With the help of an MBA from the McCombs School of Business, Brad Vonick (McCombs, ‘20) was able to transition from Account Management to Partner Marketing in the FinTech industry. After landing a job in June of 2020, Vonick navigated both a transition to a new industry and function, as well as going from a full-time student back into the professional workplace. With a new set of skills, knowledge, and network, Vonick shared some of his learnings from his transition, the challenges and new experiences of being an MBA graduate, and his advice to MBA graduates who are navigating transitions in life and in their work and careers.
MBASchooled: Think back to when you graduated from business school. What were you excited about or nervous about when you graduated?
I was looking forward to living in Austin, not just as an MBA student, but also experiencing Austin as a regular person. I felt proud about the Monday-Friday that I had put in to get there.
I was nervous about whether or not I accepted the right job. I was searching during the pandemic when there were not an abundant amount of opportunities. A lot of people were afraid that they were ‘settling’. I’m not saying I felt like I settled, I just genuinely wasn’t sure if I made the right choice. I didn’t do the traditional “get an internship, get an offer, take it, and you’re done for a year or two” path. That path comes with a lot of certainties. You had the trial run at the company and then actually doing the work.
I was joining a big company. However, I hadn’t interned there before which was causing me that uncertainty. But I guess you’ll never know until you’re in it, whether there’s a pandemic or not! However, you quickly learn what you can pull from your experience, whatever that experience might be.
MBASchooled: What was it like to transition from business school back into the workplace? What did you enjoy, and what was challenging?
I have to say, like any grad student would, that earning a salary was nice! I’m a pretty frugal person when it comes to a lot of areas, but during the program, I traveled a lot in an effort to capitalize on the no Friday classes and long breaks.
Travel is my passion (but actually my passion, not just how everyone says they love to travel). Yet, I felt guilty doing it – especially compared to many of my classmates who had a bigger safety reserve either from a few more years of working pre-MBA, more lucrative jobs pre-MBA, or family money. It felt great post-MBA to be able to travel and feel like I’ve earned my trips.
What was challenging: Every single aspect we’ve all heard about with virtual onboarding. My first 10 months or so were working exclusively with the UK. I dealt with a 6-hour time difference every day, without the international travel opportunities and chances to meet everyone face-to-face.
MBASchooled: What was it like to make a transition into a new role, function, or industry?
The biggest transition, to be honest, was moving to a large corporate company. I had been at a mid-sized company pre-MBA, and even a massive advertising agency out of college (but it didn’t feel that big). Navigating the many stakeholders without putting names to faces, and managing the many voices wanting to be heard, hit a little differently this time around.
I honestly thought the industry transition wouldn’t be that bad. I was going from Account Management/Marketing in FinTech to Partner Marketing at a Financial Services organization. But there is nothing like the payments industry – the number of providers needed to make one transaction work, the complications across the board, and how outdated much of the infrastructure is.
MBASchooled: Looking back upon your time in business school, what are things that you did in business school that has been valuable to you in your work and career?
The first that comes to mind is learning to appreciate networking and not just see it as something you “have to do to get a job.” Some of the best conversations are when you’re not only reaching out to people at your dream companies, or your dream roles. They’re the ones where you can genuinely learn.
That makes you more informed, educated, and aware. You recognize what you like and what you don’t and what’s valuable to you or not (out of the many factors that make a job perfect like culture, size, industry, function, etc.) If you want to still think about this with a business mind, this is how you do your ‘research’ and educate yourself on the market. What do professionals in the XYZ field, in ABC function, or at XYZ company, think about? What are their problems, their opportunities, their questions? More perspectives on those are never a bad thing.
Travel. The global perspective, even if not in a work setting, always makes a candidate more marketable. And if you do land in a global position…The learning curve is less steep. I say this because the long breaks that come with the MBA present your greatest opportunities to travel until probable retirement!
MBASchooled: What advice do you have, for MBA graduates who are graduating from business school?
Don’t take a job with the plan of leaving in less than a year even though that’s not only acceptable but common. At the same time, don’t feel like your first company after school has to be a company you stay with for 20 years.
Everyone says that but you are probably still young enough that you shouldn’t put guardrails on your path to success…There are plenty of ways to get there, wherever “there” may be. And maybe that is one company forever, but maybe that’s just one company for a few years until the next opportunity comes up. But don’t put a timer on your employer, that will also allow you to feel freer and learn more naturally.
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