Position: Global Program Manager

Employer: Platts/McGraw-Hill Financial

Current City: Houston, DC

Please tell us about your job

As Global Program Manager, I manage the hiring tests for my company’s content-producing roles around the globe. I also manage the logistics for our working abroad program, a program for staff who are competitively selected to train and learn about another part of the business in another part of the world. In addition, I deliver much of the required training for newly hired staff in content-producing roles.

What motivated you to obtain an M.A. in political science?

I majored in political science as an undergraduate. I was motivated to continue my studies because I was very interested in teaching. During my studies, I became fascinated with learning more about the quantitative study of politics and how statistics can be used to discern patterns in human behavior.

What are the links between your political science studies and your career?

Many of the skills I learned at UH have served me well over the years, with the most important being communication skills and numeric literacy/analytical skills. If you can understand numbers and communicate concepts and ideas clearly you put yourself at a competitive advantage. I also put to use many of the teaching skills I learned while at UH on a regular basis when delivering training modules and working to develop early-career employees. As a graduate student I worked for Dr. Ross Lence, who taught me that the best teachers are willing to sacrifice of themselves in order to help students reach their goals. Dr. Lence was but one of many remarkable faculty I worked with at UH, and who shaped my view of education and development. In working with employee development programs, I strive to help early-career, and sometimes mid-career staff understand the possibilities that working for a global corporation presents to them.