José Manuel Ferreira already worked at Jomafe, a Portuguese company of reference in the area of ​​cutlery, tableware and kitchen utensils, when he decided to take a higher education course. He entered the Universidade Portucalense and graduated in Management. Today, he is an administrator of the company that has commercial operations in Spain and England and dreams of conquering Brazil.

His entry into Jomafe, after completing his military service, coincided with the explosion of large distribution in Portugal, a channel that starts to follow and that quickly becomes the main customer of the company. José Manuel manages the “a to z” business: negotiates the sale price of the products and manages the placement of products on the hypermarket lines.

One day he decided he should bet on training and signed up for Portucalense. He worked and studied simultaneously. At various times, the pressure increased and he thought about giving up, but the “dislike of leaving things in half” won and concluded the degree. “The important thing was to start, then there was no other way out – it had to end!”

The study made him “think the company”, gave him the ability to “interpret crucial financial elements in management, structure thoughts and define paths”. After graduating, he still did an MBA and maybe he won’t stop here… “Nowadays, a course in itself is not enough, we must continue to invest in knowledge”.

He considers that “working and studying is a huge advantage, because it allows for practical application, not allowing abstract learning”. He recalls the particular taste that gave him “to validate the next day what he had learned in class”. “Establishing a parallel between what you are learning and doing is extremely motivating”, he stresses.

Reveals that when recruiting for Jomafe, he values ​​professional activity in parallel with his studies. “When I analyze the curricula, I value those who worked during their studies, because it reveals a predisposition to work, develop and make it happen. I also consider participation in the Erasmus program and international experiences important. It has already happened when hiring a young ‘designer’, where his experience in England and his mastery of the language worked as a differentiating effect from the other candidates ”.

José Manuel Ferreira is a manager who vibrates with “new projects that are always uncertain”, perhaps because “uncertainty is unsettling” and challenges every day not to leave the goals in half.