What is your preferred name?
Kyle
Where did you grow up?
Just outside of Seattle in Federal Way, Washington.
What is something unique about you?
I am absolutely an outdoor nerd! Fishing, hunting, rock climbing, camping – you name it!
What is your current professional role and place of employment?
I currently am an IT Project Manager for Ada County in the Boise, Idaho area.
What does your job entail?
My job is to manage IT-related projects anywhere from System Introductions, New Tech Intros, Web Development, and everything in-between.
In your current professional position, what are your responsibilities? How did you get to where you are now?
My responsibility as a project manager is to oversee the well-being, and accomplishment, of a project based on stakeholder expectations. Each project is different. It requires working with different people and successfully navigating different personalities. To me, my role is to be an integrator and an expert in communication.
I broke into the field of Project Management by first learning about it in Dan Rush’s MBA Course on Managing Successful Projects. After deciding to pursue this field of work, I determined that my lack of experience would likely be a barrier to entry. So, I decided to gain a certificate in Project Management (CAPM) and began highlighting the Project Management experiences I did have. From that point, I did my Career Track MBA summer internship in Project Management and have worked in the field for about three years now.
In your opinion, what was the most impactful part about completing the Career Track MBA program?
The most impactful part of the program was growing in the confidence of my abilities and the chance to operate in many aspects of a business. My first job after graduating the CTMBA was a Project Manager at Boeing. I worked in a department where many roles were cross-functional across different stakeholders and I had to develop a “business start-up” mindset. I quickly found myself excelling in my role and was given additional opportunities to collaborate with other departments. I was assigned as the project manager of many “special projects” because of my capabilities. I worked on forecasting/demand, Software Platforms, HR Initiatives, Hiring/Development, and more.
I believe that much of my success was due to the CTMBA curriculum. The curriculum intentionally touched on many different business subjects that allowed me to think strategically from a leadership perspective – from project management and operations to leadership and communication.
In your opinion, what was the CTMBA’s biggest ROI?
As is the case in most business operations, there needs to be an adequate ROI to make an activity “worth it”. Not all MBA students from other universities see a direct ROI upon graduation.
However, my case was different. Just before graduating from the program, I was negotiating a job offer with Boeing. The first compensation package they offered was lower than I expected. In my counter offer I highlighted some of my key skills and abilities in Project Management, as well as the MBA degree that I would be completing prior to my first day on the job. In response, the hiring manager apologized for missing the fact that I would have my MBA. I was then extended a 25% increase in pay and even given 10% above the amount that I had countered with! The negotiation exercises in my MBA courses were put into practice immediately in the “real world” and made a direct impact on my income post-graduation.
How did the CTMBA curriculum and internship impact your view of business, management, and leadership? Do you implement concepts from the program into your work life day-to-day?
Prior to the program I felt like a business outsider looking in. I was fresh out of my undergraduate with a degree in Exercise Physiology, so the concepts of business were very foreign to me. I felt that I naturally had a strong understanding of leadership but there wasn’t much I could do without the business education to back it up. I needed the knowledge and skills the CTMBA provided to implement those leadership abilities.
The program was also impactful because it provided me with the understanding of how to speak confidently and concisely about business initiatives from a leadership perspective. I’m no longer an “outsider looking in”, but have the formal education to speak knowledgeably to anyone in the company – from VPs to interns.
What advice do you have for those considering the Career Track MBA?
For those considering the program, I like to say that you are responsible for your own success. The program will provide a great opportunity to grow, learn and develop. Ultimately, however, you’ll get out of it what you put in. The additional effort you put in outside of the classroom will 10x your progress rather than if you just show up for class and “go through the motions.”
What’s your next big goal (personally or professional)?
Having worked now in several leadership roles, my next big goals are to develop and become an expert in the project management industry. My hope is to eventually help organize Project Management Offices (PMOs) and help organizations to do so in a professional and strategic manner.
