Meet Pittsburgh Katz’s MBA Class Of 2021

Tyler Guerriero 

University of Pittsburgh’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business

“Military since 18, worked in more than fifty countries, fantasy football champion.”

Hometown: Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have been to more than 50 countries across 6 continents in the past two-and-a-half years.

Undergraduate School and Major: American Public University, Government Contracting and Acquisitions

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Team Lead, Michael Baker International

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Completing my undergraduate with a 3.65 GPA while working full time overseas, fulfilling my military obligations, and even being named Airman of the Year for my base.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Diverse—Even with the smaller class size, there are students from all over the world and the U.S. From the short time I have been here, I have also found us to be diverse in experiences and backgrounds. This makes every new conversation about the path that led an individual to Katz an interesting one.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The career management team at Katz. With switching careers, I knew that I would need help with creating a brand for myself that would attract new career opportunities. So far, my expectations have been exceeded and I am excited to attend MBA conferences this fall with the goal of landing an exciting internship for the summer of 2020.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Katz Military Veterans Association

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process?  Give an example of a time that coworkers had a negative misconception about you.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Wanting to make a career change, I believed that an MBA would give me the best opportunity to receive the knowledge and skills to accomplish this.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Pennsylvania State University & North Carolina State University

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I researched schools using tools such as Poets & Quants, Beat the GMAT, and other online articles reading the first-hand accounts of past students. After applying to schools, I also reached out to current students at the programs who were also veterans to ask specific questions.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? After making the switch from the Marine Corps Reserves to Air Force Reserves, I went to Charleston, SC for a three-month temporary duty assignment. It was there that another service member mentored me and got me back on track. I started working on my undergraduate degree again, reworked my resume, and began applying for new jobs that eventually led me to my last position. Within a year, I went from never leaving the country to working at a job that I was at a different country every week.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Leading a team at a great company, where I will be able to use what I learned at my time at Katz and past and future experiences to become a successful manager. Hopefully, I will be able to travel for work and leisure often.

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