NACM's Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management (GSCFM) is currently ongoing on the campus of Dartmouth College. NACM Staff Writer Jacob Barron, CICP is also in attendance, and will be posting interviews with students throughout the program. Today's feature focuses on one second-year student's journey to grad school, and their relationship with their classmates.

What brought you to GSCFM in the first place?

Somebody within credit recommended that I come. They said that it was a good program, that it was a good thing to have the CCE, especially if you're looking to stay in credit. With [my company], they look at roles within finance as typically moving people in and out and giving people growth opportunities, but with credit being a more technical track, they really try to build you, but to build you within your own technical track.

One way to grow people is to give them other opportunities, but if you've decided that this is where you want to focus, then the only way to grow you is to give you extra exposure and different experiences within that.

Is there any one aspect of the GSCFM program that's been especially helpful for you?

I think the negotiation training will be, but from a networking perspective, and just working with people in a team...I'm sure you probably hear this from everybody that they have a really good class, but I think we have a really good class from the perspective of people working together on things. We had all 12 of us there studying [for the CCE] last night and [one class member] has been really good at just getting everybody together on a monthly basis to go through the stuff. So I think from a relationship standpoint it's been really helpful.

Do you stay in touch with your classmates throughout the year?

Yes, but most of it hasn't been from a work perspective. We've definitely kept together as a group from a studying perspective, to make sure that we're all on track.

What advice would you give to credit professionals considering the program?

I guess some people have to sell it, and in order to make that happen they need to understand the value of it, which I didn't have until I came here last year. When I started the program last year I did send an email out to a couple people I knew and say “this is a good program.”

Stay tuned for more interviews throughout this week and next. To learn more about NACM's GSCFM program, click here.