Alumnus Uses MBA Knowledge, Resources, to Transition to Dream Career

Sean White was ready—ready to make a career shift and challenge himself to try new things. After working at a public relations firm for three years, White wanted to transition his focus to marketing and decided to pursue an MBA to do it.

“I had aspirations to join a Marketing Leadership Development Program at a Fortune 500 corporation at the completion of my MBA,” said White.

For him, NC State University’s MBA program was the first choice because of its intense focus on technology, the high-caliber students with professional experience, an innovative marketing management concentration and the proximity to Red Hat’s headquarters. He had just accepted a position at Red Hat as a communication strategist and wanted to continue working at a rising technology company while learning applicable business skills simultaneously. Because of this, he decided to pursue his MBA part-time at Jenkins Graduate School of Management.

He was able to immediately apply what he learned about marketing and management in his job. This included understanding customer needs, applying tools and tactics to develop products and services, developing effective brand messaging and knowing how to evaluate the success of marketing programs. Between exceptional professors like David Henard and the interaction with fellow students across varied industries, he put his education into practice and transitioned into a senior marketing specialist in the Services Business Unit at Red Hat.

It wasn’t always easy to mix work and school. At times, both workloads would reach their peaks concurrently, meaning he had to keep a tight schedule and rely on support from both his boss and spouse. He feels the perseverance and discipline of balancing the two speaks volumes to future employers.

“Going into the program I had a working spouse, and a job that required travel and well beyond 40 hours a week. I knew I’d have to have extreme discipline with time management. I realized I had to make certain sacrifices with my social life in order to take advantage of the opportunity to earn my MBA,” said White. “Life’s challenges keep coming.”

Despite it all, White still had a goal in mind: to land a marketing leadership rotation at a Fortune 500 company. To do so, in addition to his coursework, he worked closely with NC State’s MBA Career Development office for assistance. They developed a plan to target the top Marketing Leadership Development Programs by reaching out through alumni networks and social media to make connections with companies that were not already visiting campus. By committing to follow through with their advice and plans, White made job hunting a priority from day one. He worked with Career Development from the initial meeting to seek out opportunities all the way through help with negotiation advice on salary, benefits and relocation.

After narrowing down his choices, applying to the top fifteen among them and interviewing at two different companies, he accepted a position in EMC’s Marketing Leadership Development Program, complete with a 50 percent salary increase and a move back to his hometown of Boston.

“Being part of the Jenkins MBA program opened doors to opportunities that weren’t previously available to me,” said White. “The depth of knowledge I gained in finance, strategy and analysis enabled me to look at a decision from not just a marketing perspective. I learned to think through the impact on the whole organization and our marketplace.”

White now works as Cloud Services Marketing Manager for EMC, playing a critical role in successfully driving service offerings into the marketplace.