To reach today’s savvy consumer, understanding just analytics, marketing or technology isn’t enough. You need to see the big picture.
Because while having technical expertise is nice, it’s not worth much if you can’t communicate that knowledge to others in different disciplines. That’s why top business schools like Bentley University are focusing more on improving so-called soft or civic skills, no matter what your field.
Cesar Hernandez is a great example. The Vistaprint analytics manager tests the company’s customer treatments to see whether they are positively received, in an effort to understand the segments of customers he’s identified as key to growing in the market.
“My goal is to not only be able to identify these customers in our database,” says Hernandez, “but also determine how to communicate to these customers, understand their needs, and work across teams to deliver the most value to this segment.”
When he first arrived at Bentley to begin his graduate studies, Hernandez wasn’t sure in which direction he should point his career. He soon discovered that one direction wasn’t enough.
“I see myself like someone that can operate in an environment where business, technology and analytics collide,” he says. “If you think about it, most companies use a similar framework.”
Taking on Human Problems
So Hernandez took advantage of Bentley’s innovative MS+MBA program to earn a master’s degree in Information Technology alongside his MBA. The combination of IT, analytics and management helped him progress through his career where others stalled.
“I can separate the classes I took into technical skills and soft skills,” Hernandez explains. “After graduating, my technical skills were paramount to continue my professional development. As I grew as an analyst, I used many of the classes I took, especially database management (SQL), Java, statistics, data-mining and time series. When I started moving into managing people and projects, most of my MBA classes became more important. Today, I am equally likely to be found thinking about how to bring an idea to reality across multifunctional teams or running heavy code in Hadoop and R.”
While many younger professionals focus on the practical tools that help fill up a résumé, Hernandez believes they shouldn’t underestimate certain skills just because they’re “soft.”
“Human problems sometimes are much more complex than analytical problems,” he says. “The classes at Bentley prepare you effectively to approach those problems — all of them.”
Working at Vistaprint allows Hernandez to continue working on both sides of his brain.
“The people I work with are among the smartest people I know. This allows us to have really interesting conversations about how we approach the business and how we solve a specific problem,” he says. “And the perks are great: We have a game room that I use a lot and a full state-of-the-art gym. Plus, the company arranges bring food trucks to come every other week for free lunch for employees. We can’t wait to see what they will bring next.”