Flexible Work and Your Education: Meet Erin Hale

Maintaining excellent job performance while completing a degree program starts with a detailed calendar.

After earning her M.A. degree in December 2008, Booz Allen Hamilton associate Erin Hale returns to full-time employment at the firm in January 2009. For Hale, finishing the program been one of her most demanding—and fulfilling—experiences since she joined the firm in 2005.

“If I were to advise someone who wants to work and go back to school at the same time, I’d recommend that you become intimately familiar with your daily planner,” Hale says. “If I hadn’t maintained a detailed notebook dedicated to all of my tasks, something would have fallen through the cracks. I’d also suggest being patient with yourself during the first semester and realize you will learn how to balance work and school, but it takes some time. Returning to school is a big life change.”

Hale cut her hours at the firm from 40 to 20 per week in 2007, when she started as a full-time student at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. “I worked on three projects while I was a graduate student and each of my project managers was extremely supportive and flexible,” she says. “Most of the time, I was online all day, completing schoolwork and dedicating four hours to Booz Allen tasks.” Her current project assists the Department of Veterans Affairs in improving its Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) reporting processes.

When Hale had an upcoming exam or paper, she often worked at Booz Allen full time the week prior to the deadline so she could concentrate on school the following week. “I also tried to be flexible when there was a pressing client need, and work full time until the task was completed,” she says. “Being both a professional and a student has helped me better prioritize my time and learn to balance my schedule.”

Her managers also allowed her to shift her billable hours throughout the month instead of requiring a more rigid schedule of working a certain number of hours each day, which helped her address her work – life responsibilities. She scheduled each day around client needs and school responsibilities.

“Remaining in touch with my colleagues was one of my greatest challenges, because I’m not always in the office and am living the life of a student as well as a professional,” Hale says. “It was easy to forget to tell my project manager that I need additional time to work on a paper or study for an exam and then realize that there was more on my plate than one person could realistically accomplish. I addressed that challenge by attending as many meetings as possible in McLean and establishing regular e-mail and phone calls with my co-workers and managers.”

Hale’s advanced degree is in international commerce and policy. “Working internationally has always been something I wanted to pursue, but it was not possible in my current position at Booz Allen,” she explains. “My colleagues and managers have supported my academic endeavors and with their help, I hope to transfer soon to another team where I can use my degree.”

profile posted December 1, 2008