Scott Miller
Allen Park, MI
eCornell, Certificate in Financial Management
Scott Miller chose to pursue his Certificate in Financial Management from eCornell for personal and professional reasons. “It gave me more insight into selecting stocks in order to manage my 401K, and getting the name of Cornell University on my résumé has turned out to be an asset,” he said.
He found The College Network® and was intrigued by the programs offered. “One of the nights when I was searching the web, I stumbled across a statement that went something like this ‘Get an Ivy League Certificate on your résumé in only months.’ That caught my attention. Then, when I saw the list of certificates, I was pleased to see one I was interested in,” Scott said.
After receiving his certificate, Scott has a new job. “I’m working as a commercial and industrial appraiser for an assessing department in Michigan. With this position, I have more time to spend with my family and will have a nice retirement. As you can imagine, jobs are hard to come by in this area of the country so I’m feeling pretty good about this one,” he said.
“I’ve always wanted an Ivy League degree. Even though I still don’t have one, I do have the next best thing—an Ivy League certificate. With the Cornell University name on my résumé, I think it’s helped separate me from the crowd. After working for one company for 18 years, I decided to check out other opportunities; that was about two years ago. In these last two years, I’ve applied for about four positions and have had three offers while most of my friends aren’t even getting responses to their résumés. So is it the Ivy League Certificate? I’m not sure, but I do know it has been brought up at every interview. Nice, eh?” Scott said.
On a personal level, Scott has benefited greatly from the program when it comes to working with his 401K. “This program focused on many things—one of them being ratios that are used in determining the overall strength in publicly traded companies. This data is very useful in helping determine the overall stability of a company which is important when selecting stocks. Since I’ve completed the program, the material has assisted me in making gains in my 401K in a very tough market,” Scott said.
Scott faced some challenges in getting his certificate but always found help where he needed it. “The program moves rather quickly. Even though I had taken several financial courses during my undergraduate program, there was still some material I had never been exposed to before. A few of the things that helped me were the examples the instructors provided and some of my fellow classmates posting responses to the required homework. The instructors were patient and communicated very well throughout the program,” he said.
To fellow and future students, Scott offers this insight: “It may seem odd to spend a few thousand dollars on a Cornell University certificate when most of the employment markets are so tough throughout our country (even the world); however, when you’re sitting in the room for an interview for a position you want, and the interviewer looks up from your résumé and says, ‘So, tell me about this certificate from Cornell University,’ you’ll know it was worth it,” he said.
Scott plans to continue his education by pursuing an MBA with a real estate concentration and an MS in Real Estate and Construction Management. I’d like to move into the corporate side of real estate. These programs could be the last piece of the puzzle to make that move,” he said.
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