James Hansen,’00 is a corporate business analyst for Schneider National, Inc. in Green Bay, a leading provider of premium truckload and inter-modal services. He graduated from Lawrence University with an Economics major and has been working at Schneider for the past three years. His current position is part of a manager trainee program where he learns various parts of the business. As a corporate business analyst, he gets new businesses in the door by analyzing the needs of customers and proposing the best ways customers can make use of the services Schneider provides.He says that the good note-taking, analytical, persuasive, quantitative, and written and verbal communication skills he learned at Lawrence are very essential in his current position. At work he is original, able to meet deadlines, figure things out easily, and work effectively as part of a team. All these have been possible due to the quality of education he received at Lawrence.
When asked what his typical day was like, James said that it is a combination of routine tasks and doing different things depending on the customers’ needs. His first task when he gets to work is to check his email and voicemail, then read information on customers’ needs, work on pricing, and finally publish rates in the system. His number one goal every day is to give his customers excellent service and provide every assistance within his scope to them.
Mr. Hansen’s advice to Lawrence students is to make good use of the opportunities available to them at the University, especially off-campus programs. He also encourages students to get involved in organizations, since it is difficult to participate in extra-curricular activities after school due to many responsibilities. To seniors, he says “Start your job-search very early in your senior year and visit the Career Center for a practice interview before meeting a recruiter.” By doing this, he was offered a job before he graduated.
Written by Adwoa Boateng
Career Assistant II