CityU Alumni Spotlight: Tuyet Thai

Meet Tuyet Thai! Tuyet is a CityU alumna who earned her Master of Science in Project Management. After some initial hesitation about returning to school after years of being in the workforce, Tuyet was encouraged to learn that CityU’s programs are designed specifically for working adults who are managing their busy lifestyles, including balancing work, school, and their personal lives. She took classes with professors and other students from across a number of different fields and industries, which allows for unique perspectives and hands-on experience in the classroom. Watch the video below to hear Tuyet’s story.

Transcript*

The two things that I like the most about my program: one is the flexible schedule, which allows me to work full time during the weekdays, but also go to school during the weekend, and another thing is my professors. They are all professionals who have been working many years in different fields and in different corporations so that they can transfer that hands-on experience in classes for me.

My name is Tuyet Thai and I got my Masters in Project Management at CityU two years ago. My favorite class when I was at CityU would be the Stakeholder Management class. That class combined the two subjects that I’m really passionate about, which are project management and people’s interrelationships. In a nutshell, it really teaches you the skill to influence people and to get people to do what you want them to do without being obvious and telling them that. And to me, that kind of soft skill isn’t something that I can get from reading a book by myself and so it’s really helped me, not just within the professional context but as well as personal relationships, so that was great.

After my graduation from CityU, I was reached out to by a few different recruiters from my LinkedIn and I would have to give the credit to my CityU Career Counselor. She has been a tremendous help, helping me to prep my resume, my LinkedIn profile. So there were a couple job opportunities within local, downtown Seattle. First Amazon, then many more companies, that have semi-entry level jobs that were interesting to me.

The one key takeaway for me from being a student at CityU, would be that it’s never too late to go back to school to get an education. The reason why I said that is, when I first joined CityU, I really thought I would be one of the oldest students in the class because I’ve been working in the field for a few years, and I went back to get my Master’s. But it turns out that most of my classmates are directors or managers who have been working for so many years and yet, with the program offering and the flexibility that CityU offers, they are able to go back and pursue that education that they might not have had the opportunity to earn many years ago. So, it’s very encouraging. I just feel like, I am confident to tell other people that it’s never too late and that it doesn’t matter how old you are, if you really want study and go back, you always feel welcome. That’s my big takeaway.

*Transcript has been edited for clarity

Learn More

If you are interested in learning more about CityU’s Master of Science in Project Management, please visit www.cityu.edu or call 888.422.4898 to speak with an advisor today.