McKendree Graduate Series- Krystin Major

By Elexis Baltimore, Editor

Welcome back to the McKendree Graduate Series! With graduation less than a week away, we at the McK Review want to showcase the endless possibilities of graduating from McKendree University. As a graduating senior, I am not going to lie, graduation is one of the happiest and scariest moments of my life thus far. Not all of us know what we want to do next, or if we are traveling on the right path, but these McK Alumni have some words of advice and a story to tell. So grab some popcorn and listen to what graduate Krystin Major has to say.

Krystin Major knew when she started at McKendree University that she wanted to go into business. Although she began and ended her time at McK as a Business Administration major, she did think about changing majors once or twice. “I stuck with Business Administration because of the broad scope it covered,” explained Krystin. “I knew I was taking classes of a wide variety to get a base knowledge in many topics. Business is always about selling yourself!” While Krystin dreamed of pursuing event planning after graduation, that was not where she ended up. 

In 2016, Krystin graduated with her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in leadership. Right after walking across the stage, she began her job at Kaplan Test Prep. For a year she worked as a Graduate Program Manager before moving up to Graduate Relationship Manager, where her job increased her travel by 50%. In March 2018, Krystin was promoted to Director of Kaplan Partner Solutions for all of the Midwest region. Her region includes 14 states, and she works with a variety of programs on university campuses such as post-baccalaureate programs and pipeline diversity.

“Our team’s mission is to increase access to test prep for minority and marginalized students across the country,” Krystin explained. “Our main goal is to grow program and student success regardless of the budget, or stage of the planning process…. we think of creative ways to find solutions that work for your school and your students. Each campus faces different struggles, and so does each student.” Krystin, her team, and Kaplan in general strive to improve how classes are delivered, how to increase effectiveness of learning, and to continue to research ways to improve delivery and methodology of their classes.

Although Krystin never imagined being in a sales role, she truly loves what she does and is thankful she is selling something that has meaning and helps students. In her career she has had the pleasure of meeting many new people, getting to know their personal stories, and help them reach their goals.

“I really had open arms when it came time for finding a career,” said Krystin. “Don’t keep turning down jobs til you get one that you ‘think’ you will like… I honestly was scared of this job when I first took it. I thought I wouldn’t like it. I was completely wrong.”

When asked what advice Krystin had for graduates, she said, “Give your first job longer than 3 months; loyalty goes a long way in the business world. Also, look for jobs with growth…climbing the ladder comes with a lot of knowledge… work extremely hard. I look back and wish I really soaked in more of what my professors said.”