Max Thompson is a two-time University of Pittsburgh alum who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 2020 and the Master of Science in Quantitative Economics (MQE) program in 2021. As an undergraduate student, he worked at the Alzheimers Research Disease Clinic and interned for two summers at PNC. As an MQE graduate student, he completed his capstone project at the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. After graduation, Max got a job offer with FedEx in San Diego, California as a Pricing Analyst and recently earned a promotion as a Senior Revenue Science Analyst. Read more about Max and his experience in the MQE program:
Q: How has the MQE Program provided you with the skills needed to succeed in your current position as a Senior Revenue Science Analyst at FedEx?
The MQE program taught me how to look at problems from a more technical viewpoint. In my current role, I analyze different customer's trends, and give recommendations for their resulting pricing. Additionally, the skills learned from our professional development class were a huge factor in helping me land this job. The program showed that oftentimes, your soft skills matter just as much.
Q: What did you love learning about the most during your time in the MQE program?
I loved learning about different programming languages, such as R and Python. Coming into it, I had never used software of that nature, so it really opened my eyes to their capabilities.
Q: How did you implement skills from the MQE Program into your Capstone Project?
I learned how to effectively collaborate with a team, composed of 2 fellow students, and representatives from the capstone. One of the other valuable skills I got to practice was taking a large set of data, and transforming it into a format my team could use to answer our questions. The capstone project provided a simulation of the responsibilities I face during a typical work week. Everything from the coding portion, to the presentation, were all skills we practiced in the MQE program.
Q: How did the MQE program help prepare you for real-world job/career experience?
I would not be in my current position without the MQE program. While I may not use the specific coding languages learned during class, I now possess the ability to think about the daily problems I face on a different wavelength. Additionally, learning how to "sell" myself during job interviews was a skill of mine that really improved over the course of the year.