You don't have to wait for graduation for your MBA to lead you to success: RBS' Flex-Time program

By Chris Pegut

I am a first-year student in the Flex MBA program at the New Brunswick campus.  I am also the Vice President of the Student Government Association (SGA).  Although I may have only just started my education here at RBS, the program has already proven to be one of the most valuable decisions in my life.

Since earning my BA in 2003, I had been working in the pharmaceutical industry.  I’d realized that earning my MBA is the smart move for career advancement.   My interest in marketing and pharmaceutical management naturally led me here.  I knew by their reputation that RBS offers strong programs for both concentrations, and I have many colleagues in pharma who have graduated from the program and recommended it.

I started to look around for a new job in the summer before I went back to school.  Although I enjoyed my current position, I’d been there for over six years and it was time for a change.  Fast forward a few months and dozens and dozens of job applications later - no change.  My resume offers years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and the positions I was applying for required everything from an applicant that I had to offer.  It’s discouraging to send so many resumes and never receive any feedback.  I was qualified, but never considered. 

The first week in October, once I was settling in to my new schedule of work and class, I sat down to revise my resume.  Just like before, I posted it online and started on some new applications.  But this time it was different.  Believe it or not, I actually received a response!  Someone, a real person, called me to set up an interview at Bristol-Myers Squibb.  She said she wanted to forward me my resume that HR had marked up with their notes so I knew what to concentrate on with the interviewer.  Out of a full two-paged resume, there were only five items highlighted.  Four were marketing-related, which applied to the position.  The fifth was highlighted and underlined, “Rutgers Business School, Master of Business Administration.  Class of 2014.”

After three consecutive weeks of interviews which culminated in a job offer, I began my new role as Senior Account Executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb in their Marketing Services Department.  I started in the middle of November, just a few weeks after updating my resume.

If you had told me last February that I’d be back in school, in a great new job, and VP of the RBS SGA in a year’s time, I would have thought you were crazy.  Starting my MBA at Rutgers has already exceeded my wildest expectations.  I am learning more every day, building a strong network of Professors and classmates, and doing my part in the SGA to give back to the program that has offered me a whole new world of possibilities.  If this is what two semesters looks like, I can’t wait to see where I find myself when I graduate in 2014.