm and nerves were the first sensations, but I didn’t think too much about it, I accepted (with White’s approval) and we began to work together to develop a good Code of Ethics.

The new generations are trained to handle complexity and have the need to seek creative solutions that allow them to continue advancing and that can generate added value in the company; therefore, for White, it has been a fruitful experience and we are very grateful for it.

What advice would you give to students who are now being trained in the same classrooms that you were in so recently?

I would tell them that we are in a long-distance race, that it is important to trust and learn from everything that happens. A lot has been written about everything that happens to us, the good and the not so good, but knowing how to face it with courage and perspective helps you make the right decisions. Above all, the most important thing is that they do not forget the values learned in their university stage, because they have their own imprint that will help them make good decisions throughout their lives.

Do you think that CSR is an area with potential in the business field in the future?

I believe that CSR is always going to be necessary, it is at whatever stage the development of a company is in. And it will also be necessary to adapt it to the changing environment in which companies develop. But even more so in the times to come, because CSR can bring a dose of humanity to the conception of business relationships. Every company worth its salt has to incorporate intangible values as part of its assets».

• Aida Martínez Ramírez, who’s studying for a Dual Degree in Pre-School and Primary Education, is waiting to finish her end-of-degree project to be able to go to Germany to teach

Aída Martínez’s lecturers say that she’s is a role model for what can be achieved by pushing yourself and by showing commitment and passion for what you do. Being proactive is what she’s all about. Inquisitive, shy, cheerful and down-to-earth, she’s waiting to take up a job offer in Germany when she finishes her end-of-degree project. She’s not intimidated by the challenge, even though she knows she only has four months to learn enough German to fulfil her dream: to be a teacher.

The thing is that, before this moment arrived, when Aída had to decide what she was going to study, she wasn’t sure, but her final choice says a lot about her personality and her drive to keep improving. “There were degrees that appealed to me, but, in the end, I went for the Dual Degree in Pre-School and Primary Education. Looking back, the reason why I chose this was that many of the teachers I’d had up to then were more like the opposite of what you want a teacher to be. I’ve always enjoyed learning, even when my school didn’t foster that learning and I had to seek it out for myself.”

Once she took the decision, there were no more doubts and it was then that her desire to become a teacher took hold. “The idea is for the children to see that learning is both useful and a lot of fun, if it’s done in the right way,” she says, after five years on the Dual Degree in Pre-School and Primary Education at CEU’s Elche campus.

The motivation to become a teacher

• What makes you want to be a teacher?

When I think about why I want to be a teacher, several things come to mind. One is the curiosity that children have about things – things that adults completely take for granted and yet for the children there are so many questions. And, because of that, you as the teacher start thinking about these questions too and you end up learning with the children. Another thing that inspires me is, we might say, their guilelessness. Children don’t put up a pretence, what you see is what you get with them, and they see who the people are who really take care of them and it’s those people who gain their affection.

• Have you experienced that already?

To give an example, during my placement, it was the children who I had to bring into line more often who were the ones I ended up having the best relationship with. They knew that I wasn’t picking on them by telling them off, but rather that I was doing that because I was looking out for them. People think that children aren’t paying attention to things a lot of time, but that’s not the case. Another reason is that I like to learn and then to teach others what I’ve learnt too.

• What do you think the teacher’s role should be in children’s education?

To be a teacher, in my view, it’s essential for you to enjoy the job in itself, because you’re going to be doing it for life. Also, knowledge changes due to scientific progress and so, if you don’t keep educating yourself, you won’t be able to teach the children effectively.

• Tell us about the placements you did during your degree

My placements at the San José de Cluny school in Novelda were the best part of my degree. That’s when you put what you’ve learnt to the test and you see if you really enjoy teaching and if this is what want your career to be. That’s what happened in my case. It’s not that everything went perfectly during the placements, because there are challenges you have to  tackle, things you have to do for the first time, you may be unsure about what to do in certain situations, and so on. But that’s how you learn – that’s what it is all about. Every day in the classroom is different from the previous one.  Even when the children are the same and the subjects are the same, there are always new questions, new explanations, new anecdotes. The truth is that you never get bored.

An international experience

• In what direction do you want to take your career when you graduate?

In the more practical parts of the degree programme, in which we had to plan sessions or create activities to work on specific themes, I discovered that I like research and setting up intervention projects. Although, right now, my plan is to become a teacher in pre-school or primary education, it may be that in the future I go down the research path. Things change and you don’t know the way things may go in a few years. A good example of that is the fact that when I was teenager it was a dream of mine to live and work abroad and now that’s really about to happen.

• That’s true – you’re off to Germany.

During my degree, I looked for ways to work as a teacher in other countries. I even thought about doing a master’s degree in teaching Spanish as a foreign language, because there are countries that are looking for people with that background. But, by chance, one day I saw a job offer on the website of the German Ministry of Employment for a pre-school teacher in Germany and I jumped at the chance. I sent my CV in, without much hope to be honest, because I’d just finished my degree and I didn’t have much experience, but I ended up being selected. And so that’s how this adventure begins: without knowing a word of German, I’m going to do a four-month intensive course to get to a B1 level in the language, which is the minimum requirement to be able work in a German nursery school. And after that, in the summer, I’m moving to Germany to be able to do what I love doing, to keep learning the language and to discover a new culture.

• Why do you want to be a teacher in Germany?

It’s great for me to be able to go to Germany to work, because I’ll get the chance to see new teaching methods. The schools there are very different to the ones we have here. The teaching approaches are less strict and are more interactive. The class sizes are smaller, enabling each child to get the attention he or she needs. I think that in Germany I’ll be able to actually do what they always tell us in lectures: “Guide your pupils and support them in the learning process while respecting their individual rhythms and interests.”