Regional Vice President of Operations for Comcast is a Point Park M.B.A. Graduate Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Meet Randall Tecza
Job title: Regional Vice President of Operations
Employer: Comcast
Degrees earned: M.B.A. with a concentration in Management Information Systems, 2003, Point Park University; B.S. in Business Management, 2001, Lock Haven University
Scholarship from Point Park: M.B.A. Graduate Assistantship
Hometown: Erie, Pa.
High school: Erie Cathedral Preparatory School
Now living in: Mt. Lebanon, Pa.
Hobbies/interests: Golf, working out and hanging out with my kids
LinkedIn: Randall Tecza
-- Christine Whitaker, Regional Senior Vice President, Comcast Keystone Region
"My M.B.A. degree gave me an edge, helped me get noticed and fast-tracked my career from a manager to a director to a VP to an RVP."
-- Randall Tecza
Why did you choose Point Park University for graduate school?
At the time, I was working full time and was planning on going to night school at the Katz School at Pitt. But fortunately, I was offered a graduate assistantship from Professor William Breslove. It was an easy choice, and not just because of the financial benefits of having that assistantship. Dr. Breslove was a fantastic and inspirational business professor. He's a powerhouse.
It was an interesting time. USAir had just gone through a pretty big downsizing in Pittsburgh, and so there were a lot of M.B.A. students taking advantage of that lull in their career to go back and get their M.B.A. degree. There were also a lot of us working full time, even many executives. I met great people and it translated into awesome career opportunities for me through the networks I built with my fellow students. I found my way into a job with Homeland Security because of the connections and relationships I forged at Point Park.
How has your M.B.A. degree helped you advance professionally?
In the industries I've worked in, it has been a real advantage to have that extra base of knowledge and skills in business. My M.B.A. degree gave me an edge, helped me get noticed and fast-tracked my career from a manager to a director to a VP to an RVP. The extensive workload of an M.B.A. program broadened my perspective outside my own industry. It taught me to think strategically and to be fluent in the language of business outside of my industry.
Also, there's nothing like working full time while getting your degree to help make you a better manager of time, projects, priorities and stress! These are all skills and competencies that continue to serve me in my career.
Right now in my career, I'm calling most often on the things I learned in my marketing classes, because customer relationship building is such a huge focus at Comcast. The strategies to build those relationships, and the ways in which you measure your progress, are so critical in this incredibly competitive market.
What are your favorite Point Park memories?
I was in the Saturday program, so we were there for 12 hours - 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. - and you make a lot of great friends doing it that way! Because we were all working, we shared our workplace experiences, and that contributed to getting a real-world education.
Within my cohort, we all helped each other define and set the tone for what success looks like. It was like working for a startup - fast paced, exciting. We were always challenging each other to think in new ways and look ahead five, 10, 20 years to what was likely to come.
I never missed a Saturday class, and looked forward to it every week, even with my full-time job the rest of the week. (I did enjoy my Sundays though!) We were in class or working on papers and projects, no matter what was going on in Downtown Pittsburgh. I remember a time that we ducked out during the St. Patrick's Day parade to enjoy the festivities for a bit, and then headed back to class. Everyone stuck together.
What advice do you have for our M.B.A. students?
Build relationships and nurture them. Get beyond social media and go have a cup of coffee with people. Your network can stay with you and help you for years to come.
Never quit — no matter how hard it gets or how busy you are. What you put into you career is what will catapult you to the next level.
And keep your eyes wide open. Opportunities are everywhere. Don't miss them!
Final thoughts?
I'm excited to be working for a tech leader and a top 25 company. But what I'm most excited about is our commitment to the customer experience. We can (and do) have the best, coolest products. But for the past year and a half, we have been on a journey to make the customer experience our best product. We talked about it for years, and now we're doing it. We are putting the customer at the center. I'm confident that every one of the 1,500 service and installation techs on my team is doing something different - and better for the customer - than he or she was doing a year ago. And we're using the Net Promoter System - which is the gold standard for building customer service and brand reputation - to ensure that, one customer at a time, people love Comcast as much as I do!
Photo by Gracey Evans, sophomore photojournalism major