College Experiences That Helped A Director At Fortune 20 Tech Company Succeed
Bill's undergraduate experience at Kansas State instilled valuable skills crucial for a successful career, particularly emphasizing "writing skills" and "problem-solving critical thinking" developed through academic papers. Athletic participation fostered confidence and a willingness to embrace challenging situations, proving invaluable in navigating the professional world.
Communication, Problem-Solving, Critical Thinking, Resilience, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Bill Casper
Director
Fortune 20 Tech Company
Kansas State 2005
UCLA Anderson
Political Science, American Studies
Technology
Sales and Client Management
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Greek Life Member, Transfer Student, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Develop strong writing skills to effectively communicate ideas and arguments.
2. Participate in extracurricular activities like athletics to build confidence and discover passions.
3. Embrace challenges and be comfortable with stepping outside your comfort zone.
Transcript
Bill, taking you back to your time at Kansas State. What did you do in undergrad that set you up for success in your career?
Here's the cleaned transcript:
Number one, work on writing skills. I don't think most people do that enough, especially if you're interested in sales or interactions. It seems like a simple skill, but writing papers is the number one thing.
I feel like what I brought out of my undergraduate education was problem-solving, critical thinking, and writing papers. This involved putting thoughts, arguments, and structure to that. That's what you do a lot of the time in the workplace, helping develop a point of view and being able to articulate it.
I think athletics were really important for me as well. Athletics helped me build a lot of confidence and understand what I was passionate about. That was valuable for going into the workplace and thinking I could do a job I was completely unqualified for.
I just went ahead first because I had been in those pressure situations on the field during my undergraduate studies. Bringing that skill over to that first job, I think was just being comfortable with being uncomfortable.