Drake Pooley

What was your most memorable class and why?

Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility! This was such a different lens compared to the rest of my American business education. Understanding climate change, navigating how a corporation exists in society, and debating a company’s role in all of this expanded my horizons and forced me to think in new and different ways. It was the perfect encapsulation of why the program is so special, with so many different countries represented as well as previous academic institutions among the student body. We had many different perspectives represented on each issue.

Did you take advantage of Commerce Career Services and if so, how did they help you in the job search?

Commerce Career Services was invaluable to me. I had my first call in May, four months before I even stepped foot on Grounds. We created a plan for the summer and identified opportunities that made sense and how to prepare for those opportunities. Within five weeks of starting the program, I had a job offer at a consulting firm in New York—my dream! In fact, I remember sitting down with a CCS adviser, receiving feedback on a mock interview, and thinking I was done, and then they proceeded to give me 20 more minutes of feedback. They went above and beyond.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

In my last role at Kearney, I received an email asking me to temporarily relocate from New York to Dubai, and two weeks later, I was on a new project halfway around the world. In the same month, I was advising a large U.S. retailer on their store of the future, and then creating a national strategy for a foreign government on their cultural programs. I don’t know any other job that would give you such variety.

What advice do you have for future students in the program?

Make deep relationships with everyone you interact with, whether they be professors, fellow classmates, class guests, etc. Very rarely will you be in such a global environment day in and day out. Take advantage of that, take leaps on whom you talk to, and cherish those moments, because you will remember your relationships a lot more than anything else.