IB Alumni Success Spotlight Questionnaire

Special thanks to Greg DuBois for featuring in this week’s IB Alumni Success Spotlight!

Written by Shelly Sigh

When reaching out to Greg, my goal was to answer the questions most Integrated Business students have asked at some point during their time within UCF’s newest business major.

Why IB?

What can I do with an Integrated Business degree?

How does this program influence my professional success?

In order to help us gain some insight, Greg, the Business Development Representative for CentralSquare Technologies answered the following questions;

When pursing your undergrad, why did you decide on the Integrated Business major?

I “shopped around” some of the other majors initially, but was enticed with the idea of the fairly new at the time IB. The emphases of group work, presenting deliverables, and networking were all appealing. Further, the sense of pride I observed from peers and faculty towards the major made me realize I was involved with something special.

How did you “get to the one”? In other words, how did you land the role you currently hold?

I was persistent in applying to multiple roles with Orlando area companies. My company was expanding at the time and several internships available, most of which I met the requirements for. Ultimately, I found a fit in the marketing department helping organize tradeshow attendance and did this until graduation. Shortly after, I was told the Business Development team in marketing needed more reps and was offered a position. I tried to network heavily and learn extensively about our industry while interning, and feel doing such helped me “get to the one”.

How do you think the IB program aided in your success?

The IB program helped me strengthen my presentation, selling, and collaboration skills. If you can present confidently to a class this makes any kind of selling easy, so picking up the phone prospecting doesn’t make me uneasy like it maybe would have before IB. My office setting is also very similar to an IB layout, so the practice was indeed very similar to my career.

Are there any specific classes that offered knowledge that better prepared you for your role?

Much of what I learned in Integrated Marketing has been echoed by our marketing team, whether it be HBR articles or case studies. ABT was another class I apply all the time, because the fundamentals taught in that class are pretty much the basis of working in a corporate job. I think getting in that mindset early on was very valuable, rather than memorizing from a textbook.

Any piece of advice you would offer to upcoming IB graduates who are asking the question “what can this degree get me?”

Really, you have to sell the major because any employer will ask what IB entails. Fortunately, we learned how to pitch the major. If you can confidently sell the major I believe you can sell anything, and employers will believe the same. When employers say “Tell me about a time…” you can reference one of your many group projects, from whatever class most relates to the job you’re applying for. Being able to wear many hats certainly opens up the amount of jobs you’re qualified for.

Additional notes/thoughts/advice?

Network as much as possible with faculty and peers, and take advantage of every opportunity to present!