Indiana University: Joseph Quast

Joseph graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1997 with a bachelor of science in computer engineering then served as a Navy pilot for nine and a half years. In that capacity, he achieved the designation of aircraft commander and senior pilot, responsible for a crew and aircraft during deployment and missions. During his last two and a half years in the Navy, Joseph was the Air Logistics Officer on the USS NIMITZ, in charge of scheduling and the movement of VIPs, personnel, and cargo to and from the carrier by aircraft.

After leaving the Navy, Joseph lived for a time in Guatemala and Mexico where he studied and practiced Spanish. When he returned to the states, he took courses at a local college to get back up to speed academically and began the MBA admissions process. Joseph says you shouldn’t undervalue the importance of the GMAT exam but you should keep it in perspective. “It’s only one facet of acceptance. Your background may make you a perfect candidate for a top level program. So don’t self-screen. Let the schools screen you.”

Basically, I entered the Navy the day I graduated with my undergrad degree in computer engineering. I never worked in that field, per se. So when I got out of the Navy, I wanted to get a degree that would set me up to switch to a new career field. Since one of the things I liked most about the Navy was working in groups and managing teams—and problem solving—I came to the realization that the MBA would give me the biggest bang for the buck. Through the MBA, I could take everything I’d done for 9.5 years in the navy; fill in the gaps with the fundamentals of finance, marketing, accounting, and other functional material; and effectively have a follow-on career as a leader in the business world.

I underestimated how enjoyable it was going to be! It’s an extreme learning experience, but in a good way. It’s great to be learning again and to learn so much.

I wish I’d had a heads-up about two things, really. First, there’s the fire hose effect. You get a lot thrown at you all at once, so the more you can prep the basics on your own before you get to school, the better. For example, I had never taken a statistics course. They did cover the basics in class, but I would have understood the subject matter better, more easily, if I’d had extra prep going in. You don’t need to have extra preparation to succeed. It’s just that I would have found the class more enriching if I had.

Also, because I was coming from a non-business world, I didn’t fully understand the networking characteristic of the MBA. Certain programs cater to certain specialties. So, for instance, if you’re interested in marketing you go to a school with a strong marketing focus and build professional relationships with your marketing classmates and their contacts. As a career switcher, I was more concerned about academics than the networking aspects. But I didn’t put as much weight on the fact that you want to consider schools where a preponderance of companies that hire grads in your discipline go to look for talent.

Don’t undersell your leadership and management experience. For you it’s day-to-day so you might not give it much weight. But your military experience is hugely applicable at school and definitely on par with—or better than—that of others in your program. So work hard, even before you get there when you’re doing your applications, to find people who can help you translate that experience in a business context.

It was very easy to set it up. I was actually living in New York when I registered but was going to be in California at the time of the test and I had no problem arranging that.

I practiced, practiced, practiced, to get my mind dusted off. I hadn’t thought about algebra in … forever! So I just reviewed math and other concepts I hadn’t thought about in awhile. I did a lot of problems, and once I felt comfortable I took timed tests. I tried hard to mimic the actual test—I didn’t move on until I got the answer. Then when I finished, I looked back at where I got things wrong to see the areas I needed to work on more.

When one question seemed easy then I thought I must have messed up on the last one. I didn’t trust that I was doing well enough. But I did all right, as it turns out. So just focus on taking the test. Don’t psych yourself out by thinking too much. Just answer and move on—and don’t waste time trying to read the test’s mind.

Even though I took some time off to travel before school, it was an adjustment. Nine and a half years in the Navy plus ROTC ingrain certain approaches in you and learning how to get something done in a group setting has a different feel in the MBA than it does in the military. So the transition is like an extra class for me along the way—it’s not something I’ll do in a week. But oh, by the way, that military style isn’t necessarily something bad to have. It can be an asset in the classroom and the civilian business world. It’s a matter of figuring out what’s an asset and what needs tweaking. I’ll always be working on finding that edge, that balance.

One thing that I think helped, especially in aviation, was that you learned early on to externalize problems. If people had a criticism or critique you learned to accept it as a critique of the work and not of you. Because of that experience I could come into the MBA program and work hard but realize the goal is to learn—it’s about professional development. That’s important because the challenge of the MBA is that you’re not going to be perfect. There’s more work than there is time in the day for one thing, and you’re going to make mistakes. So you need to be willing to accept that … The failures are as important as the successes.

Leadership. You can’t beat the military’s incredible leadership experience and the MBA on top of that is huge. It’s an intense two-year program that’s a vetting of sorts. It proves your mettle outside of a military context. It says you’re competent in a business context. And the value isn’t only external. It’s internal, too. The MBA is a real opportunity for self-awareness. It tests your ideas about where you are and what you want to do. Now, I realize exactly where my strengths and passions are—and the direction I want to be heading on graduation day.