FCBA assistantship jumpstarts career

09/23/2011 1:54 PM

By Elise Dismer ’13

Will Yeager stumbled into Bradley University’s MBA program, but it turned into the trip of a lifetime.

“It’s the best educational program I’ve ever accidentally joined,” Yeager said.

Yeager looked to Bradley when he got fed up with his former job. He knew he wanted to pursue a degree, so he headed for the Hilltop.

“I had no idea when I was going to join that the faculty and staff at Bradley were so highly qualified, and such excellent instructors,” Yeager said. “I’m constantly overjoyed at how lucky I was to be accepted to what is really a phenomenal institution.”

Outside the classroom, Yeager has benefited greatly from the networking opportunities provided through the MBA student organization.

“Frankly, I think the graduate society in the business school is probably the best on campus since we value networking so very much,” Yeager said.

Though Yeager has not graduated yet, his Bradley Experience is already paying off. He started an assistantship as the Foster College of Business Administration’s IT support professional, working with Dave Walty, an adjunct professor.

“The job has reinforced the lesson that patience is golden and that going the extra mile for people pays off,” Yeager said. “I really appreciate the opportunities, professionally and personally, that FCBA has given to me.”

Through his assistantship, Yeager would troubleshoot tech problems with students and propose small-scale solutions to professors, connect notebooks to wireless networks, maintain software for professors and labs for classes, install hardware and act as an interface for the full-time IT staff at Bradley.

“It’s allowed me to ask intelligent questions. Being able to ask intelligent questions – and more importantly, listen for the answers – has been a great skill set that the MBA program helped me to develop,” Yeager said.

When Yeager expressed interest in finding a full-time IT job, Walty, the CMO at Heart Technologies, lined Yeager up with an interview with Heart Technology’s hiring manager.

Now Yeager, like many Bradley MBA graduates, is happily employed.

“I end most days with a sense of accomplishment, and end each week with a paycheck,” Yeager said. “All in all, it averages out to a good job, with a huge quality-of-life improvement.”