JUSTIN GERBER (’15) entered the University of Illinois not as a political science major  but after a semester of not feeling connected to his classes, he started to look for other options. Gerber explored the Department of Political Science after enjoying one of the classes and with help from the advisors in the department was able to switch majors. He enjoyed the mixture of real world thinking and history of the major. Mr. Gerber found that the major gives a unique skill set which allows him to be a critical thinker.

After graduating, he started a career in marketing. He began with an internship at Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing. This internship started him on a path of working in digital marketing and social media advertising. After concluding his internship, he began to look for other opportunities and made a move to Austin, Texas. In Texas, Gerber began as a Digital Advertising Strategist at Unique Influence. In this job, he worked with clients to develop social media strategies. Recently Mr. Gerber has changed jobs and is now at Spedfast as a Paid Social Analyst, where he works to help connect businesses to people on social media. Gerber credits his experience as a political science major as an important part of getting him to this career point.

Mr. Gerber would tell new students that political science gives you the tools to be successful in your career. Through your work in groups and writing assignments, you learn to how to critically think and to be confident in yourself. He encourages students to make sure you are putting yourself out there for different opportunities and to find a career path that you enjoy.

Mr. Gerber can be reached at jgerber45@gmail.com.