“Playing football for Kent State for two years and being a part of that family is what led me to Kent State. Little did I know, football would be the vehicle in which I would receive a great education and ultimately position myself to have a meaningful career after college.”
Justin Carter, Installed Basked Account Manager at Hewlett-Packard looks back on his education and knows that without the College of Business Administration, he would not be where he is now.
Carter, who graduated with a degree in entrepreneurship in 2014, started his own business while in school, which solidified in his mind that business was the right career path.
“It gave me a holistic insight of how dynamic I could really be in the business world,” Carter said. “The struggles, the triumphs, and overall development that I received from my experience with Entrepreneurship accelerated my growth amongst my peers.”
During his senior year, Carter added to his skill set by picking up sales classes taught by Greg Graham and Ellen Daniels. In his beginner level sales class, he learned about SPIN selling, the foundation for the big and more complex sell. Following this class, he went on to advanced sales classes, which led him to compete at the National Collegiate Sales Competition.
“The huge benefit [of the competition] was that of many employers that I was exposed to during the competition. Ones that rarely recruit in the Midwest, I now was talking to. It was a sacrifice, I had to give up my spring break to participate, but it was a sacrifice worth taking,” Carter said. “If I did not participate in the NCSC I would not have had the opportunity to meet my current employer, Hewlett Packard. I encourage anyone who is willing and able to compete to do so. Being one of the few chosen to represent Kent State at that competition was a great honor. Kent State College of Business gave me the opportunity to have nine job offers to choose from by the end of my senior year.”
Of the nine job opportunities presented to Carter, he accepted a full-time position with Hewlett-Packard where he develops and executes account plans through management and coordination of sales activities, enables sales productivity and available selling time to increase orders and customer satisfaction and more.