Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2014-11-03 19:00
Jonathan Tabb ‘11, Presidential Management Fellow in the Department of the Treasury, is quick to point out the key to his success at UMass: being proactive.
“Education is an active journey, not a passive one, and you must take charge to get the most out of it,” Tabb said.
While at UMass, Tabb applied this ethos vigorously, spending the entirety of his last year and a half of his undergraduate career studying in other locations. During his second-semester junior year, Tabb interned in Washington D.C, before spending his senior year as an intern at the U.S Embassy in Dublin, Ireland while taking classes at Trinity College.
In addition, during his first two years at UMass, Tabb made sure to take advantage of opportunities both on campus and locally in western Massachusetts. Tabb completed a three-credit practicum internship with the UMass Donahue Institute, part of the office of the UMass President that provides governmental, for-profit companies and non-governmental organizations with assistance in research, organizational development, training and technical problems. The same semester, Tabb also independently researched political campaigns, receiving an additional three credits.
The following semester, Tabb interned for Congressman Richard Neal (D, 1st District MA), where he received a total of six credits while gaining experience in the office of a federal legislator.
Tabb credits the UMass Political Science department with giving him “the freedom to grow and explore in any direction I chose,” which allowed him to pursue a variety of non-traditional classes and credit opportunities.
Immediately after graduating from UMass in 2011, Tabb moved to Washington, D.C where he worked for a public policy organization focused on homeland security during the day and pursued a Master’s of Security Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service full-time in the evening.
After graduating from Georgetown in 2013, Tabb took a job at Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the largest management consulting firms in the United States providing management, technology and security services to various governmental agencies in D.C and across the country.
However, Tabb knew that his time as a national security policy specialist at Booz Allen Hamilton was not his final calling.
“I knew public service was my final calling,” Tabb said.
Because of this goal, Tabb applied for two consecutive years to the Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) Program. The PMF program is a two-year placement for students who have recently secured an advanced degree: they are trained in the management of tasks and projects of increasing complexity for the federal government, with the intention that by the end of the program they will be capable of starting a career as a manager in the federal government.
After reaching the semifinal round his first year, Tabb was selected the following year as one of approximately 300 fellows from 12,000 applicants. He will serve in the Department of the Treasury for most of his two years, while also being rotated for six-months to another department or agency of the government.
No matter how far Tabb has journeyed, however, he carries the education UMass provided with him.
“As a political science major, UMass taught me to think critically and examine problems from all angles. Now in my professional career, I have to do this on a daily basis,” Tabb said.
James Fahey ‘15
News Type:
- Alumni News