How an MBA helped me pivot my career from teaching to project management

Career paths are rarely linear—but some take more unexpected turns than others.

After studying physics as an undergraduate, Paul McMahon spent six years in the military before transitioning into a decade-long career in teaching. Alongside teaching chemistry, maths, and physics, he also developed robotics programs and began working on a product idea of his own.

As he considered how to build both his startup and a new long-term career path, Paul identified an MBA as a way to strengthen his business knowledge and expand his career options.

Here’s how the Accelerated MBA program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Business, home of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business enabled him to pivot careers once again.

Choosing an accelerated and flexible program

While teaching, Paul began teaching himself CAD (Computer Aided Design) through his work in robotics.

Over time, this led to the development of a startup idea: a cold brew coffee pod system designed for single-serve machines. It was a project he had been working on for the last five years, but he decided he needed to take it to the next level.

At the same time, Paul was considering how to build a new long-term career path. Having taken on project management roles in the military, Paul thought an MBA could help him pivot into that industry.

“I really enjoyed teaching, but I felt like I wanted to do something more,” he explains.

However, stepping away from a stable career was not an easy decision, particularly with a family to consider.

“It was a nerve-wracking thing to leave my current stable career to try and pursue this new career,” he says.

After comparing a range of different MBAs, the Accelerated MBA at Pitt Business stood out to him for its one-year format, the chance to specialize in project management, and the opportunity to continue developing his startup alongside his studies.

“Pitt Business allows you to do independent studies, and I think that's the best of both worlds,” he explains. “You can pursue your regular teacher-based classes, but if you are trying to do something on your own, you can pursue that and still get credit for it. That was huge—I wouldn’t have made it nearly as far as I did in my startup if it wasn’t for that.”

Applying business theory to real-world challenges

A strong focus of the Pitt Business MBA is on integrated learning. Courses draw on multiple disciplines, providing different lenses through which to understand business issues. The program’s core MBA curriculum provides the framework for this.

Experiential learning in the form of case competitions, community-based projects, and summer internships allow students to apply these theoretical learnings to real-world challenges.

As part of an international consulting project in Chile, for example, Paul worked with early-stage companies in the agricultural sector, analyzing how they approached product development and market strategy in a resource-constrained environment.

“In all of my classes, it's like: yes, get the theory, understand the theory, but do something with that theory, and apply it to a business,” says Paul.

Beyond core classes, Pitt Business MBA students can also specialize in areas of their choice. For Paul, the chance to deep dive into project management really helped formalize his understanding of the industry.

“There's a lot that goes into project management, and I've been just doing it off the cuff. But really, there's a lot more that goes into the front end of the planning side of it, and that planning leads into the execution side of it, and then there's a lot to the closeout side of it. That was eye-opening.”

These insights laid the foundation for his Project Management Professional (PMP) course, which Paul completed alongside his MBA. It meant that by the time graduation came around, he was well-placed to take the opportunities that came his way.

Using the MBA to build momentum across multiple career paths

Alongside developing his startup idea, Paul also focused on building professional connections that could support his transition into project management. Through veteran-focused networking opportunities shared by the school, he connected with professionals at Westinghouse, a nuclear energy company headquartered near Pittsburgh.

After meeting a contact through one of these events, Paul continued the conversation over several months, learning more about the organization and where his skills could fit. The relationship eventually led to him securing a role in project management shortly after graduation.

“Pitt Business provides you with the opportunities, and then it’s up to you to pursue them,” he says.

For Paul, the value of the MBA lay not only in the knowledge gained, but in the ability to apply that knowledge in practical contexts—whether building a startup, earning a professional certification, or developing relationships within industry.

Ultimately, the program created the conditions for progress across multiple paths at once. The direction he took from there was his own.