MATC’s West Allis Campus held its final Life After MATC Breakfast of the year on November 20. At the breakfast, about 50 students and staff gathered to listen to MATC alumni discuss how their lives have changed since graduating. The panel of alums included Accounting graduate Laura Schmierer, Information Technology graduate Mick Payton and Judy Jansen, a graduate of the Medical Transcription program. All three panelists have experienced success in their respective fields and each of them credits their education and training to MATC.
Schmierer originally wanted to enter the healthcare field, but had a change of heart and decided to go into accounting instead. According to Schmierer, she had worked in the finance industry before and knew it was something she enjoyed.
After working on her resume and interviewing skills with the staff in the JOBshop, Schmierer said she felt confident enough to secure the kind of job she deserved in the accounting field.
Schmierer was so confident that she did not take the first job she was offered. “The benefits weren’t there and the pay was [just] okay, but I knew that I had an MATC education and I could do better,” explains Schmierer. “I wasn’t going to just rush, even though I needed the money.”
Instead Schmierer took a temporary job she did not particularly enjoy until she found something better.
That something came six weeks into her stint as a temp when she received a call from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Someone from the college saw Schmierer’s resume on the JOBshop website and encouraged her to apply for a position in their accounting department. Schmierer did and now works at the Medical College as a financial assistant.
She says that even though she already has a higher pay grade than some of her co-workers with four-year degrees, she intends to earn her bachelor’s degree through the Medical College’s tuition assistance program.
Schmierer concluded with a message for all MATC students: Be proud of your MATC education and don’t settle. “Do not think MATC is any less than any other school. You have to take the job that you deserve,” Schmierer advised.
Mick Payton graduated from MATC with an associate degree in IT Networking and is completing his bachelor’s degree at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He is set to graduate with honors next June and has already been hired by Metavante as an IT project manager. He is currently interning with Harley-Davidson.
Payton said he decided to continue his education at MSOE at the suggestion of his instructors at MATC. He initially found it difficult to change his mindset from the hands-on IT work he did at MATC to the theory side at MSOE. He advises IT students who intend to continue their education at a four-year campus to couple their knowledge of information technology with the business side of the field. He cites being able to understand the business side of IT as one of the top reasons he was able to get his job at Metavante.
Payton said the hands-on IT classes at MATC prepared him for the work he will do at Metavante. He said in addition to the work he does with information technology he also loves to interact and work with people, which makes his future position at Metavante especially ideal.
Judy Jansen was also able to secure employment because of her MATC education, but she did not wait until she graduated. Jansen said the medical transcription program at MATC is so good that she was hired after being enrolled for only one semester. “They prepare you so well that I was confident enough to take a job right away,” said Jansen.
She continued in the program, taking classes during the day and transcribing for Commonwealth Medical Group during the evenings.
After three years with CMG, Jansen took a job transcribing for Aurora. A key perk of her position with Aurora is that she is able to work from home. Jansen told the audience that medical transcribing can be a challenging career because the standards for speed and accuracy are high. “You have to be able to transcribe 200 lines an hour with a 98% accuracy rate,” says Jansen. “It’s very high standards, but that’s what MATC prepped us for.”
Jansen enrolled in MATC in 2002 after working in the airline industry for “many, many years.” “I had never known anything other than that,” says Jansen. “To start over in a brand new career, in a job that was a total 180 from what I was doing and to be able to be placed right away, I was very, very fortunate. But a lot of it has to do with the training that you get here and the courses they put together for you.”
Jansen said it was strange to be the one giving students advice because it wasn’t long ago when she was in their position. “I was in those seats six years ago listening to the speakers up here. And now, to be up here talking to you about my success because of the programs here, it’s very rewarding,” said Jansen.
Jerry O’Sullivan, director of Student Life for West Allis Campus, said he hopes Life After MATC breakfasts will be held more frequently in the future on every campus. He said the breakfasts benefit students by showing them some of the possibilities that await them after graduation. He also found the events help students begin to think about their own plans after graduation.
The next Life After MATC breakfast will be held in February 2009.
