Jon Karnofsky
Program: Evening
Graduation: MBA 2016
Organization/Current title: Atlantic BT, Director of Operations
Q: Why did you choose the NC State Jenkins MBA program for your graduate education?
A: Comparing the major university programs, I determined the quality of the program content was equivalent, and NC State was much more reasonably priced. The main difference was the more executive level networking between the school, which I was not concerned with.
Q: How did your experience in the program contribute to your professional achievements and successes?
A: I put myself through school intending to advance my career in my current company. I was promoted to a small manager position within 6 months of graduating, in part because of the program. A year later I was promoted to Director of Operations overseeing four departments and directly/indirectly managing around 20 people. I am doing the exact work I thought I would be interested in prior to the program, and I am greatly enjoying it.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your time in the Jenkins MBA Program?
A: I really enjoyed the the Decision Analytics course, and I liked that the MBA program had a thorough set of courses across all of business topics. I think most professors were great at teaching to MBA students knowing we wouldn’t be doing much more in depth in those topics (like deep CPA training for example). Mostly they covered all the material at a decent pace.
Q: What advice would you give for prospective and current students who are interested in your industry/profession?
A: Know the level of management you’re interested in. Know if you are looking global CEO, general management, or entrepreneurship.
Q: What are a few of the most impactful classes/lessons you learned during your time at NC State?
A: A good outcome doesn’t indicate a good decision. A bad outcome doesn’t indicate a bad decision. Feel confident about making a good decision if you feel you had enough information and used it well.
Q: Could you give a brief explanation of your current line of work, and what has led you to it?
A: I work for a web development and design agency, with a background in software development and application architecture. I’m currently the Director of Operation (for about 3 years) for my company where I’ve been for 10 years.