Holistic MBA proves key first step for student eying own consulting business
What's My Why?
Anderson wanted a master’s degree and chose to pursue an MBA at the advice of his mentor.
“He was like you need to go to school. You need to get your MBA, so that you can understand how everything you're recruiting for builds into the success of this business that we're building. …
“I needed it to break through the glass ceiling of proverbial middle management. I head up the talent acquisition function for my organization, and eventually I'd like to start my own consulting firm.”
Anderson Lattimore had a feeling he was destined for more than his current job demanded.
His late boss and mentor knew he was.
So, when Lattimore gained the courage to tell him he wanted to be more than a human resources professional, he wanted to be a CEO like him, his mentor chuckled.
“He said, ‘Well, I'm glad you finally figured it out. I was waiting for the light bulb to come on,” and then he advised Lattimore of his next steps. Earning an MBA was at the top of that list.
Through some more guidance, Lattimore landed on two choices: his alma mater, Penn State University, and The University of Baltimore.
The latter, though lesser known to him at the time, would prove more the speed he wanted in a graduate school, particularly because he lived and worked full time in Maryland. Fate would seal it; his in-laws both graduated from UBalt Law in the 1970s.
Lattimore, who earned his bachelor’s degree in 1996, started his graduate school journey with UBalt’s Business Fundamentals certificate . It was an option to better prepare him for the more rigorous work that would come later in the MBA program , which he was accepted into after completing the certificate in 2022.
While Lattimore was following his late mentor’s advice, he was thrilled to be moving toward a goal he set in 2015 when he first started thinking about getting a master’s degree.
“I needed it to break through the glass ceiling of proverbial middle management,” Lattimore said. “I head up the talent acquisition function for my organization, and eventually I'd like to start my own consulting firm.”
The professors stand out to Lattimore as one of the business school’s biggest strengths.
“The faculty truly does care about the student,” he said, noting his undergraduate experience left him feeling lost in a crowd. “Accessibility to the professors, especially coming from a larger school, where you were one of 35 to 40,000 kids, and you may not have ever seen your professor, has been really helpful.”
The more personal touch he’s felt at UBalt is evident even outside the classroom. The free tutoring services helped to boost his confidence in the subjects where he knew he would need help.
“The school really caters to the students and is giving us the resources that we need to be successful,” Lattimore said. “I feel confident in the courses that I'm taking, as long as I do the work and do what I need to do, I feel confident that I will have the resources to be able to pass it.”
Lattimore is far enough along in his graduate program that he’s able to see why his mentor recommended it.
“He was like you need to go to school. You need to get your MBA, so that you can understand how everything you're recruiting for builds into the success of this business that we're building,” Lattimore said.
UBalt’s MBA is designed to connect coursework across the various subjects through themes so students aren’t learning in a vacuum, but rather can learn how every aspect of a business is linked.
In addition to gaining a better understanding for the various departments at his work, Lattimore has been able to apply what he’s learning to make improvements in his company. Recently, for example, he was able to identify inefficiencies in his team’s talent acquisition process and propose a plan for a more agile approach.
“The subjects are starting to intertwine and interweave between one another. That is helpful for me, it helps me see the big picture of how all this stuff works.”