For Kogod Students, 4 Tips for Building Your Business Career

American University News


Credit: Randy Nordby
Randy Nordby, Kogod’s new program director for the MS Finance and MS Real Estate programs, is all about making a contribution. He’s an innovator—one who improves whatever he’s working on, wherever he’s working. “It’s my focus everywhere I go. If there’s an opportunity to step up, I take it,” Nordby says.
He’s got 13 years of experience and a slew of current positions to prove it. He’s Finance Coordinator for Kogod’s MBA@American program. He serves on the CFA Institute’s board, and is helping the CFTC develop their education program. And, most impressively, he recently passed the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) Level II exam—a credential only 150 people hold worldwide.
He wants to pay his experience forward to his students. He hopes his knowledge will help them win their dream jobs—Nordby’s ultimate goal. “We don’t make cars or build products here. We help students prepare for jobs,” Nordby says. “I consider myself a success if every student I teach gets the job that they want.”
So, how do students build their dream careers? Below, Nordby shares his words of wisdom: four tips, garnered from his own years of success, on how to build—and advance—one’s business career. It’s one more way for him to make a contribution—one he hopes will inspire students to become innovators, too.
#1 Manage Up
“I’m always looking for areas where I can make suggestions. It’s how I’ve advanced in my career.”
Nordby recalls starting his first job out of college at a call center at Sallie Mae. He spoke to 200 debt-ridden students a day, advising them on how to repay their loans. “I asked, ‘What can I do to prepare myself?'" I wanted to be the most knowledgeable person there.Fast-forward ...

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