麻豆影院

ERP Functional Analyst, Arrow Electronics

It鈥檚 not common for IT analysts at large organizations to have regular face time with customers.听

But Christina Uhlir is not a typical IT analyst, and the chance to interact directly with people is a key reason she enjoys her work at Arrow Electronics.

鈥淚鈥檝e been called an outreach analyst,鈥� Christina said, because of her ability to quickly translate technical information and her comfort in connecting with people. In a time of hybrid work, she鈥檚 often in the office, giving her the opportunity to directly engage when employees ask about bug fixes, performing updates, or making new feature requests.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 easy for a person in a data or IT role to be shoved out of sight,鈥� Christina said. 鈥淎rrow encourages you to explore your role鈥攜ou don鈥檛 need to fit a specific profile to be successful.鈥澨�

For Christina, that means building on what made her a standout student in the business analytics master鈥檚 program at Leeds; she earned her degree when lockdowns forced all classes to be online.

鈥淏ecause I'm an in-person type of person, I knew that if I was siloed from people, I wouldn鈥檛 do as well,鈥� she said. To combat the isolation of virtual classes, she co-led a virtual meetup that invited a host of industry guests to share their thoughts on the state of business analytics with students, as well as a forum for peers to talk about and overcome the challenges of the pandemic.听

鈥淭he meetups were a great way to give students an inside perspective on analytics and where it might go鈥攁nd also develop a network of contacts in the outside world,鈥� Christina said. 鈥淏ut also, it was a way to let CU identify companies worth partnering with鈥攕o, talent inroads and an avenue for curricular updates.鈥�

Those relationships鈥攚ith peers, with faculty and with industry鈥攚ere a key reason Uhlir applied to the business an analytics program. It didn鈥檛 hurt that her father and sister had MBAs from CU 麻豆影院, and her mother was a member of CU 麻豆影院 campus administration.听

鈥淒oing the MSBA introduced me to Arrow,鈥� she said. 鈥淐lasses gave me insights into data-level conversations happening in industry and the chance to engage with my professors and peers directly about the roles and company demographics that would best suit me personally and professionally. Doing a certificate would not have offered me the same industry exposure and support as I did with the MSBA, making the master鈥檚 degree competitive from a job placement perspective.鈥�

It鈥檚 a perspective that helped her land her job at Arrow after she held a variety of positions in analytics鈥攅verywhere from life sciences, to retail, to CU career development.听

鈥淚n my conversations, I was able to explain what I learned at Leeds in a low-tech, conversational way,鈥� she said. 鈥淏eing able to do that was helpful when I interviewed with people not in technical roles, but it鈥檚 obviously critical for my work, also.鈥�

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