M.S. MIT Alumni Blog

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

November M.S. in MIT News

In This Issue:

November Events and Save the Dates!
Digital Innovation Resources
Job Postings
M.S. in MIT Giving

Events!

M.S. MIT Women’s Networking Event - Arlington

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

6:30 – 8:30

Lyon Hall

3100 N. Washington Blvd

Arlington, VA 22201

Join fellow M.S. in MIT Women in a casual networking event. Come mingle, network and share your ideas for future women’s networking events! Appetizers provided by McIntire Office of Development & Alumni Engagement, cash bar. RSVP to Aimee Carter aimeecarter@virginia.edu

Happy Hour – Washington DC

Thursday, November 14

6:30pm - 9:00pm

City Tap House

901 I Street NW Washington, DC 20536

Come join your MSMIT-ers in welcoming Philadelphia based City Tap House to DC with an open bar just for us DC Hoos from 7-8pm and free appetizers. The restaurant opens in mid-November and will boast 60 craft beers on tap plus an extensive beer bottle list.

Admission: Free with RSVP to Kelsey Taylor (kelseytay@gmail.com) by Oct 31st

Football Game Watch – Arlington, VA

Saturday, November 30th

Game Time: TBA

Arlington Rooftop Bar & Grill

2424 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22201

Come out and enjoy a classic Commonwealth rivalry as the Cavaliers take on the Virginia Tech Hokies. We will have an area reserved, ½ off appetizers and the following drink specials: $3 Miller Lite/Bud Light/Coors Light, $4 Cavalier Crush, $5 “The Virginian”

Admission: Free – RSVP not needed, just show up! Contact Kelsey Taylor (kelseytay@gmail.com) with questions.

SAVE THE DATE

Knowledge Continuum: April 4, 2014, Charlottesville

M.S. in MIT Gala Fundraiser and Golf Tournament: April 5, 2014, Charlottesville

Digital Innovation Resources

Stefano asked for me to share with you all the results of a Class of 2014 survey on sources of information for digital innovation.

http://msmitalumni.blogspot.com/2013/10/digital-innovation-resources.html

Job Postings

Remember to share your job postings with us! Please contact me at acarter@virginia.edu if you have a job opportunity to share.

M.S. in MIT Giving
Thank you to all of you who donated to the McIntire School of Commerce Annual Fund this past year! In Fiscal Year ’13 (July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013) M.S. in MIT alumni and current students donated a total of $86,230 with an overall participation rate of 24%. THANK YOU! Our goal in 2014 is to raise $100,000 to start the first endowed scholarship for an M.S. in MIT student.

Reading List
One of our current M.S. in MIT cohorts recently created a Good Reads group for M.S. in MIT. Please join the group and share only professional reading selections and reviews that you think will help your fellow alumni to be better IT managers. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/116356-ms-in-mit-at-uva Thanks, Teri Centner for putting this together!

· Stay in Touch: Update your HoosOnline profile regularly, let us know about life changes, and drop us a line when you’re on Grounds.

· Attend Events: Events are valuable resources for relationship building and continued professional development: http://www.commerce.virginia.edu/events/Pages/McIntireEvents.aspx?EventType=Alumni%20Event

· Share Job Information: Career resources are one of the biggest benefits of participating in the McIntire alumni network. Contribute to this by sharing job opportunities with fellow young alumni, recruiting on Grounds, or reaching out when you are ready to make a change. (http://www.commerce.virginia.edu/alumni/jobpostings/Pages/default.aspx)

VISIT OUR WEBSITE | MAKE A GIFT | FACEBOOK |

LINKED IN | TWITTER | CONTACT

Digital Innovation Resources

Stefano asked for me to share with you all the results of a survey on sources of information for digital innovation.

"These are the results of the survey on your sources of information for digital innovation. What was most interesting is that there was no dominant site (max number of recommendations for a single site = 3). It would appear that you get your information from a variety of distinct sources. This also may explain why these sources are often very redundant. There is perhaps space for a dominant player to emerge.

This is the alphabetized list for the MSMIT class of 2014. A few are really cool. Enjoy!" - - sg

www.AnandTech.com

www.androidcentral.com

www.ArsTechnica.com

www.bits.blogs.nytimes.com

www.creativity-online.com

www.digitaltrends.com

www.hongkiat.com/blog/

www.kurzweilai.net/

www.networkworld.com

www.ritholtz.com/blog/

www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-digital-technology-news-views

www.scoop.it/t/digital-innovation-1

www.SlashDot.org

www.techcrunch.com

www.technologyreview.com

www.technewsworld.com

Focus on Government

www.gcn.com/Home.aspx

www.fcw.com/Home.aspx

www.fedscoop.com/

Topical sites

www.ibm.com/developerworks/training/kp/os-kp-hadoop/index.html?cmp=dw&cpb=dwope&ct=dwnew&cr=dwnen&ccy=zz&csr=111612

www.bigdatauniversity.com/

www.scoop.it/t/cutting-edge-technology-in-education

Stefano Grazioli, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Director, MS in Management of IT

University of Virginia

McIntire School of Commerce

http://www.commerce.virginia.edu/grazioli

Monday, October 7, 2013

Calling all MSMIT Alumni: Connect with alumni at these upcoming Virginia & DC events!

Oktoberfest – Reston Town Center, VA

Sunday, October 13

12 pm

Reston Town Center

11900 Market Street

Reston, VA 20190

Come out and enjoy Northern Virginia’s largest fall festival featuring autumn brews, delicious traditional Oktoberfest fare from area restaurants, live entertainment, and a carnival! We will be meeting at the fountain (by the metal tables/chairs) at noon. If interested, please contact Kelsey Taylor (kelseytay@gmail.com) and Chris Clements (chris.clements@gmail.com) for additional information.

Admission: $20 gets you 24 food/drink tickets / www.oktoberfestreston.com

Happy Hour – Reston Town Center

Thursday, October 24

6:00pm-9:00pm

American Tap Room (ATR)

1811 Library St.

Reston, VA 20190

Come connect with MSMIT alumni at this casual after work happy hour. ATR meet-ups are a favorite of the MSMIT Class of 2012 – come catch up and find out why! We’ll have tables reserved to the right when you walk in.

RSVP: Not needed, just show up! Contact Kelsey Taylor (kelseytay@gmail.com) or Chris Clements (chris.clements@gmail.com) with questions.

Happy Hour – Washington DC

Thursday, November 14

6:30pm - 9:00pm

City Tap House

901 I Street NW

Washington, DC 20536

Admission: Free with RSVP to Kelsey Taylor (kelseytay@gmail.com) by Oct 31^st

Football Game Watch – Arlington, VA

Saturday, November 30th

Game Time: TBA

Arlington Rooftop Bar & Grill

2424 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22201

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Job Postings!

IT Project Management Coordinator- PMO Office

Under minimal supervision, provides process leadership in project management discipline for IT application implementations and other organizational projects. Provides project management monitors, including development of the project plan, preparation of payments to vendors to address project costs as planned and to provide progress information as the project work proceeds.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent Education and Experience. EXPERIENCE: 3-5 years experience. LICENSE/CERTIFICATION: Project Management Institute Certification strongly preferred. Employment in this position is contingent upon successful completion of a criminal background check.

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/pub/human-resources/careers/jobs

Current opportunities include ability to work on special term projects of 2-3 years and permanent positions.

Salary range for this role is $ 59,072.00/yr - $ 94,515.20/yr

The University of Virginia is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

-------------------------

From Yanek Korff M.S. MIT '09:

Mandiant

We're continuing to evolve our operations over here and are now running security operation center capability out of Alexandria, VA, Redwood City, CA, and Dublin, Ireland. This requires exceptional operational support in the form of network engineering and systems administration. We're at the point where we're looking for top-notch operational leadership to run this function.

https://www.mandiant.com/company/careers/us#manager-systems-operations

If you know of anyone with deep systems or network administration / engineering experience, I'm very interested in hearing from them. It's a tough position to fill finding the kind of candidate that blends technical depth, operational rigor, and a white-glove customer facing orientation. Ideal candidate will work out of our Alexandria office, but would consider someone working out of our Redwood City office.

We have a plethora of other open positions too, listed here:
http://mandiant.com/hireme/

So if you know of anyone who'd want to join our fight, PLEASE let me know or direct them to the links above. Thanks!! -Yanek.

-------------------------------
If you have a position to share please contact Aimee Carter.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Summer Happy Hours in Arlington and Charlottesville

Charlottesville

Friday, August 2

6:30 – 7:30
Biltmore, UVa Corner

Meet the incoming class and enjoy food and drink specials!

The incoming class will be having dinner starting at 7:30. You are invited to join them, but please be prepared to cover the cost of your own dinner.

Arlington

Friday, August 9
5:30 – 6:30

Amuse at Le Meridien
1121 19th Street North

Arlington, VA 22209

Meet the incoming class and enjoy food and drink specials!

RSVP to Aimee Carter

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Career Services: May 2013 Newsletter

Included in this newsletter are alumni profiles, links of interest, and words of wisdom from the staff at Commerce Career Services. Please let us know if there is a topic you would like us to cover! If you know of an alum who would be a perfect fit for the alumni profiles, you can send me their information at gilley@virginia.edu.

1. Alumni Profile

Donny Wyatt (MS in MIT ’04) Owner and Founder, Co-construct (a software-as-a-service company for custom home builders and remodelers) (Crozet, VA).

1) What were your favorite parts of the program? What were the most important things you took from your time at McIntire?

I was fortunate to get a double-dose of McIntire, with both the undergrad in 1999 and then the MS MIT program in 2004. When I worked in the corporate world, at a small company, and then launching my own, I always saw the value in being able to both go broad and deep in the skills I needed to use. Both the undergrad and grad programs provided that. Whether you can pull IT into a finance job or pull marketing into an IT job, having a multi-disciplined approach prepares McIntire grads to bring more value right away by thinking a few rungs above their job level. That stands out in a company of any size.

2) Have you made a career change since you completed the degree? What elements of the program were helpful in making this change?

Yes. I was working in the typical, big corporate job at Verizon when I did the MS MIT program. I enjoyed my time at Verizon, but then I had a chance to go do something completely out of my comfort zone -- as a sales manager for a software as a service company selling to law firms and Wall Street analysts. Again, because of the well-rounded McIntire approach, I was able to make that move from an IT job to a sales and marketing job selling to finance people. After a few years there, through the experience of building our own home, I had the idea to start my current company, Co-construct. And when you start your own company, you need as broad of a skill set as you can get.

3) What advice/words of wisdom do you have for current or future MS in MIT students who are considering either a job change or career change now that they are working towards the MS in MIT degree?

Why wait to finish the program to change? My career progression accelerated greatly, partially due to the MS MIT program, when I was only midway through. You're getting value at every step of the program, so it's not like there's "one big magic answer" at the end that then makes you more valuable in your job. In fact, one of the biggest benefits of being in an academic environment alongside your smart, employed peers, is retraining your brain on a new way of thinking. The content of the program is important, of course. But, changing the way you view and approach issues is the most valuable part. And that can kick in after just your first couple of sessions.

Too many people think that they need to finish the program to then make some shift up, over, or out of their current job. Why spend an extra 5-10% of your career waiting for that arbitrary graduation date when the program already has switched on your mental turbo boosters? Go for it now, and then milk the program for all it's worth in maximizing your first year in the new position!

2. Articles of Note

Don't Be a Know-it-all

Stop Telling Your Employees What To Do

How to Build a Project's Business Case

Retaining Top IT Talent

3. Career Advice 2.0 – Words of Wisdom

From Tom Fitch, Associate Dean for Career Services & Employer Relations

“As you get closer to completing the MS MIT program, remember that career development continues well beyond the point of graduation. Networking is one of the most important aspects of career growth. Creating strong professional relationships ensures personal as well as work-related enhancement. It can be quite easy to meet professionals who may share words of advice and suggestions for future jobs, skills, and an in depth outlook on the industry, but don’t miss out on having a way to follow up with these contacts. Do not wait until you’ve left the classroom to create or tweak your LinkedIn account. Update your profile, join appropriate groups, and connect with your classmates. It’s much easier to ask for their wisdom as you interact on a regular basis. Be sure to request connections to your peers and build upon a dynamic approach to a professional database.”

4. We’re Here to Help

Commerce Career Services had a great time presenting Rebranding to the Charlottesville section, and we look forward to presenting to the NOVA section in June. We’ll be discussing the importance of integrating new skills, knowledge, and goals into your professional identity. Please don’t hesitate to contact Kelly Eddins (keddins@virginia.edu) or Aaron Gilley (gilley@virginia.edu) with any questions you might have. Have a great week!

Aaron Gilley

Assistant Director of Career Development

Commerce Career Services

University of Virginia

(434) 243-2144

gilley@virginia.edu

Career Services: April 2013 Newsletter

1. Alumni Profile

Andy Rudin (MS in MIT ’05) Managing Principal, Outside Technologies, Inc. (Vienna, VA).

1) What were your favorite parts of the program? What were the most important things you took from your time at McIntire?

Favorite parts of the MS in MIT program: In order—

a) the ability to engage with highly-motivated students and faculty in a curriculum that is of great personal and professional interest to me.

b) the curriculum was excellent, and at the time I pursued my degree (2004 – 2005), it addressed the key issues in Information Technology better than any other program.

c) the interactive, face-to-face, case-method teaching approach made going to class something I always looked forward to.

Most important takeaways:

What I found of immeasurable value were the insights I gained from learning how others approach complex business problems. Although there is extensive published research on this topic, most of what I learned was tacit—from rolling up my sleeves and working with others. I learned that while there are some “best practices,” the approaches IT professionals follow are anything but formulaic, and that problem solving is highly iterative. Many times, through exchanging ideas from our own experiences, my classmates and I developed solutions to strategic challenges that didn’t follow the pathways anyone first supposed.

Second, because my career background is in business development, marketing and sales, I found the coursework on project and risk management particularly illuminating. Much of what I learned explained outcomes for situations I had encountered in previous jobs. In addition, the program helped me understand how executives think about risk, how it’s considered in financial analysis, and how both are applied to IT decision-making. One reason it annoys me to see the many articles that misuse financial terms such as ROI, when describing how to vet IT projects. I’ve written a few blogs about it.

2) Have you made a career change since you completed the degree? What elements of the program were helpful in making this change?

The MS in MIT program has enabled me to take on some great new projects for my consulting company, Outside Technologies, Inc. A couple of years after I graduated, I won a project to provide sales training for a large, global software developer. I traveled to five countries, including India and South Africa. The training program that my client asked me to deliver resembled the MS in MIT core outline—just very, very condensed. When I first saw it, I said, “I can do this!”

One unexpected surprise since graduating in 2005 is the visibility I’ve gained through writing and blogging. I posted my first blog in 2007, and am syndicated on a popular customer relationship management website, CustomerThink, where I am among the top-10 authors over the past five years. I find that the MS in MIT program has given me plenty to draw on when I’m covering an IT topic.

Today, marketing automation, sales enablement, and analytics are being recognized as offering great business value. Because few people in these fields have a background in direct Business-to-Business (B2B) sales, I have been able to leverage that experience, along with the knowledge I gained in McIntire’s MS in MIT program. There are some great emerging opportunities with growing companies, and I am considering a couple of them.

3) What advice/words of wisdom do you have for current or future MS in MIT students who are considering either a job change or career change now that they are working towards the MS in MIT degree?

I’m pretty bullish on the value of advanced college degrees, but my first advice is to tackle a graduate degree because you love the subject matter and enjoy the stimulating environment of being in a great program with great people. If you are driven by the expectation that an MS in MIT degree will automatically lead to a promotion or to a higher-paying job with greater responsibility in a year or two, you may be disappointed. That said, you will come out of the program more valuable. From there, it’s your job to make sure others recognize it.

2. Articles of Note

Your Career Process

Attitude is Everything

Accelerating Your Career

What Are Your Strengths?

3. Career Advice 2.0 – Words of Wisdom

From Aaron Gilley, Assistant Director of Career Development, CCS

“If you are looking to make a career leap soon, you have to act as an expert on your own behalf. If you are changing industries or hoping to move to a different department, you may have questions about how you can convince a prospective manager that because of your time doing ‘A’ that you’re now the best candidate to do ‘B.’ The secret is to ‘act as if.’ You must promote your credentials and experiences as if they ARE the best reason to be hired, not that they are A reason to be hired. Take ownership of your academic and work experiences, and use the MS in MIT program to tie everything together. You are selling yourself as a candidate, so know the product well; you are the right person for the job, and it is your responsibility to say why that is. Because of your time as an engineer, you ARE the right candidate for a role in product management; because of your time working in Defense, you ARE the right candidate for a career in management consulting. Practice communicating why this is true!”

4. We’re Here to Help

Aaron Gilley

Assistant Director of Career Development

Commerce Career Services

University of Virginia

(434) 243-2144

M.S. MIT Alumni Blog

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

November M.S. in MIT News

Digital Innovation Resources

Monday, October 7, 2013

Calling all MSMIT Alumni: Connect with alumni at these upcoming Virginia & DC events!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Job Postings!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Summer Happy Hours in Arlington and Charlottesville

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Career Services: May 2013 Newsletter

Career Services: April 2013 Newsletter

McIntire Alumni

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