Tom Mitchell

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Collaborative leader with a drive to bring out the best in others.”

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Fun Fact About Yourself: I spent my senior year of high school living in Beijing with a local host family. It was my first time in China and I learned so much there about both how to be independent and when to look for others for help.

Undergraduate School and Major: McGill University

Double Major: Economics/East Asian Studies

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: PwC, Manager

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Coming from a liberal arts education and a non-technical background, I was interested in the opportunity to develop my tics skills and learn more about how to better use technology to help people and organizations succeed.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? The Business and Technology Club! I’m interested in pivoting to the tech industry and they have so many resources and events aimed at helping students like me. I’m excited to learn from my fellow students about the industry and the club seems like a great way to do so.

What makes you most excited about getting your MBA at Tepper? What makes you most nervous about starting business school? I’m excited to learn more about the opportunities that are out there. The student body here comes from a very diverse set of backgrounds and the career center is excellent. I hope to be surprised by what I learn from them, and I am enjoying the journey already.

It may be obvious, but I’m most nervous about the pandemic harming my ability to learn and make meaningful connections with classmates. So far however, the class has done a good job of beginning to build a team spirit, even if most of our classes are remote.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I was leading a team of new hires for a project in my area of expertise, and we were under extremely tight regulatory deadlines. While at first the team struggled, I was able to foster a culture of collaboration and open communication, encouraging them to ask questions and be curious about the work. As a result, they learned very quickly and soon were the highest producing team on the project. Seeing them grow as a team and individuals as we delivered on time was the most rewarding moment of my career so far, and something I’ll always keep in mind as I continue to business school.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? My experience lies in anti-financial crime compliance. While I was succeeding there, I wanted to pivot to a more growth orientated sector and saw an MBA as a great opportunity to do that.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? NYU Stern, Washington Foster

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? “Tell me about something you learned from an out-of-work experience that you used in the workplace.” I never heard of a question like that before and it made me think laterally on the spot.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I was lucky enough to know a few people at each of the schools I got into. I shamelessly hounded them for coffee chats to try to get a feel for the schools. I found that talking with students and graduates was the best way to get a feel for not only the culture, but how the MBA program was aligning with their career goals.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? Training and running the New York City Marathon. Balancing my time between work, GMAT studying, and training required me to be focused and flexible with my time, while keeping my sights on a long-term goal. So far, it seems like that nimble perspective will be an asset as I try to balance academics, career, and student life here at Tepper.

What is your favorite company and what could business students learn from them? Hard to pick, but lately I’ve been excited about Microsoft. Other than the new flight simulator (which I’m blown away by), the strategy they’re taking with Microsoft Teams, the new pricing structure of Xbox Games Pass, and their continued development in cloud computing reveals a large company that is still taking interesting risks. However, I’m most struck by when the CEO said that employees should join “to make others cool.” My favorite work experiences have been when I was able to enable my team and peers to truly achieve their potential, and it’s a philosophy that would serve business students well.

DON’T MISS:

MEET CARNEGIE MELLON TEPPER’S MBA CLASS OF 2022

MEET THE MBA CLASS OF 2022: THE COVID COHORTS