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Alysia Baker Values Jenkins MBA’s Technology Focus, Range of Options

The first job or two out of college may be a career starter, or it may lead to a career redirect. For Alysia Baker, now a second year student in the Jenkins MBA program at the NC State University Poole College of Management, it was the latter.

“I’ve been very fortunate in my career that I had mentors looking out for me and putting me in positions to move up quickly through the organization,” Baker said.

“However, I started realizing I was moving in a direction that I didn’t really want to go in, and needed to make a change,” she said. “Having only a journalism background, I knew little about business from an academic standpoint, but recognized I needed this education in order to move in a different direction in my career. I also saw the industry I worked in, educational technology, changing rapidly and that I would need to broaden my skill set in order to add value in the future.”

That realization brought her to Poole College’s Jenkins MBA program.

Technology focus plus options

“I have several friends who went through the part-time program and only had positive feedback about it,” Baker said. “I knew I wanted a full-time program that featured a technology focus in the classes and was flexible enough to allow me to try different classes and activities.”

Baker is now completing concentrations in marketing and innovation management, and has been active in the Jenkins MBA program’s student organizations.

“Having worked in marketing prior, I knew I wanted to expand my knowledge in that particular area,” she said. “Innovation caught my eye as I wanted an additional concentration that would provide me with a unique skill set that would set me apart in the job market, particularly in my industry.”

While cost was also a factor in deciding on her graduate program, Baker said she “wanted a program that was a good value. I was going back to school for the knowledge I would gain, not only the network,” she said. “The more research I did, the more I realized Jenkins was a perfect fit for my school and professional goals, both short-term and long-term.”

U.S. News & World Report in fall 2012 ranked NC State University as the fifth highest rated U.S. public university in the best value ranking, known as “Great Schools at Great Prices,” and was among the top 10 public universities listed as an up-and-comer.

Prior Work Experience Helpful

“I’m glad I waited six years before coming back to school because it allowed me to me to really understand what I wanted out of my education and appreciate the opportunity to learn full-time,” she said.

“The prior work experience has been helpful in the classroom as well, Baker said. “Having previous management experience, I try to use the tools and training I am gaining to be a positive manager in my team environments while also fine-tuning my management approach. The NC State Jenkins MBA program is the ideal place to figure out what kind of manager you want to be and I am using my time here to focus in part on that goal,” she said.

Just a few months shy of graduation, it seems Baker has achieved that goal. On January 23, she starts a new job as worldwide product marketing manager for the ThinkPad Product Group at Lenovo in Morrisville, NC. The next few months will be busy as she begins on her new career path and finishes up her MBA program.