Upon graduating from West Point in 1999, Mike spent five years in the Army with the Finance Corps.  During his tenure, he was deployed to Kosovo, where he served as the Fund Manager for the Engineers at NATO Headquarters.  He spent his last two years working with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

While attending the Yale School of Management, Mike was an admissions interviewer and part of the winning team in the school’s internal Case Competition for first-year students. He now works for a real estate investment trust where he is part of a leadership development program.

How was your transition from the military into the school environment?

I found a school that matched my personality and learning style very well, so the transition was positive. However, it was still a shock to my system to go from a more regimented schedule to a class schedule that was sporadic and involved frequent, late-night study groups. There was definitely an adjustment period, but the environment was so stimulating that I blinked and before I knew it, the first semester was over.

How did your military background help you with the rigors of school?

The military prepared me to prioritize and handle a rigorous schedule that required the proper balance of family, class work, and job hunting. In the two years I was at business school, I realized my five-year Army career had prepared me well, and I had become a better decision maker, motivator, teammate, and leader. During the course of my time in school, my military peers and I were respected by our classmates, not only for our military service but for the manner in which we conducted ourselves.

Tell me about the caliber of your classmates…

I have never been as intellectually stimulated as I was on a daily basis by my peers at business school. Yale fostered a team-oriented environment that encouraged dialogue and fresh ideas in conjunction with high standards. I felt I needed these characteristics in an MBA program to get the most out of my two-year investment of time and money.  The other thing Yale offered was classmates with a wide variety of backgrounds that ranged from lawyers to doctors to teachers to non-profit workers to bankers.  This diverse class make-up meant there were people who were able to offer many viable and creative solutions to the same problem.

How did your military background help in your job search?

I discovered that people in today’s business world crave leaders with integrity and that they are particularly intrigued by what people with military backgrounds offer in this area. Even when I didn’t have the technical skills for different jobs, interviewers often told me they could teach the technical aspects but could not teach maturity, leadership, and integrity. This sort of comment doesn’t reflect on me as much as it compliments the high level of training and opportunities the military offers.

How did you present yourself to prospective employers?

I had a very simple approach when I walked into interviews. I presented myself as an individual with an appetite and capacity to learn quickly who also had the maturity and leadership capability to make an immediate difference.

What resources at your school helped you to translate your military background for the business world?

The help I received from the career office was very customized and focused. When I arrived at Yale, I had the background to make a difference in the business world, but I needed to fine-tune my ability to translate those skills from military jargon into succinct business-resume bullets that would resonate with prospective employers.  I cannot tell you how many extra hours the career office spent assisting me as I refined cover letters and resumes so I could present myself in the most accurate yet marketable way possible.