Netflix Gaming Headhunts MU Grad from 2022

How does a level in sociology result in a profession in Netflix Gaming? If you’d requested Ellie Rohrback the identical query when she was a freshman at Millersville University in 2018, she in all probability wouldn’t have been capable of provide you with a solution. She is a gamer herself, and says cozy video games, deck builders, and roguelite video games are a few of her favourite genres – although Mario Kart 64 is an all-time favourite. 

She was a sociology main with a minor in legal justice with plans to turn out to be a police officer sometime, however all it took was one semester for her to appreciate that policing wasn’t fairly proper for her. Instead, she grew to become all in favour of analysis, particularly legal justice. After all, says Rohrback, “Sociology is the study of humanity, and why it behaves and acts the way it does. I’m so glad I choose it as my field of study.”  

Refining her pursuits and specialties throughout her undergraduate years supplied dividends for Rohrback. “Through MU’s Center for Public Scholarship and Social Change led by Dr. Carrie Smith at the time, I was a research assistant for an educational course led by the MU police department,” she says. “In that program, they brought in speakers who talked about their experience in criminal justice careers to give students a chance to ask questions, with police chief Pete Anders leading the effort.” The analysis, she explains, was to higher perceive if the subjects they mentioned had been useful to the college students.   

Upon commencement, Rohrback secured a job as a analysis assistant for American Institutes for Research. She initially utilized for a task as legal justice researcher, however the job had already closed by the point they obtained to her software. Instead, the corporate invited her to use for a unique place and provided her the job. Rohrback relocated to North Carolina to start her new job.  

In that position, Rohrback extensively used a instrument known as AirTable, which is a cloud-based, no-code platform that, based on their web site, “combines the visual simplicity of a spreadsheet with the structural power of a relational database.” Her prowess with the platform landed her a advisor place specializing in AirTable improvement for a corporation known as ed Elevate Your Data. And that, surprisingly sufficient, is what led Netflix Gaming to Rohrback.  

It all occurred rapidly. In simply 4 quick weeks, Rohrback left her first full-time place, switched to consultancy work and was head-hunted by Netflix through LinkedIn to assist with the database instrument. “Games at Netflix is relatively new,” she shares. “Because it is rapidly developing, they were running into some difficulties developing to scale, which is where my experience with AirTable came in. Through that tool, we developed workflows to track communication across the board.” 

Netflix Gaming’s earlier ad-hoc system wanted an administrator. “Their old system had grown and grown over time, but things started breaking down. That’s when they decided they needed to bring in someone who knew how to build the system.” 

Today, she works at Netflix Gaming as a senior manufacturing operations supervisor, and her position has expanded considerably. As the corporate’s gaming program expanded, Rohrback and the crew obtained further funding for their very own customized instruments, which she helps to advise on. “I help to support the producers working on the games,” she explains. “Productions like this are very complex and change constantly – that’s why they need experts to help manage all of the communications and workflows.”  

Rohrback says it was the analysis and methodologies programs she took at Millersville University that ended up making ready her for a task like this. “The courses that a lot of sociology students at Millersville University were nervous to take, like statistics and research methods, gave me skills I use in my job every day,” she shares. “Those classes took me by surprise, and I really liked them. While you might not become a researcher, which was my goal, someday your boss is going to ask you to keep track of tasks, measure KPIs and more. I encourage students to invest in those classes, and to try and get a solid foundation on those skills. I guarantee you’ll use them.”  

Her fast profession modifications, Rohrback says, “. . . feels wild. I really enjoy what I do: I feel like I’m adding value and giving back,” she shares. “The work that I do is impactful, and I really don’t think I could have predicted that this is where I’d be just four years after college.” She notes that some surprising elements of classroom studying proved to be extremely useful to her. “I built a lot of soft skills through my time in classes and internships, like building standards for myself and my work. Millersville University really set me up for success.”  

Check out MU’s sociology program.