Critical Thinking and Career Success: Alumni Spotlight

Written by Claire Freier

What can you do with a liberal arts education? It’s an inquiry many Hillsdale students are faced with when networking or applying for jobs, and it’s easy for students start to question it as well. How is reading Homer going to help in the business world? When will anyone ever need to know what Aristotle thought about the ideal leader of a society? What can a person do with a degree in English? All of these questions are totally valid, but as the thousands of recent alumni can attest, a Hillsdale College degree does make a positive impact in your future career.

One such successful alum is Leah Reimschisel, Class of 2015 and current Operations Assistant at the Charles Koch Institute in Washington D.C. As a recent graduate, Leah says that her Hillsdale education has greatly impacted her career and her success. Most significant is her ability to think critically, a skill cultured by Hillsdale and used every day in her work with Excel and other databases. Although she had little background in hard sciences or technology, Leah’s skill in thinking deeply about new things has allowed her to take on and overcome the challenges of her position.

Additionally, Leah’s success has been greatly influenced by her Hillsdale network. In looking for jobs and positions in D.C. she first reached out to Joanna Wiseley at Hillsdale’s Career Services – even as an alum, Leah made sure to use the resources provided by her alma mater and benefitted from the help! Mrs. Wiseley gave Leah some awesome leads and advised her to reach out to friends, family, and connections in Washington while job searching. A fellow Hillsdale alum working at CKI referred Leah for a position due to their connection and similar work ethic, and the rest is history.  Leah’s active networking managed to land her an impressive job in one of the best cities in the world.

Leah is just one recent graduate with great career success, and there are thousands of Hillsdale graduates out there with similar stories. The benefit of learning how to think and thinking critically are extremely valued assets, and Hillsdale College instills these abilities in every student. Using networking and connections is also a huge key to success. Leah urges students to get down to Career Services early and often to use these connections and improve their professional presence, because “your resume matters; even if your school has a good reputation, the resume is looked at first.” Listen to Leah’s advice and visit Career Services soon to chat with us about your resume and future success.