Christina Uhlir (Neuro’13; MSBA’21)
ERP Functional Analyst, Arrow Electronics
It’s not common for IT analysts at large organizations to have regular face time with customers.
But Christina Uhlir is not a typical IT analyst, and the chance to interact directly with people is a key reason she enjoys her work at Arrow Electronics.
“I’ve been called an outreach analyst,” Christina said, because of her ability to quickly translate technical information and her comfort in connecting with people. In a time of hybrid work, she’s often in the office, giving her the opportunity to directly engage when employees ask about bug fixes, performing updates, or making new feature requests.
“It’s easy for a person in a data or IT role to be shoved out of sight,” Christina said. “Arrow encourages you to explore your role—you don’t need to fit a specific profile to be successful.”
For Christina, that means building on what made her a standout student in the business analytics master’s program at Leeds; she earned her degree when lockdowns forced all classes to be online.
“Because I'm an in-person type of person, I knew that if I was siloed from people, I wouldn’t do as well,” she said. To combat the isolation of virtual classes, she co-led a virtual meetup that invited a host of industry guests to share their thoughts on the state of business analytics with students, as well as a forum for peers to talk about and overcome the challenges of the pandemic.
“The meetups were a great way to give students an inside perspective on analytics and where it might go—and also develop a network of contacts in the outside world,” Christina said. “But also, it was a way to let CU identify companies worth partnering with—so, talent inroads and an avenue for curricular updates.”
Those relationships—with peers, with faculty and with industry—were a key reason Uhlir applied to the business an analytics program. It didn’t hurt that her father and sister had MBAs from CU Boulder, and her mother was a member of CU Boulder campus administration.
“Classes gave me insights into data-level conversations happening in industry and the chance to engage with my professors and peers directly about the roles and company demographics that would best suit me.”
Christina Uhlir (Neuro’13; MSBA’21)
“Doing the MSBA introduced me to Arrow,” she said. “Classes gave me insights into data-level conversations happening in industry and the chance to engage with my professors and peers directly about the roles and company demographics that would best suit me personally and professionally. Doing a certificate would not have offered me the same industry exposure and support as I did with the MSBA, making the master’s degree competitive from a job placement perspective.”
It’s a perspective that helped her land her job at Arrow after she held a variety of positions in analytics—everywhere from life sciences, to retail, to CU career development.
“In my conversations, I was able to explain what I learned at Leeds in a low-tech, conversational way,” she said. “Being able to do that was helpful when I interviewed with people not in technical roles, but it’s obviously critical for my work, also.”