While many students are anxious about their post-graduation job prospects, Cole Lindberg’s BA’24, MBA’25 Willamette education has proven to be a powerful launching pad. Weeks before even receiving his MBA, Lindberg has leveraged his dual-degree to land a coveted role as a Technical Solutions Engineer at medical software developer Epic, demonstrating how Willamette’s MBA program transforms academic excellence into market value.
“It’s my first real-world job, so it’s incredibly important for building experience and developing my career,” said Lindberg.
Lindberg, who was contacted by an Epic recruiter leading up to his job offer, cultivated a broad and unique blend of talents in the Individualized Major program before starting his MBA through the 3+2 program. With Willamette’s 3+2 program, students like Lindberg can graduate with an undergraduate degree and an MBA in five years or less.
“As an undergraduate, I studied a healthy mix of computer science, design, communications, and business, among other topics, because I always knew I wanted to earn the MBA,” says Lindberg. Coming in with college credits earned in high school, Lindberg completed both programs in the span of four years, and even had time to be an active member of Willamette’s swim team.
Lindberg says his work in different fields helped set his application apart when he took the skills test for the position at Epic. Knowledge from courses like Introduction to Python Coding, taught by Assistant Professor of Computer Science Calvin Deutschbein, reflected a strong computer science background. Meanwhile, skills learned in cultural studies courses and his capstone project with Professor of Global Cultural Studies Peter Wogan demonstrated valuable critical thinking and analytical skills.
Also helping him stand apart were the skills he acquired in and out of the MBA classroom. “The experiential learning opportunities I had in the MBA program were huge,” Lindberg says. “The Practical Application for Careers and Enterprises (PACE) series and the Philanthropic Investment course, which I’m taking right now, gave me a chance to understand how different organizations function.”
Willamette’s career development office prepared Lindberg to succeed in the job market. “I had worked with career development over the course of my first year in the MBA when I was applying for internships to really understand how to build a resume, how to do an interview, and other job-search related skills. Since working with the career office is built into the curriculum, I had a lot of opportunities to learn from them.”
“I sent out around 150 or more applications for my summer internship last year, which is becoming the new normal, so I feel very grateful to have gotten this job at Epic,” Lindberg says. “The liberal arts and business degrees gave me a holistic education — I had unique, measurable skills.”
After graduating this May, Lindberg is relocating to Epic’s headquarters outside Madison, Wisconsin, to start his new journey. “From what I’ve seen, the environment at Epic is one I will enjoy very much. I can’t wait to start building experience and developing my career.”
