Living in Singapore
How do you juggle working in nine time zones, keeping up with family, and caring for a newborn, all while living in a foreign country? For alumna Jillian Rothe, it’s all in a day’s work.
Rothe works for Caterpillar Inc. in Singapore. Her self-described “needlessly long” title is Energy and Transportation Business Development Manager—Asia Pacific Region for Cat Financial Insurance Services. In a nutshell, Rothe develops and markets extended-warranty insurance products for Caterpillar’s engines, generators, and other applications.
When she graduated from Michigan Tech, Rothe was armed with dual-degrees in mechanical engineering and business administration, also earning a certificate in international business. She turned her unique college experience into a successful career at Caterpillar. Rothe recalls, “Our Husky roots allowed me to approach and speak honestly about what kind of job I was really interested in.”
Since Rothe started with Caterpillar in 2006, she has lived in five cities and three countries. Rothe traces her success back to her experiences at Tech, where she learned that relationships open doors. “Many times opportunities come from who you know more than what you know,” she says. “The small campus allows people to forge relationships in school, which is great practice for the real-world version of life. Show up, work hard, and be sincere. Success will follow.”
Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
