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I do multi-modal public opinion research; my work includes both quantitative and qualitative research and analysis—large n-size websurveys, traditional phone polls, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and big data analytics. I also do a bit of experimental design--at the moment, we are quantifying and analyzing trends in social media. Essentially, I turn people into numbers and then back the other way again. I also do a lot of writing—I produce between 2 and 6 papers, memos, and articles a month. My boss and I both have books coming out this spring, so I’ve been doing a fair amount of editing as well.

Every minute. I took Ron Seyb’s American Presidency course in 2000. It was conducted as a mock election—we acted as candidates, campaign man-agers, speechwriters, etc. It was my first introduction to political consulting. Beyond that most direct and obvious connection, I am constantly grateful that my Skidmore education was as broad as it was thorough. In public opinion research and strategic consulting, we have to be expert at every subject we touch. This month I’m working with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to identify post-redistricting competitive House battle-ground seats. Last month I consulted the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission on housing policy. A month before that, I worked with the EPI on economic policy. Skidmore gave me the capacity to be intellectually adroit and professionally versatile. I honestly could not do my job without the research skills, capacity for critical thinking, and resourcefulness that I gained at Skidmore. It turns out that creative thought really does matter.

What kind of influence did your Government major have on what you did after college? What did you originally want to do after Skidmore?

I actually have a PhD in political history. My doctoral dissertation relied heavily on Stan Greenberg and James Carville’s strategy memoranda and sur-vey analysis for the 1992 Clinton campaign. After I defended my dissertation, I thought it would be interesting to work for them for a few months before launching into the academic job market… I’m still here.

I took every class offered by Beau Breslin when I was at Skidmore. Constitutional Law was probably my favorite—I not only carry the content with me but also the logical reasoning skills and habits of mind that I gained in that class.

I love sitting down with a full output and turning hundreds of pages of numbers into interesting (and occasionally influential) analysis. It is surprising to me that I enjoy it so much; I didn’t get a PhD in History because I loved math.

My Government minor has a huge impact on my first eight months after gradation. I jumped headfirst into politics, starting with an internship with the Office of United States Senator Robert Menendez. I then transitioned into a short-term position with his Community Affairs team and eventually left to join his campaign office. I was involved with Menendez right up until my current role. If you had asked me in May 2010 what I thought I would be doing now, I would have proba-bly told you that I would be working on a campaign for the 2012 election season.

I applied for my current position because I wanted to explore other fields and really find out how versatile my skill set was; I wanted to test the boundaries of my resume and interview skills. As a recent college graduate in an uncertain job market, I wanted to avoid limiting myself to a particular industry or job type. Skidmore forced me to understand the common underlying themes running through all disciplines (I am specifically thinking of the Scribner Seminar here, which I had the privilege of taking with Professor Kate Graney), which during my college career allowed me to draw connections between all of my interests and areas of study. When it came to my career path, I knew that I could translate the experiences from one job to another because I had been used to the practice of identifying touch points of universality in my coursework. A good number of my colleagues went to college for exactly what they are doing now, and while that has served them very well, I was able to study what I loved (Government, History, Classics) and still land a job.

I think I suffered from “short-term academic attention span disorder” during most of my college tenure. Every semester I had a new favorite course and a new favorite professor. I took some downright amazing courses in the Government, History, and Classics departments that I know my friends in other schools did not even come close to taking. I know this because I have asked, and no one can even fathom what “Mother Russia’s Daughters” or “Deconstructing Britain” would be about. In good conscious I cannot pick a favorite field of study or professor, but I will throw in a plug for “Introduction to Neuroscience.” If you need to fulfill your natural science requirement, you should take that course.

The accountability and level of trust. Although I am very green in my career and quite junior on my team, I feel as though I am an integral part of our operations because I am treated like my contribution matters. It has given me a since of weight and confidence that has been an enormous boon to my professional self-esteem.

Any job? I wish I had been born with a solid stage presence and exceptional singing/acting abilities. I am a huge fan of the theatre but never had the talent to full-heartedly pursue it. In my next life, I will be on Broadway.