Professor Bailey Eaise had a chance to catch up with Jackson Snellman, class of 2022. Keep reading to learn more about his career and tips he has for current undergraduates.
Professor Eaise: Let’s start by having you tell us about your current role. What do you do?
Jackson Snellman: I work as a project manager for employment innovation at a French start-up, called Olecio. Olecio is a socially-oriented business, trying to improve the employability and working conditions of disadvantaged populations. I work with different clients on their projects related to labor market and employment phenomena, performing statistical analysis and writing studies. Day-to-day, I am working with our clients, writing studies or creating presentations as the “deliverable” for the study, analyzing datasets, and discussing with my colleagues about potential explanations for the trends we are seeing. Presently, I am finishing up my first extensive study, which analyzed the adequacy offer of training and educational programs in the Paris region with the needs of industry jobs; however, I also work on some other projects. For example, I am working with a psychologist we have on staff to develop a bias test for employers, similar to the Harvard bias tests. This one is a particular challenge, as France has much stricter rules about what kinds of demographic information can used.
Something unusual about my work setting is the way my boss’ personality comes out in particular ways - for instance, it’s very common for him to put on music for the entire office. Definitely took some getting used to, but now I can’t imagine working in the office without it.
Professor Eaise: What year did you graduate?
Snellman: I graduated in 2022, with a major in Political Science and minors in French and Women’s & Gender Studies. I chose to pursue a Master’s degree immediately after my Bachelor’s degree, attending Sciences Po in Paris and acquiring a Master of Public Policy with a specialization in Social Policy and Social Innovation. While I initially pursued the Master’s to refine my skillset and potentially have a higher starting salary in the U.S., I’ve decided to start my career in Europe and see where it takes me.
Professor Eaise: Can you talk about how you got your first position?
Snellman: I was in an apprenticeship contract through my Master’s program through September 2024, meaning I worked for a period after graduating in June. I started applying and networking in roughly March. Though I believe my situation was made somewhat difficult by having to market my largely non-French profile to French organizations, I still was networking and sending dozens of applications for about nine months before I stumbled upon my current organization.
Professor Eaise: How do you feel the Rutgers Political Science Department helped prepare you for your current job?
Snellman: Nearly every political science course will have you writing at least a paper or a brief about a subject; take advantage of these opportunities to think about how you would write on a similar topic in a professional circumstance. Even better, take cross-listed political science courses to practice writing about tangential topics, but still challenge yourself. ChatGPT may be evolving the way we write professionally in unexpected ways, but human ingenuity and tackling topics from your unique perspective are incredibly valuable skills.
Alongside this topic is critical thinking. Unfortunately, you will likely not find a first job that covers exactly all of your fields of interest and lets you work on them in the way that you will want to. However, the fun intellectual challenge comes in when you work on a topic that is related to your interests, but needs to fit a specific context that you are not inherently familiar with. Make yourself think hard about subjects that you had taken for granted, challenge yourself, and learn to defend your ideas.
Political science covers many topics and your professors come from diverse backgrounds. Talk to them about their life experience. I feel fortunate to count several of my Rutgers professors as my friends, and I know that I would not be successful in my career without them.
Professor Eaise: What advice do you have for undergraduates who want to break into your field?
Snellman: Have several different kinds of writing samples polished and ready to send. Ask career counselors for help refining your résumé (someone who is paid to have an expert/outside point of view is incredibly helpful). Create a LinkedIn profile, keep it up-to-date, and use it to cold message people. Your student status is an advantage and will open doors to conversations that won’t work the same after you graduate. Moreover, don’t limit yourself to conversations with potential recruiters - just talking to people to better understand their work can help you understand how to apply to jobs, edit your résumé and perform well in interviews. Try to be both a generalist and a specialist. A lot of beginner jobs have a lot of transversal functions, but if you find someone hiring for your niche interest, having experience in that topic can be a killer asset in an application.
Professor Eaise: How important is networking in your field and how do you do it?
Snellman: Networking can be advantageous, but it is more about your skills and how you represent them on your résumé. Though I was interested in employment-related topics and this serves me well in my job, competent people in any number of diverse fields could also complete the same job. Nevertheless, being in a foreign labor market, networking helped me understand what kind of expectations to have about my job and job search, as well as more generally how French work, well, works.
Professor Eaise: What are some professionalization tips you think everyone should know when starting out?
Snellman: Be humble, but don’t let imposter syndrome get to you either. If you are hired somewhere, it is because an employer chose to invest in you and your capacities. Ask questions, be a force of proposition and show initiative in the workplace. Know your strengths heading in, and use them to your advantage with your bosses and colleagues. If you know that you are always 15 minutes late, then don’t sign up to be the essential advance crew for an event. If you know that you are a social butterfly, put this to work with clients or partners. If you know that you might not be able to bring as much energy to the workplace and your work is essential for other people to do theirs, be transparent about it. People are more understanding than you think, and they would prefer to know ahead of time rather than wonder why you are dragging your feet for weeks.
Professor Eaise: Anything else you want to share?
Snellman: I cannot emphasize enough how little I regret going abroad. While I know I am very privileged to be able to do so, I was shocked by how inexpensive it is and how much it has opened my worldview and shifted my personal and professional goals. The topic I feel I want to devote the rest of my life to is one I discovered here and may have never if I did not come, and I can’t wait to discover more. There is so much more to the world than we realize, and yes, the American bubble is real. While it has its challenges and sometimes intense moments, I would 100% do it again.
On another note - between economic earthquakes, AI, and current politics, it can feel scary to enter the labor market right now. While it’s hard to predict where things may go, your motivation will always shine through. Your first job may not be your dream one, but you will end up where you are supposed to be.
Finally, enjoy your undergraduate experience. Rutgers is a special place, and you don’t know how much you will miss the people sitting next to you until you are gone. Be proud to be where you are, and validate that pride by going even farther, but never lose the scarlet in your veins.
Thank you Jackson! For more networking opportunities, be sure to join the Rutgers Political Science Alumni Network on LinkedIn.