On 12 October, PROFADIENIS, the largest event uniting colleges in Lithuania, took place. During the event, 114 finalists from 15 Lithuanian colleges solved complex business situations, and the honourable first place was won by the VTDK student team!

“The concept of ProfDay is based on the idea that students try to solve challenges brought by several different companies in one day – once they have analysed them, they have to present, answer the comments of other teams, the questions of the task organisers, and explain the motives behind their decisions. This year, the students solved a complex remittance situation for a large company in the financial sector; they were looking for a solution to efficiently design an ordering platform for a medical logistics company. They also had to develop a social responsibility action plan and budget for a multinational company, evaluate a job interview and suggest how to improve it, and try out a personal finance management situation using a game developed by an Estonian start-up,” Vaiva Mickevičienė, a lecturer at Vilnius College of Technologies and Design, says about the event.

Dealing with a complex money transfer situation

One of the event’s challenges for the teams is a real-life money transfer problem faced by Western Union a year ago.

“The Western Union assignment was one of the most memorable. A client called Julio would periodically go to a Western Union point to collect money sent to him (€5000) from his brothers abroad. However, one day there was a problem: he was unable to withdraw the money because of the changed limits at that particular point. He was offered to go to a point further away where the limits were higher, but Julio did not want to delay his journey and called the company’s consultant”, says Martynas Airošius, one of the members of the VTDK team, about the assignment.

The student teams then listened to a mock interview during which the counsellor explained the problem to Julio. The protagonist of the situation stressed that he wanted to receive the money on the same day in order to pay for his children’s schooling. The conversation ended with the consultant promising to call back in 15 minutes.

Student teams had to answer the following questions:
1. What solution can be offered to the current situation?
2. What systems can be put in place to avoid similar problems in the future?

Carefulness and intelligence helped to offer an effective solution

The care and intelligence of the VTDK team helped to come up with a solution that is truly practical and effective. “While other teams suggested to ignore the rules already in place and simply change the limit for this case, we looked at the text. The answer to the first question was already there – all we needed to do was to provide additional documentation to change the limit. For the future, we suggested introducing the authentication system already present in many banking transfer applications. By presenting his/her ID, scanning his/her face and providing proof of his/her residence, the user would be able to execute the transfer and adjust it himself/herself (set limits, change the amount, etc.),” shares Karolis Juškevičius, a member of the VTDK team.

The student adds that this solution ensures that there is no need for any consultant intervention apart from the validation of documents. It therefore avoids similar situations, simplifies the money transfer process and makes it easier to avoid money laundering.

Growing up in a world of innovation makes it easier for young people to innovate and create

Speaking about their experience at the event, the students from the VTDK team share that they are happy that young people can contribute to solving real problems and believe that this should happen as often as possible.

“It’s important for young people to contribute to solving real problems, because we have a different perspective and see the world in a slightly different way to older people. However, we young people will have to live in the future, and to make it a comfortable and sustainable future, we have to put in the work on our side,” says Martynas.

Karolis, another member of the student team, adds that young people’s contribution to solving problems is also important because young people often come up with unconventional and creative ideas. “Everyone’s thinking is very much influenced by the environment in which they grew up. Because young people have grown up in an environment of innovation, their thinking is different and perhaps even more advanced or adapted to modern problems.”

The most important thing is not to be afraid to share your thoughts

In the final Profadienis event, the VTDK student team scored the highest number of points and was awarded first prize – a trip to the European Parliament. The students hope to broaden their horizons and gain new knowledge and experience.

The students are happy about their victory and want to encourage other young people to venture out of their comfort zone and share their ideas more often, because they might just be the ones to change the world. “I would like to wish young people courage. It’s not always easy to share your ideas, especially if they start to look silly in your head. However, this is usually not the case, so you shouldn’t be afraid to share them,” says Gedas Tamutis, a member of the victorious VTDK team.