Dean's Student Advisory Group
Career Night Participant Biography
Cynthia Cole
(B.A. 1978, French; M.B.A. 1989)
Trade Advisor, International Trade Division
Ohio Department of Development
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43216
(614) 466-5281
ccole@odod.state.oh.us
First job out of college: Intern, Ohio Legislative Service Commission
Cynthia Cole graduated from O S U in June 1978 with a B.A. in French. She began her professional career in December 1978 as a participant in a 13-month internship program sponsored by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission (L S C). The Ohio Legislative Service Commission is the state government agency that drafts legislation and staffs legislative committees of the Ohio Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives. LSC interns are typically liberal arts majors with good writing skills and who have an interest in state government. (She learned about the job by attending an LSC intern recruiting program held at O S U during her senior year.) As an intern, Ms. Cole was assigned to work in the office of Senator Oliver Ocasek who was then Ohio Senate President. While an intern, her duties included responding to constituent inquiries and preparing speech material for the senator. When the internship ended in December 1979, she was asked by Senator Ocasek to remain on his staff as a legislative aide. She did so and continued to work for him until June 1983 when she left the Ohio Senate and took a job as an international trade specialist in the International Trade Division (I T D) of the Ohio Department of Development. She is still employed in that capacity. Ms. Cole's work involves assisting Ohio companies to export their products. She also serves as the "desk officer" for Europe and the main point of contact with the State of Ohio office in Brussels. She has represented the State of Ohio at trade shows in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and Mexico. She has also met with international delegations from parts of Europe and the former Soviet Republics to discuss the International Trade Division and Ohio as an exporting state. Ms. Cole has been involved in human resources issues such as reviewing resumes, interviewing job applicants, and administering her office intern program. Soon after starting at the International Trade Division, she decided to obtain more formal business training and began taking continuing education classes at night at O S U. Eventually, she decided to earn a second degree. She entered O S U's evening MBA program in September 1987 and graduated in June 1989.
