Diandra started as an analyst at a small mortgage lending firm, which experienced rapid growth. This sparked her interest in human capital consulting and how companies grow and manage their infrastructure, fueling her desire to start an MBA.
During her MBA, however, she realized she was on the wrong path and pivoted to finance. Now, as a credit analyst at S&P Global, she combines her interests in people with the skills in finance she gained during her MBA.
Finding the right MBA
After her bachelor’s degree in psychology, Diandra (pictured) started as an analyst in JVM Lending, a small California-based mortgage lending firm, which grew rapidly while she was there.
“I went from being the only analyst in the group to managing a team of 10. It was a steep learning curve,” she says.
This increase in responsibilities sparked her desire to pursue an MBA. She saw how her responsibilities expanded and the impact that this had on customers. Diandra realized she wanted to better understand the mechanics behind this growth.
“I'm really interested in how companies grow at scale,” she says. “My experience made me interested in human capital consulting and how consultants build the infrastructure of companies.”
To help achieve this goal, Diandra researched MBA programs with a specialization in human resources. This led her to the MBA at Michigan State University (MSU) Broad College of Business.
MSU allowed her to specialize in HR, providing her with transferable skills and giving her the opportunities and support she needed.
“I thought about which programs would give me what I needed. There are so many that offer specializations, so you have to look under the hood.
Discovering a passion for finance
During the first year of the 21-month Michigan State MBA program, students build foundations in business management and leadership.
Diandra enjoyed seeing how companies operate and how the whole mechanism works towards success.
“You understand the different aspects of business and how things come together. You learn how business works, how capital markets work, and how supply chains work,” she says.
For Diandra, one of the most best aspects of the MBA was the emphasis it placed on group work. Students are placed into teams of five that work together for the first year of the program.
The team is made up of a variety of backgrounds to mirror the workplace and so each member can offer something different.
“You learn very quickly how to manage your team because you're with them for a year. You have to work together on presentations and projects with people that were strangers two weeks ago,” she says.
This group work allowed her to develop her interpersonal and communication skills, which has been invaluable to her career after the MBA.
“I was meeting with teams, looking at presentations, understanding the flow, learning how to dance through questions. I think that's rare—it was fantastic.”
In the first semester, Diandra was first introduced to finance and immediately became passionate about the field.
“I fell in love with the subject matter. I thought it was hard but interesting. I liked how it was relevant to everyday life and how market efficiency impacts people's everyday life,” she says.
Launching a finance career at S&P Global
Although Diandra became invested in the finance sphere, she committed to her HR specialization and landed an HR internship at Boeing.
The internship solidified her career pivot decision. She turned down a job offer from Boeing and in her second year she started specializing in finance skills.
“I had to rethink about what I brought to the table and how I could package that to finance,” she says.
This led Diandra to becoming president of the Finance Club and flying to a job conference to meet with her dream company, S&P Global.
“I talked to a lot of different companies at this conference but S&P was one of the reasons I went.”
Diandra credits the network and collaborative nature of Michigan State Broad to landing her job at S&P Global.
She was even able to reach out to an Michigan State alumni who worked at the company and who helped with the interview at S&P Global.
“MSU is such a collaborative place and it's the people that make it,” she says. “I would do anything for someone at MSU and it’s a privilege to be able to explain my positive experience.”
Diandra is now working as an analyst at S&P Global. She covers credit ratings for real estate investment trust, meets with management teams, and develops relationships with high-caliber investors.
She says that she continues to draw on the skills she gained at Michigan State, which have allowed her to blossom in her finance career.
“At MSU I was building on a skill set that I enjoy and that I believe will create longevity in my career.”
