Name: Shane Bridges
Class Year: 2025
Title: Consulting Analyst
Organization Name: Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR)
1. In one sentence, what does your job entail?
KAGR provides data-driven recommendations to inform pricing and marketing strategies for sports and entertainment companies. Some of my responsibilities include data analysis, industry research, and notetaking / presenting work in meetings with clients.
2. What planned and unplanned events connected you to your industry and your first employer after Holy Cross? How did you learn/decide it was a good fit for you?
I am lucky to have had opportunities to work with Campus Rec for three years as well as the Worcester Red Sox through the Academic Internship Program (AIP) as a Business Analytics intern. Both of these experiences, with their fun and energetic work environments, fostered my interest in the sports industry. I didn’t know what type of work I wanted to do after college, but really enjoyed the multidisciplinary course work at Holy Cross. Consulting seemed like the perfect balance for me of quantitative and qualitative work, and I’m still benefitting from doing a little bit of both!
3. What were you involved in when you were on campus?
Dance Ensemble, Club Swim, and the Office of Campus Recreation.
4. What was your major and how did it affect your career decisions?
Mathematics, with minors in Statistics and Education; I’ve always been passionate both about math and helping others understand the subject, but wasn’t dead set on one over the other. I’d spent years analyzing “clear cut” quantitative data, but it wasn’t until my senior year at Holy Cross that I was introduced to qualitative research through my Education minor capstone. That class opened my eyes to a completely different approach to data analysis that I hadn’t fully understood previously. In my work now I have already analyzed both quantitative survey data and expert interviews, so having a well-rounded skill set to pivot between research types has been helpful.
5. What are one or two skills that you developed at Holy Cross that you use in your work?
Active listening and oral presentation skills.
6. What advice do you have for students on campus today?
Two things:
Take as many different types of classes as you can; I especially recommend dance and acting classes where you can put yourself out there and add more movement into your school week! You may discover a new interest (or several!) and can learn a lot about yourself and what you’re capable of.
Don’t stress too much about the job search process (if that’s even possible). There were many times where I felt behind as more of my peers secured post-grad plans, but now I’m almost six months into a job I look forward to going to every day! You will find something that’s right for you in due time.