My name is Gage Bliven and I am a recent graduate of Midland’s MBA program. Today, I will be sharing my job hunting experience with you since my graduation in December of 2020.
Before coming to Midland’s MBA program, I was the Team Lead of Business Development at Buildertrend for three years. Although I really enjoyed my time at Buildertrend I was ready to take the next step in my career with my MBA degree.
When researching programs, it was very important that I be able to balance working full-time as well as pursue my graduate degree. Then, I found Midland University’s MBA structure which was the perfect fit for me!
After graduation, I had the opportunity to work on two consulting projects as side work, further refining my experience and marketability.
Job Hunting During a Pandemic with an MBA Degree
Although job hunting during the pandemic had its stressful points, I found that virtual interviews gave me the ability to stack several interviews in a single day, from all over the world (sometimes even with the same company).
I also had a lot of success fielding recruiters on LinkedIn who were interested in my work and educational experience. I applied for four positions and was offered an opportunity to interview for three of them. Then, I was contacted by recruiters on LinkedIn and CareerBuilder who connected me with a dozen additional interviews.
During my job search, I focused my efforts on the technology field, Software as a service (SaaS) and enterprise-level sales and marketing positions in line with my leadership aspirations.
My New Role
I have accepted a position with a global company called SoftwareONE where I am a Business Development Manager for their Enterprise sector. This role is strategic as SoftwareONE is partnering with Schneider Electric to bring their Enterprise AEC software to the North American market.
Considering this is a new market entry for North America, the potential for this position to grow my career and responsibility level is massive. Interacting with AEC companies and specialists is a real opportunity to further develop my skills, grow my network and make a real impact in an incredibly important industry that literally builds the cities we live in and love.
My Future Plans
I hope to not only continue to build my professional career, but also my personal network. I am very interested in contributing to the market penetration of SoftwareONE and creating healthy and viable revenue streams while providing state-of-the-art AEC software.
In the next five years, I would love to be at the table for executive decision-making, as well as having a substantial wealth of experience consulting for a variety of verticals. Marketing, communication, and sales are my zones of interest and specialty, so I am passionate about cultivating those!
