Alumni Spotlight- Devon Ostermiller

Alumni Spotlight:

Devon Ostermiller

Devon Ostermiller graduated from Wayne State University in May 2017 with a Bachelor of Public Affairs, and he is already on the fast track to a senior leadership position at Ally Financial. Devon earned a spot in Ally's Accelerated Rotational Program which provides opportunities for young professionals to gain leadership experience while becoming familiar with various areas in the company. Devon is currently working in Audit Services which focuses on managerial accounting to ensure that Ally is running as efficiently and effectively as possible. Over the next two years he will also get to work in both the Risk Analysis and Financial Analysis departments, and those departments focus on reducing loss and maximizing profitability at Ally.

Devon was one of three employees chosen for the prestigious Accelerated Rotational program at Ally, and he believes his Public Affairs education at Wayne State gave him a competitive advantage over the other applicants. The Public Affairs curriculum gave him a strong foundation in statistical analysis and economics. His experience with Excel in Dr. Sarbaugh-Thompson's PS 4460 class and analytical software in his research project with Dr. O'Donovan further developed the skills that are important to his career at Ally. Being a Public Affairs major in career normally dominated by Business majors also helped to make Devon stand out from the crowd. His supervisors were interested in what they considered a non-traditional educational background at Ally, and were impressed with Devon's ability to make connections between what he learned at Wayne State and his work at Ally.

Devon's advice to students is that they get as much experience as they can in variety of career fields before graduating. As a student he challenged himself every day to find new ways to go beyond the education he was receiving at Wayne State. He felt it was important to experience as much as possible to help him continue to develop his career path. Devon did internships with a politician, a city manager, and start-up technology company, and grew his social network by joining student organizations on campus. The connections and knowledge he gained from each of those experiences helped to make him stand out as an applicant, and has given him the ability to excel at Ally.