Patrick Magurn grew up in Madison, ME, which is about 30 miles from Thomas College. He lived in the same house until he graduated, surrounded by woods and very few neighbors. He spent his childhood fishing, hunting, four wheeling, snowmobiling, and playing sports with his friends and family.

Patrick first considered Thomas when a recruiter visited his high school. He was determined to stay in Maine and wanted to be able to go home and visit his friends and family at least every other weekend.

Thomas met that need, plus it offered his desired major, Digital Marketing Management, and a suite of guarantees to ensure his success.

“Thomas offered the Guaranteed Job Program, which made me feel it was a secure investment,” he said.

Now, only a year after graduating with an MBA, Patrick is working in marketing management for Hammond Lumber Company. He works on radio, television, newspaper, social media, and digital advertising, product promotions, event planning/promoting, video content management for in-store TV displays, and SEO integration and tracking.

He also works with the customer care team.

“There is a lot to keep me busy in my job and given the size of the company I work for, there is always a new project coming up,” said Patrick. “I get the opportunity to work with multiple departments in the company and, as a result, have developed a lot of great relationships at and outside of work.”

“I love that I get to work for a Maine, family-owned company that truly values their employees and always emphasizes customer care. The company is continuing to grow, and I am proud to be a part of its success. I average more than 50 hours a week but truly enjoy the projects and responsibilities I have in my department.”

Patrick says marketing is a tough industry to be in because it is constantly evolving. Luckily, his company supports him by sending him to trainings, seminars, and workshops. He also relies on the salespeople to teach him about new products that he has to promote on an ongoing basis.

Currently, he is in the process of building his first home; construction will begin in the spring.

Patrick never thought this is where he would end up at age 25.

“When looking for a job after graduation, I knew I wanted to stay in Maine; but, I always assumed that I would have to search for work outside of Maine for good marketing positions,” he said. “It was only through multiple internships that I realized that Maine still offers a lot of opportunities for individuals with marketing backgrounds. I’m very fortunate to be where I am in life.”

Patrick was the first in his family to graduate from college. He said his parents are very proud. He also opted to pay off each semester with a monthly payment plan, which he said encouraged him to never miss a class—and let him graduate with no debt.

After graduating from Thomas with his undergraduate program, he was looking for a summer job before beginning his accelerated MBA.

“Through internships at Thomas, I took a gamble on working for the summer at Hammond Lumber Company before going back to school for my MBA,” he said. “I had very little background knowledge on the building materials industry and how I could add value.”

After the summer, he returned to Thomas to complete his accelerated, one-year MBA. During his first semester, he was working on a business plan for a start-up towing company in Madison and visited Hammond Lumber to have a commercial garage designed.

He ran into his boss, who offered him a full-time position.

“I made the tough decision to table my business plan because I knew I would get a lot of value from going back to Hammond Lumber,” he said.

They held the position while he finished his last semester at Thomas.

“I had job security before graduating, which alleviated a lot of stress and helped me focus on school.”

Patrick said he would have never gotten his awesome job without Thomas College’s help.

“I felt that by choosing Thomas, it put me in the right place at the right time to make the connections that I did,” he said. “Thomas College’s Career Services department encouraged me to search for internships and learn what my preferences were for searching for full-time employment. College, in general, helped me shape my focus and my work ethic.”

*This story was originally published in the Winter 2018 Thomas Magazine.