Q:What do you do in your current job and what are your responsibilities?

A:I am responsible for providing financial support across multiple research areas of Boston Children's Hospital, including the preparation of the annual budget and long-range financial plan, identification and monitoring of operational trends, analysis of monthly financial performance, and completion of ad hoc projects as requested by the senior executive team. I have partnered with operations managers to prepare annual operating budgets, develop productivity metrics and benchmarks with a focus on improving hospital throughput. An important portion of my job is dedicated to monitoring volume trends and expense management and present a monthly analysis of budget variances to senior leadership.

Q:What skills are you building at D'Amore-McKim that you will use in your future career?

A:D'Amore-McKim has helped me become more aware of how important soft skills are. My professors helped me understand the best ways to manage and lead offices and employees to sustain a happy, heathy, and functional work environment. What I believe will help me most in my future career are these soft skills. For example, I'm gaining an understanding of different cultures and how those differences can affect relationships. I'm also developing myself and how I choose to react to any type of situation.

Q:Why did you choose D'Amore-McKim?

A:At the D'Amore-McKim School of Business I have access to a network with diverse roots and expansive connections that offers a unique opportunity that I believe will help advance me in my career.

Q:What was your biggest take-away from earning your Graduate Certificate in Accounting and Financial Decision Making at Northeastern?

A:I believe my biggest takeaway is how much I have learned from these five courses and how I am able to apply what I've learned to current work situations. I am able to take this knowledge and use it to better my current workspace by recommending new policies and procedures to aid in both functionality and workplace moral.

Q:What would you say to a prospective student considering D'Amore-McKim for their business degree?

A:This graduate certificate program offers a unique opportunity to explore and experience a snapshot of what Northeastern's Part-Time MBA program has to offer. I was able to earn a graduate certificate and apply my credits that I earned in the certificate to the Part-Time MBA program. I would recommend this program to anyone who is on the edge of deciding whether or not to get an MBA degree.

Q:Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

A:I see myself growing at my current institution, and using this degree to aid my career advancement. This experience I will gain over the next five years will help launch me into my next career move to lead an organization's finance department.