Michael Ferguson, From Entertainment to Accounting

Get to know Michael

Program format: On-campus MAC
Program start date: August 2024
Anticipated graduation date: May 2025
Current location: Raleigh, NC

Life before Jenkins

Work experience: 12 years
Industry: Entertainment 
Roles: Hair department head, assistant hair department head, hair department crew
Fields: Broadway, film and television
Education: UNC Greensboro, B.A. in Theatre; UNC School of the Arts, Master of Fine Arts in Design and Production

Career goals

After spending more than a decade in the entertainment industry, Ferguson was eager to make a fresh start in his career and break into the accounting field. “As years go by, priorities change. At a certain point, I realized that everything my former career wasn’t providing me had become more important than what it was providing. So, I knew I had to make a change,” he explains. “I saw that a MAC degree would give me the ability to make that pivot and the tools I need to hit the ground running in my new career.”

Why Accounting?

Perhaps more than anyone, Ferguson recognizes that accounting could not be more different from the entertainment industry. However, as he took into consideration his personal priorities and interests, he saw accounting as a promising career path and natural fit. “While working in the entertainment industry, if someone I knew was having a hard time making calculations from dense and often vague contract provisions, I was virtually guaranteed to receive a phone call. So, when I told my friends and colleagues that I was making a career shift into accounting, precisely zero of them were surprised,” he explains. “I’ve always enjoyed solving logic puzzles, and accounting is essentially just that. It’s about understanding the connections and interactions between different kinds of transactions and accounts – so it scratches that itch of mine.”

“When I told my friends and colleagues that I was making a career shift into accounting, precisely zero of them were surprised.”

Why Jenkins?

As a career changer, Ferguson wanted to find a graduate program with a strong reputation and supportive community – and didn’t look further than the Jenkins MAC program at NC State. “Both NC State and the Jenkins MAC program have a sterling reputation, which meant a lot to me as a prospective student in terms of the education I could expect to receive and the value that the MAC degree has in the professional world,” he says.

“What was most important to me, however, was the sense that in this program, I wouldn’t be an anonymous number on a class roster. I could tell that the faculty and staff are committed to the success of each student individually, and that has certainly turned out to be true in my experience in the program,” he continues. “The program is also very welcoming of folks like me who are shifting careers from very disparate backgrounds. The ASAP program is a comprehensive and thoughtfully curated program of online prerequisites that allows anyone coming from a non-accounting field to make the transition.” 

“I could tell that the faculty and staff are committed to the success of each student individually.”

Daily life

Although the Jenkins MAC program is rigorous and challenging, Ferguson finds that putting in the effort is well worth it – and he still finds room in his schedule to unwind, take time to himself and participate in activities he enjoys. “Even though I’ve left the performing arts as a career, live performances are still a large part of who I am and what I love. I’ve been able to attend several shows on campus at Talley Student Union that have been excellent, and I recently went to a concert of the North Carolina Symphony as well,” he says. “I really appreciate that Raleigh and the Research Triangle have a wide variety of cultural institutions for the times when I need to turn off my analytical side and engage my creative side.”

Ferguson also appreciates the community he’s found in the Jenkins MAC program and the opportunities he has to spend time with peers. “Because we are in the same classes and our work is largely team-based, we interact regularly. We also have a couple of common areas where we gather to work and that fosters social interaction as well,” he says. “There are regular events that bring us together, too. Some of those are planned by the department or Poole College of Management, but many of them are planned by students in the program.”

What makes it great

In addition to the welcoming, supportive community, Ferguson appreciates the Jenkins MAC program’s emphasis on preparing students for lifelong success in their careers. “The faculty and staff are constantly looking for ways to improve the program. They have their finger on the pulse of the industry, and what we learn is curated to be relevant and topical,”  he says. “They also emphasize learning for the sake of learning and the practical application of concepts rather than rote memorization. The end goal is never simply to get the right answer. The goal is always to understand how to think about the problem and develop an answer.”

Career impact 

Although making a career change can be daunting, Ferguson believes the accounting field holds a lot of promise – and between the foundation he’s gaining in the Jenkins MAC program and the support of faculty, he feels confident about his opportunities for the future. “One of the things that drew me to this career is the reality that there are a multitude of options regarding the kind of work you can do as an accountant, and having a diversity of backgrounds among the faculty has allowed me to explore which of those options might be the best fit,” Ferguson says. “Each professor is generous with their time and insight. Each student is assigned a faculty mentor, but our professors have been clear that they are more than willing to act as mentors to any student. So, we have available to us a number of highly educated and experienced professionals who are willing to lend their perspective as we navigate the program and beyond,” he continues. 

Ferguson has also benefited greatly from Career Services. “Kelly Hardy, who directs Career Services, does an excellent job. We regularly have opportunities to engage and network with employers from across the accounting landscape. Building these relationships gives us a great foundation for launching our careers. Kelly has also provided a number of workshops to prepare us for the application and interview process,” he says. “We are set up for success every step of the way.” 

“We regularly have opportunities to engage and network with employers from across the accounting landscape.”

Final thoughts

Reflecting on his own experience, Ferguson recommends the Jenkins MAC program to a wide variety of prospective students. “I would certainly recommend the program to anyone considering changing careers like myself, as the program is very thoughtfully structured for that,” he says. “I would also recommend the program to anyone who wants to dive into the theory behind accounting processes or anyone planning to pursue their CPA.”

Get in touch

Connect with Michael at jmfergu2@ncsu.edu.

Learn more

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