During my undergraduate career at Montclair State University, I switched majors from Biology to Finance solely based upon my interest and passion for the global business world. This moment defined the biggest life-changing decision in which I reconstructed my personal and professional career goals. Throughout the rest of my undergraduate career, I completed multiple internships at business firms and made absolutely sure that this would be a fitting career for me. Upon graduating, I accepted an offer and decided to join AT&T as an Internal Auditor.
As an Auditor, I have developed a solid understanding in evaluating financial risks, project management, teamwork, and analytical and problem solving skills. Coming from minimal Auditing background, I was able to successfully work within large functional groups, evaluate key business risks, and provide recommendations to Senior Executives. Once new challenging Audit projects were released, I was eager to learn and create new ways to evaluate financial control systems. However, being an Auditor was only a stepping-stone within my career. My ultimate dream was to handle P&L’s, provide CFO support, and make insightful decisions for the organization. Throughout discussions with my Senior Leadership, they noticed my success, recognized my long-term career goals, and recommended for a promotion as a Lead Financial Analyst.
Currently, I’ve been a Lead Financial Analyst for about 1 year and have leveraged my education and work experience within this role. Additionally, I’ve obtained new skills such advanced data modeling, exploring investment opportunities, analyzing financials, and creating/implementing strategic solutions. These experiences have provided extensive career molding decisions and organically, I believe the next step within my career, would be to obtain a MBA. As someone with hopes to become a Financial Manager, I would need to learn how to be a successful leader within the organization. By attending Feliciano School of Business, I will gain exposure to both theories and practices within the global business world. Additionally, I would attain a profound understanding of managerial concepts and learn to implement those within real life situations.
Upon successful completion of my MBA program, I would expect to become a Financial Manager, leading a team of analysts. With the extensive preparation of leadership skills and understanding of business Montclair will have provided me, I will excel at managing a team and be able to quickly climb up the corporate ladder. I hope to grow within the Finance organization at AT&T and eventually become a Senior Executive, setting financial goals for the company, determining policies, and deciding which investments to make. Furthermore, I feel with the diverse job experience and technical skills, an MBA from Montclair will undeniably help me reach my short-term and long-term goals.
