Meet Andrés! He graduated with his Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing with a concentration in Professional Selling in May 2015. He is currently working as a Sales & Marketing Specialist for Ford Motor Company.
We asked Andrés some questions, advice for current students, and how UNT helped them to succeed and SOAR BEYOND!
When you started at UNT, what were your plans after graduation? How have these plans changed? When I first arrived at UNT, I had the intention to go to law school after graduation and pursue a career in corporate law. My plans changed in my final semester at UNT, where I decided to postpone law school for a job opportunity that presented itself. 5 years later, I still work for that company and I decided to go to business graduate school instead of law school. Thankful for the way things turned out and for being open to changing my plans.
What advice do you have for prospective or current students as they decide what they want their next steps to be? The best advice I would give for prospective and current students is be open-minded to new possibilities. Be involved on campus, make genuine connections, have a support system (family, friends, mentors, etc.), utilize the resources that are provided by the University, and find ways to differentiate yourself.
How did your program at UNT help you to feel prepared for this role? The College of Business helped provide a foundation for being able to navigate and work in a corporate environment. Specifically, the Professional Selling Program’s curriculum in being able to conduct a professional sales meeting has been valuable. As part of the program, we were required to complete multiple “Role Play” scenarios that placed us in front of an executive of a company and be able to overcome objectives in a “live” sales meeting and the pre-work and follow-up that is required in a real-world situation. The skills we were taught were beneficial in a pivotal moment of my job interview when I was asked to be part of a live role play where I had to conduct a meeting. The training I picked up at UNT prepared me for this situation and was a strong point of my interview.
How did you find your current role? I was referred to this company by a connection at the University of North Texas Career Center, and I have been promoted to different positions within the company through word of mouth referrals and internal interviews.
What was the most challenging part of the interview process for you? The most challenging part of the interview process was balancing the pressure of wanting to perform well to exceed expectations professionally while also maintaining a calm composure that displayed my genuine personality.
How did the Career Center help you? The Career Center helped connect me to Ford Motor Company in the first place.
Share anything else about your story/experience if you would like to that you haven’t already. The highlight of my time at the University of North Texas was being elected the President of the North Texas 40 Student Foundation (NT40), and my family being named UNT Family of the Year at Family Weekend 2014. If I could go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I cherish all my memories at UNT greatly and am happy to help pay it forward by helping prospective or current students if I can. Go Mean Green.
Want to hear more? Check out Andrés’ testimonial video!
Would you like to be featured in our Soaring Beyond Success Series? Submit your story here and email Jeanette Hickl. We’d love to share your story!
