Linguistics and Logistics: Meet James Anderson, Project Controls Consultant

When James Anderson graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics, he didn’t initially envision a career in Earned Value Management (EVM). First, he moved to Japan to teach English at a private school, where he taught a variety of classes for preschoolers all the way to adults. He managed a number of different classroom styles, from one-on-one instruction to having over 40 children in one class. He eventually returned to the U.S. and began considering the next chapter of his career.

“In looking at new opportunities, logistics seemed like an interesting opportunity,” James says. “I really liked the supportive aspect of it -- that the focus is on enabling others.”

James’ sister Sally Wine, an MRC veteran, told him about an internship opportunity at MRC. Sally had been an intern at MRC herself and really enjoyed the experience. Seeing an opportunity to explore his new interest in logistics, James applied for and was accepted to the internship. He has since continued on at MRC as a full-time project controls consultant.

Today, James works with the project team at the Berkeley Lab, a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science lab managed by the University of California, alongside MRC consultants Jeff Chan and Anita Malahowski and four controls members from the Berkeley Lab. James partners with cost accounting managers on the team to help manage their project schedules. He also develops automation used to generate reports and seamlessly moves data between the Berkeley Lab and The Hammer’s Drill Down Analysis Tool.

“I think my favorite part of the job is when I am developing macros in Excel or analyzing data in Excel reports,” James says. “It might not be exciting for most people, but even outside of work, a lot of what I do for fun involves playing around with spreadsheets.”

Off the clock, James finds ways outside of linguistics or logistics to “scratch the mental itch.” An avid gamer, he enjoys everything from video games to board games to roleplaying games. He’s even working on developing a tabletop gaming system with a few friends – an undertaking that utilizes the same skills he uses in his work at MRC.