“Be open to out-of-the-box opportunities” is something Emily Hawrysz ’09 says to college students thinking about their future careers. It’s advice she herself once followed as a student at Western, and she’s never looked back.
In the nine years since earning her bachelor’s degree in economics, Hawrysz has worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, DC. She is currently a management and program analyst, working with the bureau’s criminal investigative division.
Hawrysz supports the FBI’s transnational organized crime program, which targets groups in the Eastern hemisphere of the world. She is part of a team that combats labor racketeering and internet sportsbook gambling, especially among Italian, Russian, Asian, African and Middle Eastern organized crime groups. “The bureau definitely keeps me busy and on my toes,” she says, “but it has also given me more opportunities than I ever could have imagined.”
Hawrysz compares her role to a business analyst, examining the bureau’s processes and procedures, looking at where there are deficiencies and offering solutions. “We have hundreds of task forces and thousands of agencies that we work with all across the country,” she says. “We’re looking at, basically, how we can do business better.”
Connecting economics and crime
Though working for the FBI may seem like an unconventional path for an economics major, Hawrysz says her career is a prime example of how “universally applicable” the field can be. “My degree in economics has definitely laid the groundwork for the critical and analytical thinking skills that are required for this job,” she says.
Hawrysz, who also minored in Spanish at Western, found herself connecting the concepts of economics and crime while working on her Lee Honors College thesis. With Dr. Michael Ryan, professor of economics, as her committee chair, she produced a literature review thesis on money laundering in Latin America and its economic impact. “Dr. Ryan was a big influence on me,” she says. “He taught my first econ class, microeconomics, which sparked my interest in the field. It just kind of clicked for me.”
During her junior year of college, Hawrysz came across an opportunity to apply for an internship with the FBI. “I grew up in a law enforcement home in the Chicago area, and at that point in my education I was trying to figure out the best way to apply the degree I was earning from Western," she says. "I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to go into the private sector, and once I got into the FBI I thought it would be a good fit for me long term."
Supporting the mission
Hawrysz began her internship in DC the summer before her senior year and was able to transfer to the bureau’s Kalamazoo field office while completing her degree. “I got offered a full-time position contingent upon my graduation from Western and the rest is history,” she says.
She started with the bureau’s information technology branch before moving to the criminal investigative division. In this role, she led a team responsible for examining the funds allocated for information systems and applications. When the US was facing its budget sequestration in 2013, Hawrysz’s team worked to identify spending cuts so the bureau could avoid employee furloughs. “The goal was to keep our employees doing the work and supporting the mission,” she says. “We all play a role in making sure the FBI’s mission gets accomplished. That’s what drives me.”
Today, life on the job is anything but typical for Hawrysz. “Every day is different, which is what’s so great about the FBI,” she says. “It always depends on what comes through the door, but at headquarters there are times when you’re in the weeds analyzing data, developing methodologies or looking at projects. Then there are times when I find myself briefing out my results and recommendations to senior leaders in the bureau, and having them agree to take action. It’s exciting when you get to see the results of your work directly impact how we do business at the FBI.”
Hawrysz plans to have a lasting career with the bureau, exploring new opportunities along the way. “I’m a management and program analyst now, but that’s just one of several different jobs we have at the FBI,” she says. “I’d like to stay with the bureau long term and there are lots of opportunities for me to do that and not get bored.”
No matter what role she may find herself in, Hawrysz has discovered that working for the US government is well suited for the analytically minded. “The federal government’s budget is about $4.1 trillion in fiscal year 2018. When you put that in the context of a private business or the more traditional economic fields people go into, that’s a lot of money that should be getting spent efficiently and effectively,” she says. “The FBI was not on my radar before my internship. I would encourage anyone in the economics field to consider it as a career option.”
For more information about the Department of Economics at Western Michigan University, visit wmich.edu/economics. To learn more about careers with the FBI, visit FBIjobs.gov.