Josh Garrison, a native of Roanoke, Virginia, is a recent graduate from Virginia Tech. He obtained a dual degree in Management (Consulting and Analytics) and Finance (Corporate Financial Management). He served on the Management Student Advisory Board and was also as a member of the Student Government Association (SGA) as the Assistant Director of Alumni Relations.

We recently asked him to share his experiences as a Management major and Pamplin School Business student.

Q: Why did you choose Virginia Tech?  When and why did you choose Management?

A: I chose Tech because I knew it would provide me with a wide variety of opportunities to expand my knowledge. I added the management consulting major because I knew that I could learn great leadership and teamwork skills that I felt I couldn’t get with other majors.

Q: Were there any specific classes that you remember as validating your major choice? 

A: My junior year I took MGT 3614, Strategy Competition Analytics, with Dr. Seth and that class confirmed that this was the right major for me. Although it was 3 hours, I loved the weekly case studies and it gave me great experience in preparing and giving formal presentations.

Q: Was there a faculty member or staff member within Pamplin and/or the MGT department that served as a mentor or source of inspiration for you during your journey?

A: Professor Skripak served as the advisor for the Management Student Advisory Board. He was a great resource for us and was very understanding of our struggles as students.

Q: What advice would you provide to an incoming Pamplin freshman?

A: I would tell new students to take all of their classes seriously. I personally didn’t take other classes as seriously because they weren’t directly related to my major, but every class counts and it is important to do well early to have a good foundation for your GPA.

Q: Who or What was your inspiration for leadership? 

A: My inspiration for leadership was to follow in the footsteps of those who came before me. I had a lot of upperclassmen friends who were leaders on campus, and they helped put me on the right track and network on campus. I wanted to become a leader and lay the foundation to make the university better for future students.

Josh Garrison

Q: Name some of the internships, if any, that you had during your Pamplin journey.

A: The summer before my senior year I interned at the Virginia Shared Services Center (SSC) in Daleville, VA. The SSC is a facility where the state of Virginia consolidates all of the information for all 23 Virginia community colleges. I worked in the accounting department handling invoices and striving to improve the overall accounting process

“I chose Tech because I knew it would provide me with a wide variety of opportunities to expand my knowledge. I added the management consulting major because I knew that I could learn great leadership and teamwork skills that I felt I couldn’t get with other majors.”

Q: If you could give a testimonial about Pamplin and/or the Management Department, curriculum - what would you say? 

A: The overall curriculum is great and many of the classes we take provide us with valuable information that is applicable in today's society. The Pamplin curriculum is very intense at the end, but I’ve learned a wide variety of information that will help in graduate school and later on in my professional care.

Q: Please provide a brief summary of your job search - who, when, how did you approach the process?

A: In my past internship my boss used to work in the sports industry and was a great resource. He helped me research some master’s programs and provided me with a multitude of connections. At the end of the summer I created a list of all the programs that I wanted to apply to and listed out all the requirements and deadlines. In November I took the GRE and began my application process. During the spring semester I finished all of my applications and ultimately made the decision to attend the University of Louisville.

Q: Josh, what is next?  

A: After graduation I will be attending the University of Louisville and obtaining a Master of Science in Sports Administration