John McLaughlin’s career path zigzagged a lot and for a long time before his mom, and some assistance from Cleary University, redirected him.
“After I got out of the army, I started culinary school in New York with a plan to be a chef,” he said, but back issues quickly halted that career direction. McLaughlin next chose the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, but that also was not the right path, so he got into web design. “The job market was dismal,” he recalls.
It was time to go back home to Michigan, he thought. Maybe returning to his roots would help McLaughlin find his place in the world. Back home, he hopped from “one pointless job to another,” he describes, until his mother encouraged him to apply to Cleary and find some direction in his life.
“It was close to home, and it was a good business school,” his mother pointed out.
During the enrollment process, Cleary offered McLaughlin a job. “My advisor suggested I work at the school, and I would get a reduced rate on my tuition. That sounded like a deal I couldn’t pass up.”
McLaughlin ran the campus center at the Ann Arbor campus (now closed) and the Howell campus. He also wrote the school’s newsletter, oversaw IT networking, trained interns, and served as a finance research assistant, all while working toward his BBA.
He graduated from Cleary with Cum Laude honors and decided to pursue his MBA at Cleary, but “my wife reminded me that we had no money, and I needed a better paying job.”
McLaughlin accepted a sales position, covering a territory of several states. Working in sales led him to Russia for seven years before he and his family – McLaughlin has two children – returned to Michigan.
He now works as Sales Director for Competitive Network Management, an IT Services and Consulting company based in Dearborn.
He credits his mother, his wife, and Cleary, who all guided him to a career he loves.
“I always had a business sense, but I wasn’t going anywhere without a degree,” he points out. “Cleary helped me immensely in my career. The curriculum was extremely rigorous, but I needed that. Through my classes in finance, economics, accounting and management theory, I was ready for the world of business.
“Cleary is a great choice if you are looking for a business degree,” he adds. “The industry needs more business-minded professionals, and Cleary definitely will prepare you for the work force.”
