College Experiences That Helped A Senior Strategy Analyst At Disney Succeed
Mike's undergraduate experience, including an integrated master's program and Honors College thesis on entertainment accounting, provided a strong foundation for their career. This allowed a tangible accomplishment and interview talking points, ultimately contributing to their current role as a Senior Strategy Analyst at Disney, even though it took "five incremental years" to realize their career path.
Career Exploration, Academic Excellence, Writing Skills, Public Accounting, Entertainment Industry
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Mike Magagna
Senior Strategy Analyst
Disney
Penn State University
Penn State (Master of Accounting) and Villanova (Master of Taxation)
Accounting
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Business Strategy
Honors Student, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. Maintain a high GPA.
2. Pursue an integrated Master's/Bachelor's program to gain early career clarity and direction.
3. Engage in extracurricular activities such as writing an honors thesis to build tangible skills and accomplishments, showcasing your interests to potential employers.
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success?
During undergrad, I worked hard to get good grades and enrolled in the integrated Master's/Bachelor's program. This was helpful in understanding what I wanted for my career, which was public accounting.
Regardless of my answer to your last question, I have no regrets about starting my career in public accounting. In conjunction with that, I was in the Honors College and wrote an honors thesis.
That was very fulfilling because I got to write about entertainment and digest accounting within a context I found interesting. Little did I know it would take me five incremental years to figure out I wanted to work in entertainment accounting.
It was nice having that experience not only for something tangible and an accomplishment, but also something to talk about on my resume and in interviews for years to come. It's definitely something I really appreciate from my undergraduate experience.
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