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Garrett Shafer MBA ’19 spent five years working in biotech labs, making good use of his neuroscience degree, before he found himself on the outside looking in.  

“I wanted to get into the front office of biotech,” Shafer says. “Since graduating from the Merage School, I know I’m having a significant impact on the strategic direction of high market cap life sciences companies.” 

When he embarked on his business school journey, Shafer envisioned himself going into biotech product marketing, but by staying open to the opportunities he encountered at The Paul Merage School of Business, he ended up in another sector where he could truly shine. 

Campus Camaraderie 

Shafer focused his business school search in Southern California due to the region’s flourishing biotech industry. What attracted him to the Merage School was its “Goldilocks” size: not too big and not too small. The camaraderie among his cohort of classmates would turn out to be one of the most meaningful aspects of the MBA program for Shafer. 

When Shafer had a shot at an internship in product marketing at Illumina, a genomics company in San Diego, he jumped at it. The Career Center and the school’s presentation coach helped him prepare for the rigorous interview process. 

But Shafer wouldn’t have made it to the interview at all, without the help of his Merage School friends. After class, when he tried to leave campus for the interview, his car wouldn’t start. 

“I texted a bunch of people in my class and about five people ran out to the garage to help me get my truck started,” says Shafer. “I was so glad I had everybody there. It really speaks to the type of people who are at the Merage School.” 

Not only did Shafer make it to the interview and nab the internship at Illumina, but he leveraged it into a part-time position as a product management specialist. 

“In retrospect, I was doing one big consulting project for Illumina,” says Shafer. “I just didn’t have a team working under me like I do now.” 

Consulting, it turned out, was where Shafer would truly shine. During the career visioning workshop at the Merage School’s orientation, Shafer learned that consulting was one of the top two best fits for his skills and interests. 

In his second year at the Merage School, Shafer’s interest was piqued when he found an opening for a life sciences consultant at L.E.K. Consulting. Until then, Shafer had not focused too much on case studies, a signature of the consulting industry interview process. With just 48 hours to master his approach to case studies, he turned to the Merage School’s Career Center and the Consulting Club for help. Once again, his colleagues came through. 

“The entire Merage School community really came together to help me get through the interview process,” says Shafer. 

Those who knew him were not surprised that Shafer nailed the interviews and case studies, landing the consulting job at L.E.K. 

Shafer won the Joseph W. McGuire Award for earning the highest grade point average in his graduating class, in addition to serving as a Student Ambassador, co-president of the Merage Healthcare Association and Vice President of Communications for the Merage Marketing Association. 

“Garrett’s approach to his education at the Merage School was strategic,” says Kevin Bradford, associate clinical professor of marketing. “He was achievement-oriented but did not overtly or overly compete, so that he remained a leader both academically and socially.”  

Consulting Skills 

Shafer says that his experiences at the Merage School equipped him with the skills and perspectives necessary to excel in consulting. The international trips he took to Columbia and Japan with his Merage School cohort have come in handy in international consulting, where he needs to understand how businesses operate outside of the U.S. 

Additionally, the school’s focus on preparing students to lead in the digitally driven world enables him to help clients navigate tough decisions about technology. 

“I learned to think at a higher level about what these digital transformations mean strategically for business and how they impact their operations down the pipeline,” says Shafer. “Those frameworks I learned in class have certainly played a role in my job advising companies.” 

Shafer now regularly answers calls from Merage School students who are exploring futures in consulting. While he is happy to share his perspective, he also advises them to “stay focused, but be flexible and open to opportunities that present themselves.”  

Just like he did. 

“I had a great time at the Merage School,” Shafer says. “It helped me personally and professionally and definitely got me where I wanted to go in my career, despite the end result not being my original plan.”