Choose your path

Senior Engineer, Data Platforms at Technology Company

My goal 
As an engineer looking to move into senior leadership roles in my organization, I wanted elective courses that helped me fill gaps in my business knowledge. The flexibility, and breadth, of elective options in the Executive MBA program gave me everything I needed to fulfill that goal, while also being present for my two young children in the evenings.

I was eager to dive deeper into topics I felt I needed most as I targeted new career opportunities, to get a more well-rounded perspective on many functional areas of business.

My plan 
I chose several different scheduling options for my electives, completing most in-person in Chapel Hill on the evenings, but I also opted to take a couple of courses online to give me flexibility to Zoom in from home, and some weekend electives that allowed me to immerse myself into key topics with fewer competing distractions.

With the support of my partner and community at home, I was also able to complete the Global Entrepreneurship Lab (GEL) course, which culminated in an intensive but perspective-shifting week in Luxembourg – meeting with business leaders and founders to share ideas was a definite highlight of my MBA experience!

My outcome
I built a deep network of business connections, including connections with classmates who commuted from Charlotte and multiple other cities, and applied so much of what I learned to my day-to-day work. The professors were insightful and getting honest feedback was a game-changer. I learned so much about myself and am already a better teammate and more empathetic leader. I also impressed the folks in the C-suite, which has opened the door to a new leadership role in the organization. I’m confident there is more upside to come – and I did it all while still being there for my family.

Senior Human Capital Officer at Government Agency

My goal
After transitioning from active duty to civil service, I realized I needed exposure to broader business concepts to better translate my military experience to the private sector for long-term career growth. My current career goal is to lead the HR and talent acquisition function at a mid-size company, and I was eager to get rapid exposure to the perspectives of classmates from a variety of different industries. It was also important to me to find a program that built on the leadership experience I’d gained throughout my military career.

I knew that the Executive MBA program would be the beginning of a new chapter – an important step to lay a strong foundation and ultimately prepare me for a successful corporate career.

My plan
As we moved from the core curriculum to electives, it became clear that there were key skills from the core coursework that I wanted to build on further.

While my initial plan was to focus as much as possible on leadership and technology-related courses that were directly applicable to my career plan, I realized that I would benefit a lot from stretching and taking some of the finance and data-related electives. Having done so, it’s clear that exposure will serve me well in the future, giving me the confidence to use data in more nuanced ways to support decision-making, and the knowledge to contribute meaningfully to conversations about the organization’s financial strategy.

My outcome
My experience at UNC Kenan-Flagler was eye-opening and rewarding, and I’ve built an incredible set of friends whom I know I’ll stay connected to for the rest of my life, including some of my professors.

At work, my senior leadership team has embraced some of the new ideas and approaches I’ve brought forward, and we’ve improved several processes to create efficiency and greater transparency in our hiring practices. Additionally, I am showing up in new ways for my team and have created more opportunities for us to solve challenges together. In the near term, I’m applying for a promotion with the support of my supervisor – in that new role, I plan to leverage my new skillset and gain additional leadership experience as I explore a longer-term shift to the corporate sector. With new skills, and the lifelong support of UNC Kenan-Flagler’s career coaching staff, I’m being very intentional about how I prepare for my next move.

Surgeon and Medical Director at Medical Practice

My goal
My professional interests are centered around providing solutions to long-standing inefficiencies of healthcare delivery globally. I pursued an MBA program to gain critical knowledge that would help me run my healthcare practice more efficiently while building my leadership and operational skills.

I wanted a program with a robust curriculum that would allow me to focus on coursework that aligned to my strategic goals, as well as participating in a global learning experience where I could observe how business was done in other cultures.

My plan
Electives gave me the flexibility to expand the list of course options I had access to, and I took advantage of some of the courses available online through the Online MBA. I met and learned alongside experienced healthcare providers, peers in government roles, and management-level executives from both for-profit and nonprofit companies. The 3-day weekend elective courses continued to allow me to better balance long days in my practice during the week. Taking courses on operations strategy, leadership and finance helped me as I streamlined our business processes. I also participated in the Global Immersion Elective (GIE) in Latin America alongside peers from the other Kenan-Flagler MBA programs, where I studied the challenges of global healthcare systems and met with business leaders who shared their unique insights.

I was also glad for the opportunity to balance my elective load early in the second year to accommodate personal travel with my family during the final term of my MBA.

My outcome
The biggest impact has been to my consulting work with global colleagues, working on systems and processes that provide better diagnostics and make them more affordable, ultimately delivering improved healthcare to more patients. All of the things I took away from the huge spectrum of electives and the global experience really added strength to what I’m able to do in my work every day. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner.

Senior Manager, Customer Development, Consumer Goods Company

My goal
I wanted to move forward in my career and grow into a corporate strategy role. Knowing that the future of work is changing, I wanted to better understand how to leverage technology innovations to address how we bring products to market and meet the needs of our customers.

It was important that the Executive MBA program had a through-line of leadership development while exposing me to new skills and perspectives. Knowing that the values of impact and innovation were integrated into our coursework helped me better translate the learning into my own work.

My plan
I wanted to make the most out of the flexibility of the program. Since I often travel within the state for work, I could take advantage of the course offerings in both Chapel Hill and Charlotte, as well as some in the Online MBA format. That allowed me to tap into a diverse set of classmates who came from many different backgrounds and roles, where I could learn how people from other industries approached the same questions my organization is wrestling with.

The operations and strategy electives, plus coursework that focused on inclusive leadership were exactly what I needed. During many of these courses, we talked specifically about how we approach complex problem-solving based on our different social styles. Taking elective courses with classmates from across all three Executive MBA programs gave me a multitude of different perspectives and enhanced my learning by hearing my peers’ unique approaches to innovation and change management.

My outcome
My entire MBA journey was a transformational experience. The biggest benefit has been my personal growth and ability to view situations from different lenses. Not only did I expand my knowledge, I learned how to better understand what our operations team and supply chain was experiencing, which was crucial to addressing the needs of an entire organization. My contribution to my organization was immediately recognized and I’m having new conversations with my supervisor about possibilities for my career trajectory within the organization – I expect there’s a lot of upside to come!