Hillsdale College Career Services

Beyond the Bubble is back for the semester! On this week's episode, join State Representative Andrew Fink (‘06) as he describes his journey from Hillsdale College to the Michigan Legislature. He walks through a day in the life of a legislator, shares how his experiences as a Judge Advocate for the Marine Corps helped shape his passion for politics, and offers insightful advice for students looking to pursue a legal or political career.

On this week's episode of Beyond the Bubble, listen to Ryan Goff (‘21) share about the variety of work he does as an M&A Analyst at a middle market investment bank. He also explains the value he found from participating in extracurriculars like The Collegian, Investment Club, and the ACG Cup as well as how useful strong writing skills are in the workforce.

Ben Thompson (‘09) spends his day hunting down the best barrels of oil and negotiating the price as a Crude Oil Trader at Shell Trading. He explains how companies make money through trading and talks about the basics of the industry, entry options, and how he utilized his finance degree in a highly technical field.

As a Director at Spell Capital Mezzanine, Stephen Hann (‘08) works to manage investment portfolios, source and underwrite deals, and build relationships across a wide range of industries. He talks about the importance of developing soft skills in the communication and articulation of complex concepts as well as the necessity of practicing math, excel, and modeling skills for success in an exciting career where each day is a little different from the last.

Scott Keenan (‘07) innovates on a daily basis as the head of growth strategy for a startup merging real estate with hospitality. Scott shares how his different interests and love for problem solving led him from a chemistry major at Hillsdale to environmental consulting and finally to driving growth for a company restructuring the traditional approach to hospitality.

Ally Eads (‘19) took her passion for running and turned it into a career at New Balance. Ally describes how she utilizes the communication skills she learned as a team captain for Hillsdale's Track and Field team and shares how speaking with alumni helped her pursue her interests as a career.

As a legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, Christy Hirsch (‘16) serves on the Church & Ministry Alliance team advising clients on religious freedoms and preparing clients to defend religious liberty lawsuits. She shares how she utilizes the skills and values she learned at Hillsdale in her work on a daily basis.

As a Criminal Investigator for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Caitlin Watson (‘07) uses the skills she learned at Hillsdale College on a daily basis to prevent export violations. She speaks about what a job in national security looks like, shares tips for pursuing a similar career, and explains how Hillsdale's classes helped her develop the critical thinking capabilities she needs for her job.

Lauren Peacock (‘14) shares her experiences working as an Art Director for AHC Hospitality. She explains the importance of finding objective opinions for reviewing creative work as well as learning how to communicate with clients and work as part of a design team.

Through her job working with the Hillsdale Football team, Lix Laux (‘19) turned her enthusiasm for football into a career. She shares about the importance of internships and networking to build genuine relationships as she explains her biggest takeaways from working in professional sports.

Scott McCallen (‘18) shares how his experiences at the Collegian helped him move from financial analysis at Pepsi to reporting breaking news on Michigan and Minnesota fiscal policy. He explains the importance of writing consistently and pursuing real-world feedback for aspiring journalists.

Alexandra Whitford (‘17) explains how her passion for media marketing and nonprofits led her from directing Hillsdale student activities to managing TV “spots” for Direct Donor TV. Listen to hear why she thinks identifying passions and developing relational skills early on is critical to success in marketing. She also shares tips and tricks for aspiring social media marketers.

Bob Boyle (‘03) talks about his unique professional experiences that led him across the country, and across careers. Listen as he shares how he went from working as a baseball Umpire to a VP of Logistics. He discusses the impact of flexibility, a work-life balance, and how his History degree helped him develop the critical thinking skills he needed to thrive in the corporate world.

Greg Rybka ('17) shares about how he has gone from studying marketing at Hillsdale to working in sales with prosthetics and how his personal experiences led him to this job.

PeggyDee Fleck shares her experiences figuring out the right profession. The 2012 biology graduate works in the administrative side of medicine; however, that wasn't always the plan. She talks about her career path from Hillsdale to administrative work, food service management, and now project management in the medical field.

Lucas Miller ('01) shares about his path to determining whether ministry was his calling and his subsequent work through seminary and as a pastor.

This week, Leah Savas talks about working as a reporter for WORLD News Group. She began her post-graduation career in marketing and then shifted to journalism. She shares about that process and what her day-to-day work looks like.

Interested in what life is like as a chiropractor and how to get there? Dr. Brian Vear '15 shares about how his experiences as a football player led him to go to chiropractic school and practice.

When moving to DC, many young people dream of working with an elected official to assist them in serving constituents. Katelyn Pay ('11) was no different when she came to DC after graduating from Hillsdale. She currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR) and shares about life on Capitol Hill, her career from DC to Oregon and back, and how her time at Hillsdale prepared her for her career.

Work isn't always a clear trajectory. Joshua Cameon (‘17) found this out as he has worked in positions neither he, nor his company, envisioned him in at first. He shares how he has been able to find ways to create value for his company beyond the expected and how his studies in the liberal arts at Hillsdale prepared him for his various positions at Automated Logistics Systems.

Physics is much more than measuring the acceleration of a dropped ball. Jamin Rager (‘13) works as a Senior Research Physicist working on quantum computing as a military contractor. After studying Physics and Math at Hillsdale, he has gone on to graduate school and shares about how he has had a successful career.

Matthew Kidd (‘13) shares his story and advice on becoming an accountant and taking the CPA exam. Hear how communication skills may be even more important than math when going into the world of accounting.

Hillsdale requires all Bachelor of Arts students to reach at least the intermediate-level proficiency in a foreign language. Josh Shaw (‘17) has gone much deeper and studied Greek and Latin beyond Hillsdale, receiving his Masters degree from Bryn Mayr. In this episode, he shares about his current PhD studies at the University of Tübingen in Germany and his experience writing and publishing articles and commentaries.

Katherine Helmick (‘15) shares about her studies at the University of Oxford in literature. Hear how her experiences teaching abroad in South Africa with the Peace Corps and starting her own magazine, Salt and Iron, helped lead her to this path.

Adrianna Yancho ('13) - Program Lead for the Partner Summit at Cisco

Kate Wiley (‘09) shares her experiences working in chemical manufacturing from engineering to quality control. As a physics major, she shares how lifelong learning is key and gives advice to people interested in working in STEM fields.

Pete Smith is an 08 grad of Hillsdale College. In this episode, he shares his career path from Whirlpool to TTI Floor Care, Maryland to Texas to Georgia, and getting his MBA at Lamar University while working.

William Clayton (‘10) was a history major at Hillsdale but wanted to go into business and the tech world. He shares how he did it, and what it looks like to apply the liberal arts and the skill of lifelong learning in the business world.

Robert Hasler is a 2015 grad of Hillsdale. He worked in the Kirby Center for a while and now has turned to ministry. He is working on his MDiv at Covenant Theological Seminary and working as the Communications Director for Ministry to State, a mission-based organization reaching political professionals in DC. 

It’s great to study what you love. For Amira Swenson (‘11), that was accounting. Listen her to share her journey from Hillsdale to Dallas and DC and explain how her time at Hillsdale prepared her for life beyond the bubble.

Early internship experience just might be the key to your future job. Listen this week to Taylor Gage (‘10) recounts his story about going from an internship at a state political party after his sophomore year at Hillsdale to working full-time for the Nebraska Governor’s Office. Gage also shares about what communications looks like in the age of COVID-19 and the importance of diversifying platforms and having consistency in messaging.

Most people are familiar with the trend of graduates taking off a year after college - a gap year. Our guest this week, Brian Painter, waited a little longer. See why Brian waited 8 years to take his gap year this week, on Beyond the Bubble.

Forecasting the future is a difficult task. Our guest this week is Russell TerBeek, a nuclear physicist at Sandia Labs. Russell makes his living forecasting the likelihood of some of the most catastrophic events known to man. Tune in this week to learn more.

There’s a difference between theoretical knowledge and practical application. This week, Portia Conant (‘14) shares her story of the importance of both theory, through trying to take things one step at a time and adjust expectations, and practice, by applying those principles to get through graduate school. She also shares how she is able to apply the principles of economics she loves studying in her work as a market analyst.

A fresh start in a new city is an intimidating and yet also thrilling feeling for many young post-grads. Joel VanDerworp, this week's guest, explains why if it weren't for the teaching community he stumbled on, he would have had a harder time adjusting.

Good medical treatment balances accepted methodology with a subtle kind of emotional intelligence. Our guest this week, Dr. Noah Bernhardson, discusses how he uses universal principles from his college history classes to deliver exceptional patient care.

The title "Dean of Students" tends to carry with it a stereotype of a removed and often aloof disciplinary authority. Not Josh Herring. This week's guest serves as Dean of Students at Thales Academy in NC where administrators also serve as teachers. Tune in to learn how he does it and why.

A common misconception about graduate school is that you must have majored in the discipline the school focuses on. Our guest this week, Caroline Koperski, discusses why this is often not the case, especially for PA school, Tune in this week to learn more

Most people would not associate "creative" with "tax lawyer," or taxes at all for the most part. Our guest this week, Alexander Graf, has a different take. Tune in this week to see why Alexander thinks the industry needs more creative lawyers.

A proper college education should teach us not to back down from a challenge. This week's guest, Jake Adkins, shows just how far that attitude can take you. Tune in this week to learn how Jack got started at Zillow and where he plans to go from there.

Eisenhower once remarked "plans are worthless, but planning is everything." Our guest this week, Eveline Gnabisik Bethune, has lived her life according to that quote. Listen now to learn how you can harness your passions and move worlds.

To most people the world of data management and analytics can seem forbidding, confusing, and even intimidating. Not to George Mount, though. George founded Stringfest Analytics in 2014 to teach people that the world of data is more accessible than they think. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to work in the world of data, or wanted a case study of a soloprenuer, then this episode is for you.

Conventional wisdom about careers says "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." Katherine Brunk, an analyst at the civil engineering firm Kimley-Horn, takes that to another level. Listen to this week's episode to learn how she took her liberal arts degree and made the ultimate pivot from marketing to civil engineering.

Deciding whether or not to attend graduate school is a complicated process. Michael Giles, a Political Science Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State, reveals 3 factors you should consider before applying to a graduate program. If you’re considering grad school, have an interest in political science, or just want to learn more about the grad school world, this episode is for you.

Storytelling is a powerful tool that anyone can use to inspire, persuade, and mobilize. Maggy Smith is a senior associate at the Heritage Foundation, a D.C. based conservative nonprofit, with an inspiring story of her own. Maggy’s career began as a freelance graphic designer but it wasn’t long before she established herself as a leader in business development at the Heritage Foundation. Want to know how she used storytelling to do it? Tune in to this episode to find out.

Navigating the professional world while staying true to your passions is a real challenge. John Duffy, a financial technologies analyst at Grant Street Group, shares his insights on how recent graduates can unlock their productivity and leverage business communication and professional networking skills to excel in their careers. If you want to hear some great career advice this podcast is for you.

Alex Mexicotte '16 | Start-Ups by Beyond the Bubble

Elliot Gaiser | Pre-Law by Beyond the Bubble

Josh Klooz '08 | Military Service & The Liberal Arts by Beyond the Bubble

So you're interested in journalism.. How do you jumpstart your career? If you're in Journalism already, what are your options for upward mobility? Joining us this week is the Assistant Editor for the Washington Free Beacon, Micah Meadowcroft. He'll be answering those questions and more on this week's episode of Beyond the Bubble.

So you want to go into politics. Where should you start? What should you consider? Our guest this week, Raz Schafer, answers these questions and more. Raz currently works for Heritage Foundation along with running his own political consulting group, CampaignSidekick.