Mayo 20162008
14 Diciembre
NegociosNow El Especial
NegociosNow
www.negociosnow.com
Latinos en MBA
Leveraging an MBA
for career success
By Tara García Mathewson
David
Escontrias
C
ynthia Ponce graduated
with an MBA and almost
immediately qualified for
a promotion. She didn’t know it
would happen so quickly, but she
knew the Master’s in Business
Administration would be good for
her career.
Ponce studied accounting as
an undergrad and spent the first
decade or so of her career focusing on financials. When she started considering business school
programs, she wanted something
that was going to develop new
expertise. The standard MBA,
in the end, opened up a diverse curriculum with information
about all aspects of business.
“The well roundedness of the
program, to me, it made more
sense for my career path,” Ponce
said.
And the accelerated program
at Northern Illinois University’s
College of Business, a one year
MBA, turned out to be the perfect
fit.
Ponce, who graduated from
NIU in 2014, has a 21­year old
daughter and a 7 ­
year old son
along with a very supportive
husband, all of whom committed to her course of study and
made possible the balancing act
of work, school and family. Her
employer, Elkay Manufacturing,
also played a role in Ponce’s success. The company covered a portion of her tuition and made its
own commitment to accommodating the demands of being a
working student.
One of Ponce’s key pieces of
advice to anyone considering
a graduate program is to make
sure family members are fully
on board. During NIU’s yearlong
program, which has twice per
week evening classes and requires
additional evening and weekend
work, Ponce spent a lot of time
away from home.
“It is a really big commitment
to go back to school and dedicate
the amount of hours you have to
dedicate,” Ponce said.
But, in the end, finishing her
degree was worth it. A position opened up at Elkay Manufacturing just
a month after Ponce graduated,
giving her the opportunity to move
up from being a financial reporting
manager to the finance manager of
the entire business unit.
Long Term, Ponce’s goal with
her MBA is simply to put the coursework to use. She wants to make
sure she takes what she learned
and applies it to the work she is
Director Nacional
para la capacitación
de vendedores
y ejecutivos de
Combined Insurance en
siete estados del país.
La MBA me ayudó en mi preparación y a conectarme profesionalmente con el mercado
de Chicago. Gracias a esta
oportunidad, comencé a construir una carrera profesional y
me dio la base necesaria para
llegar a una organización como
Combined Insurance, una oportunidad que otros no tuvieron
por no tener una MBA.
Joseph de la
Garza
Foto Cortesía
Cynthia Ponce sonríe durante su graduación como Máster en Negocios.
doing now and in the future. That
means holding onto the insights
she gleaned about how the various
parts of a business fit into a cohesive whole.
“It was really a stepping stone
for me to get a better understanding of business and all the intricacies of all the different areas,”
Ponce said.
One other piece of advice,
though, is to wait on business
school until getting at least a few
years of work experience. Some
business schools do not even
accept students straight out of
college, and Ponce agrees with
the rationale. Classrooms of
people with diverse business
backgrounds adds to the overall
experience. And the frame of reference that workplace experience
provides is invaluable.
“I
t was really a
stepping stone
for me to get a better
understanding of
business and all
the intricacies of all
the different areas,”
Ponce said.
MBA de la UIC y
Consejero de Negocios
en la Cámara Hispana
de Comercio de Illinois
(IHCC).
La Maestría es importante en
el sentido de que te da credibilidad cuando decides abrir
un negocio, asi como te equipa
con herramientas que te ayuda
avanzar. Aunque en algunos
casos, si el negocio ya establecido, no necesariamente se
necesita una MBA para crecer
el negocios. Actualmente se
ofrecen diversos cursos de
capacitación y entrenamiento
que ayudan a los dueños de
negocios en cuestiones básicas
en el manejo de sus compañía.
Si esa persona tiene una
buena idea de negocio que
quiere desarrollar y desconoce
los procesos de administración,
probablemente lo más conveniente sea cursar una MBA.
NegociosNowEl Especial
NegociosNow
www.negociosnow.com
Marzo 2016
Diciembre
2013 15
Northern Illinois University MBA Program
It’s more than an MBA
Earning your MBA from NIU gains you more than
just a degree. You graduate with an expanded
professional network, robust communication
and interpersonal skills, and most importantly
the confidence to succeed in business. It’s a lifechanging experience at NIU.
NIU
Change Your Life with anvMBA
1 MBA Program – 5 Formats
Executive MBA
One-Year MBA
Fast-Trak MBA
Evening MBA
Chicago MBA
18-month format.
Saturdays only.
International trip included.
Hoffman Estates campus.
12-month format. 2
evenings per week.
International trip included.
Hoffman Estates campus.
12-month format.
Daytime classes. Dual
international degree
option. DeKalb campus.
Flexible evening scheduling.
International component
option. Hoffman Estates and
Naperville campuses.
12-month format. 2 evenings
per week. International trip
and field experience.
Chicago Loop location.
For more details visit
www.cob.niu.edu/mbaprograms
or email mba@niu.edu
866-NIU-MBA1