Binghamton business grad’s work at Rolls-Royce puts him in a global arena. Here’s how he got there

The scene: An Applebee's in Albany, N.Y., in 2001, where restaurant head server Erik Schalk '23, approaches a table to ask the customers what they'd like to order for dinner.

"I remember seeing this one special on TV recently," one customer tells him. "Do you guys still have that?"

Freeze frame: This was where Schalk got his first taste of how effective marketing can be.

"It's fascinating to learn how a big company can tailor messaging to different groups and how you can effectively market and communicate that message to different people," said Schalk, who earned his business administration degree with concentrations in marketing and business analytics from Binghamton University's School of Management (SOM). "The customer - what motivates them, what influences them - is what interests me most in business."

Schalk's love of marketing and business has taken him from a neighborhood eatery to Rolls-Royce, where he applies his mindset of "how you do anything is how you do everything" in a global arena. He recently completed his first year as a project manager at the Indianapolis location of what has evolved into a multinational aerospace and defense company.

As project manager, Schalk has, among other things, developed government proposals worth $80-plus million, undertaken a high-level governance project for the company's business transformation and even undertaken a safety management system compliance project for the FAA.

Erik Schalk '23 with Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç. Image Credit: Erik Schalk.

The scope of Schalk's first-year experience has proven to be much broader than he could have imagined during his initial phone screening for the job. Initially, he didn't know that Rolls-Royce was no longer a car company: it sold its motor car manufacturing to the BMW Group in 1998.

Schalk's role at Rolls-Royce is part of a two-year rotational program, which he secured through SOM's Career Services team. This program has enabled him to experiment with different aspects of business to find the right fit to fuel his passion and keep him competitive.

"I'm always trying to get more involved at Rolls-Royce because I want to be a people leader at some point, but I'm also not racing to get there," he said. "I've always been results-oriented and focused on making a direct impact on the company's bottom line by bringing a range of projects to the finish line, which I've found is the best way to keep growing my professional reputation."

Gaining diverse perspectives

After arriving at Binghamton and SOM, it didn't take Schalk long to come to two conclusions: this was an ideal environment for him to thrive in, and his end goal of graduating with the ability to choose his "dream job" was well within reach.

Schalk described SOM's ability to provide "a very transparent perspective" of what it's like to work in a chosen industry as one of its strongest attributes as an educational experience.

"I was taught early on how to think, not what to think," Schalk said. "Some of our coding professors allowed us to use open notes, but that made the questions and problems as difficult as they would be in the industry, forcing us to use all available resources while still requiring much more critical thinking."

Schalk kept just as busy outside the classroom. He served as marketing specialist for the University Transportation and Parking Services, became executive vice president of the Product Management Development Program, was a member of Binghamton's water polo team, received the National Engaged Leader Award from the National Society of Leadership and Success Honors Society, and held multiple internships throughout his semesters.

But it's his relentless approach to job searches that he credits most with getting him to where he is now. He treated networking and career advising sessions like a full-time job each semester - even during the summer - and with some extra encouragement from SOM Career Services, he gained the confidence to take a chance on an interview with Rolls-Royce.

"Network, network, network! So many of my friends and fellow students thought I was crazy for having networking calls every week, all hours of the day," Schalk said. "Through all of this, I gained so many diverse perspectives, tips and tricks, all while building connections I'll have throughout my career."

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