Mo El-Ammori, BS ’12, landed his dream job working as a consultant for The Shelby Group, located in Schaumberg, IL. One of five in his family to graduate from IU South Bend, El-Ammori attributes his education at the Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics with his success in the workplace. “As a marketing, advertising, and international business major,” said El-Ammori, “I was taught to think more creatively, so I stand out in the consulting field.”
Working with Fortune 500 companies throughout the nation and the world, El-Ammori helps them manage procurement strategies, processes, and technologies to reduce cost and waste.
After earning his undergraduate degree, El-Ammori avidly pursued a job in the very competitive consulting industry. After an eight-month search, he received an offer from The Shelby Group. “My co-workers call me Rudy,” he said. “Like Rudy, I had to work hard to get the job, but since I’ve started, I’ve been promoted every year.”
El-Ammori had a good role model in his father, who immigrated to South Bend from Palestine. After arriving in the U.S., his father became a successful entrepreneur--- first opening a grocery business and then an electronics distributing company. Two of El-Ammori’s siblings—also IU South Bend grads-- work in the family business. While looking for a job in the consulting industry, El-Ammori also worked for his father’s company. “I took the job at The Shelby Company for less pay, and I told my dad ‘Don’t worry. I’ll do well,’” said El-Ammori. “Now we enjoy sharing ideas and talking about my work when I visit.”
If he had it to do over again, El-Ammori said he would choose IU South Bend again. “It’s not just an education,” he commented. “All the professors know you by name. Students get plenty of individual attention because IU South Bend professors are focused on helping students succeed.”
Even now, four years after he graduated, El-Ammori still talks to Anurag Pant, associate professor of marketing, on a regular basis. “It’s great I still can talk to my professors,” he said. “It’s like having a second set of ears to bounce ideas back and forth.” In addition, because IU South Bend is part of the IU system, students benefit from the large IU alumni network, he said.
Grateful for the opportunity his IU South Bend degree afforded him, El Ammori said, “My experience at IU South Bend helped shape me into the person I am today.”