Reflection on an interview by Dr Andrew Sneddon

‘Why should we hire an ancient history graduate?’

(Reflection on an interview by Dr Andrew Sneddon)

Ancient History graduates develop a unique combination of analytical, research and communication skills that translate directly into professional success. Dr Andrew Sneddon attributes much of his own success to the rigorous research and writing disciplines he developed through his ancient history studies, particularly his honours thesis on Emperor Nero.

Furthermore, his ability to combine and integrate his knowledge from multiple disciplines (e.g. law, archaeology, heritage) to address complex real-world problems has enabled him to transition successfully between the worlds of academia and heritage consulting industry.

These interdisciplinary skills, first cultivated during his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in ancient history, have equipped him with valuable skills and adaptability which he has used to manage diverse teams and oversee projects around the world, leveraging academic insight with applied field experience.

As a fellow legal practitioner and one who specialises in the areas of Energy and Biosciences, I have been encouraged by Andrew’s lived experience. As a Latin Major, my brief foray into ancient history subjects has challenged me to refine my research, critical thinking, and writing skills. This experience has given me a glimpse into potential future professional opportunities and how I might capitalise on my ancient history studies and skills beyond the university classroom.

Peer Feedback by Patrick Jones

Your argument was cogent, focused, and accurately represents the interview. It must be interesting to discover parallels between your professional experience and Dr Sneddon’s: remarkably serendipitous.

The substance of your reflection is strong and needs no modification.

There is one grammatical oversight; ‘the world of academia and heritage consulting industry,’ should probably read: ‘the worlds of academia and the heritage consulting industry.’ I would also suggest a comma between ‘world’ and ‘leveraging.’

The only other feedback I could offer is (extremely subjective and minor) style notes. I include them for the sake of completeness, but I don’t think you really need to implement them, as your piece is effective as it is.

1. You repeat the phrase ‘professional success’ in the first paragraph. You could shift the emphasis to ‘his own success’ in the second instance.

2. ‘Interdisciplinary knowledge from multiple disciplines,’ might be neatened up.

3. You could merge the middle two paragraphs, keeping the final clause of the third paragraph.

4. There are three separate tricolon constructions in the final paragraph.

a) ‘to develop, build and refine’

b) ‘research, critical thinking and writing skills’

c) ‘position, leverage and capitalise’

In the interest of brevity, you might keep b) which emphasises your skills and neatly recapitulates your thesis. For a) and c), I would just keep ‘refine’ and ‘capitalise,’ which are the most modally precise adjectives in each phrase.

5. You could trim ‘other’ from ‘other potential future.’

Again, these are minor quibbles. I enjoyed your reflection; thank you for sending it to me.

How I would incorporate Patrick’s peer feedback

I thought Patrick’s peer feedback was particularly helpful and practical. For the reflection version shown above, I have incorporated a couple of the suggestions.

Patrick Jones’ Reflection on an interview by Weston Bruner

‘Why should we hire an ancient history graduate?’ (Reflection on an interview by Weston Bruner)

The truth is: most university graduates can perform work relevant skills. Most of us can analyse data, construct arguments and communicate in writing. These days, in the age of AI, it seems that you don’t even need to be human to perform these skills—and yet, you do want a real person to do them. That is, humanity is the desired quality.

This is precisely what ancient history offers: humanity. The writers of antiquity cared deeply about those things that most move us: philosophy, politics, art, mathematics, tragedy, indeed, the full scope of human experience. The ancient history graduate benefits from this breadth with the singular benefit of millennia of curation. We read what was worth painstaking hand-copying for thousands of years. Nor should we imagine this copying as rote dogmatism: we see ideas emerge, develop through critique, transform, die, and sometimes return over the space of centuries.

This grants the ancient history graduate perspective. We can synthesise what is useful from across disciplines and across time with what is necessary now, while remaining sensitive to the thousand natural shocks that are our common inheritance. In short, you should hire an ancient history graduate for their humanity.

My Peer Feedback to Patrick

Dear Patrick

I really enjoyed reading your reflection. It elevated the discussion beyond technical skills and experiences to the enduring human insight cultivated by a graduate of ancient history. The argument you put forward was cohesive, elegant and it demonstrated both intellect and voice. To strengthen it further, you might mention Weston’s name and then briefly anchor your philosophical argument by providing a practical example. This would have the effect of showing how this ‘humanitas’ manifests in real-life professional contexts and settings.