Real Humans of the Rutgers Business School
Jon Mulhearn, Rutgers Business School MBA
Age: 30
Hometown: Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Undergraduate Institution and Major: DeSales University, B.A. in theater
Jon Mulhearn, Rutgers Business School MBA
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Regional and Off-Broadway theater, independent films, commercials as well as work as a company member of a theater in NYC, and various jobs to pay the bills.
Why business school? Why now? I chose business school because I’ve always been extremely interested in the financial markets and figuring out how to make money work. I realized throughout my career as an actor that I kept getting drawn to reading about economics and watching documentaries about financial meltdowns. After many conversations with family and friends, I recognized that pursuing that passion would be fulfilling. Business school was the missing piece of the puzzle for me. It has developed my financial acumen and further developed my passion for strategic thinking, and I’ve already been able to apply what I’ve learned at Rutgers Business School to real-world situations. To me, it was a now or never decision to attend business school, as I knew it would be a tough transition to make with the competition going into and coming out of top-tier schools.
Why the Rutgers Business School MBA program? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend? I talked to a lot of people regarding school choices, and Rutgers was consistently acknowledged as a powerhouse. I’ve seen the caliber of students coming out of the program and was impressed when I saw where the students were ending up upon graduation. The factors that figured most prominently into my decision were location, reputation, and network. I wanted to be in the NYC area and to attend a school that had a solid footprint in the city with a great reputation for putting out top talent.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to your MBA class? Since I’m coming from such a different background and had my work cut out for me from day one, I feel my best contribution to my class is helping empower others. I’m living proof that if you follow your passion, you can’t go wrong.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application? I have a commercial that runs every holiday season in Pennsylvania and is slated to run for the next decade. So despite leaving the industry, I’ll have something to look back on for a while.
Post-MBA career interests? I’m very interested in pursuing corporate finance and transitioning to a role in investing. I’m extremely fortunate to have received an offer from Prudential Financial to round out a new team that has been formed that should bring some very exciting changes across the business. Ideally in the future, finding a role within Prudential Global Investment Management would be a dream come true, but right now my sights are focused on excelling within my current role, and taking on the challenges as they come.
About the Author
Matthew Korman
Matthew Korman is a writer on MetroMBA. Since graduating from Rowan University with a degree in journalism and political science, Matthew has worked as a music industry writer and promoter, a data analyst, and with numerous academic institutions. His works have appeared in publications such as NPR and Sports Illustrated.
