John Davis, Nationwide internal management consultant in the company’s business transformation office.
A Consortium alumnus is featured in a Nationwide corporate video aimed at highlighting opportunities at the Fortune 100 company—along with the Columbus, Ohio, community where it’s based.
And it’s not the first time John Davis has hit the media jackpot with Nationwide. The 2013 University of Rochester MBA graduate was also featured in a Fortune magazine article highlighting the company’s “unusual practice of on-the-spot hiring.”
That’s right: Attending the National Black MBA Association conference in 2013, Davis chatted with an HR representative, then a chief technology officer in more depth. The next day, he received an offer letter from Nationwide.
“I felt at home when I talked to the Nationwide folks. There was a degree of connection,” said Davis, who works as an internal management consultant in the company’s business transformation office. “Some of the people mentioned in that Fortune article still mentor me.”
His job allows him to “get into work with a degree of ambiguity about it,” which allows him to use a variety of problem-solving abilities as he works across functional areas—including sales, actuarial and finance.
Members of the HR team approached Davis about doing a video because he’s not a native of Columbus—he’s from Long Island—and one of the keys to the project was conveying to job seekers the professional and personal opportunities available in the city.
“They wanted to use my story to drive home that it’s not a stuffy insurance company,” Davis said. “There are young people coming in. It’s a thriving city, and it’s a great organization to work for.”
The video tails Davis from his apartment in the city’s Short North neighborhood, to a bistro with friends, to scenes from throughout his day at Nationwide’s nearby headquarters—complete with a workout in the company gym.
The two-day video shoot included extensive interviews with the production team as they worked to assemble a storyboard for the scenes they wanted to capture. Davis said he’s particularly proud that the video really captures his personality. “It’s not contrived from the mind of a director or producer. It’s all me. That’s what everyone is commenting on.”
The opportunity at Nationwide followed Davis’ experience at his Consortium OP in Minneapolis in 2011. He spoke to a number of potential employers, but never moved beyond informational interviews at that stage.
“I didn’t get job offers at OP, but it gave me my first experience in what it’s going to be like. It set the tone going into National Black that upcoming year,” he said. “It also really set home the value of the organization. I’m forever appreciative of the opportunity the Consortium gave me.”
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