Shannon McAndrew
Management Specialist, Town of Concord Town Manager's Office
Full Name: Shannon McAndrew
Degree & Graduation Year: Master of Public Policy and Administration, 2021
Title: Management Specialist
Current Employer: Town of Concord, Town Manager’s Office
Job Summary: Similar to a Project Manager role, I work with several Town appointed Boards and Committees, such as the Town Meeting Study Committee, MCI Concord Advisory Board, to take their charged work from start to finish.
How did you find your current position: Using the Massachusetts Municipal Association Online Job Board
Favorite part of your job: My favorite part of my job is how one day is never the same as the last or the next!
Are there any skills or lessons learned while in your program that you use often: It’s not one of the most exciting skills, but concise memorandum writing is one of the best skills I gained from the program and use daily. I also appreciate all the data analysis experience that I gained from the program that I have been able to apply to different projects.
How your program/degree prepared you for this role and career: The program prepared me for my role in several ways, but one of the ways I think that I benefited the most from was the use of case studies in coursework, which prepared me for the “real life” situations.
The other way in which I feel I benefited the most from our program outside of coursework was just talking with others in the program (many who already have work experience, which is amazing!), in the alumni network, and utilizing an internship to start to prepare for my career. I was fairly certain I wanted to work in public service after college, having both municipal and state level internships in undergraduate and graduate school, but I also had a hard time originally seeing myself in/and feeling excited about a municipal role after graduate school. Using my network from internships, I remember a conversation with someone I had while applying for municipal level jobs and them saying something along the lines to me of – “the local level is amazing, there’s often greater flexibility, the benefits are great”, and that really encouraged me, and I’m thrilled with the path I’ve taken.