Jason Correia: People Skills Key for Aspiring Workers

Jason Correia '10, '13 MSA has nothing against artificial intelligence, but when the corporate executive is hiring a new employee, he's looking for great communication skills, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work as part of a team.

"With the advent of AI, I feel like the ability to communicate in person has become deprioritized,'' said Correia a principal at CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), based in West Hartford.

"So many brilliant people know how to do great things with AI, but get a little flustered when dealing face-to-face with clients. You need soft skills for that,'' he said. "It is critical to know how to build relationships, build trust and to enjoy working with people. I feel like we've shortchanged young people if they aren't able to do that.''

Correia to Receive '40 Under Forty' Award

Correia is one of three UConn School of Business alumni being honored with a "40 Under Forty'' award from the Hartford Business Journal in September. The award recognizes young leaders having a tremendous impact in their industries.

At CLA, Correia's division specializes in merger and acquisition transactions between private equity firms and mid-sized family businesses. He supervises teams of highly-focused experts spearheading these complex transactions, and the company prides itself on impeccable customer service.

Correia became interested in the field more than a dozen years ago, when he lived in Boston and was partnering with Harvard Business School graduates seeking to build their own businesses.

"I fell in love with the work,'' he said. "I liked being shoulder-to-shoulder with entrepreneurs building a business of their own.''

Today he retains that passion.

"I really enjoy the challenge of the work. I'm always on my toes and every day is new; never stale and boring,'' Correia said. "There's a tangible impact to what we're doing and it feels more meaningful to me than, say, completing a tax return.''

"We are small enough that there's a tight team dynamic. I've had great mentors in my career who shaped me as a professional and I feel it is my responsibility to pay it back,'' he said.

'He Was Such an Engaged Teacher'

Correia came to UConn as a finance major, but an introductory accounting course taught by professor Dick Kochanek changed his major and his life.

"He was such an engaged teacher. He told stories throughout the class. His way of teaching made accounting entertaining, not dry, and the concepts were easy to remember. The whole class was paying attention. The way he taught just made it easy to be engaged.''

He also fondly recalls a forensic accounting seminar which so intrigued him that he earned a minor in psychology. "I even considered working for the FBI or the CIA for a while,'' he said.

One piece of advice he would share with students and young alumni is to always do the right thing, fulfill your commitments and if your run into a problem, don't lie, he said. "My mentors always told me to have the difficult conversations and I think that's very valuable advice,'' he said.

Balancing Work, Family, and a Commute

Correia, met his wife, Abbe Muller, at Conard High School in West Hartford and they were high school sweethearts. She earned her bachelor of nursing degree at UConn in 2012, followed by a Ph.D. at Yale in 2018. On their honeymoon trip to Tuscany, they learned to cook authentic Italian food and hand-roll pasta, and today Correia still enjoys cooking it for the family.

The couple have three children, ages 10, 8 and 5, who are interested in everything from sports to the arts to fast cars. Correia coaches Little League baseball and a winter basketball clinic in Woodstock.

"It's definitely a challenge to balance work, family, and a long commute,'' he said. "One of the things I've been blessed with is the flexibility to work from home if needed and the ability to leave a little early before a game. I'm appreciative of the ability to balance my career and still be able to be there for the important things for my family.''