Dallas CEO Says Education Is The Password To A New Career
Paul Hillers is a partner at Bighill Systems, an identity and access management firm. Bighill installs and maintains identity and password software for corporations.
Hillers didn't start off as being the CEO of Bighill. He went to Richland College, a Dallas County Community College District school, to earn his basic core classes before transferring to University of Texas at Dallas where he earned a bachelor's in government and politics. He went on to Texas A&M in College Station and earned a master's degree in public administration.
He worked at a local government agency to assist his region in developing one of the first local workforce boards. He then worked as a retail store manager for Computer City which was then bought out by CompUSA. After a while, he decided to leave retail and went to work for Electronic Data Systems (EDS) as a business analyst.
As downsizing occurred at EDS, Hillers found himself without a job and went to work for another company to assist them in closing their company. After that, he went to work for Affiliated Computer Systems (ACS), which later became part of XEROX. While working at XEROX, Hillers decided he wanted to add some more weight to his educational arsenal and went back to school to earn his master's in business administration from University of Texas at Dallas. He went back to school part-time so that he could continue working. Another victim of layoffs, Hillers worked for another company which later closed its U.S. office. Hillers got tired of being a victim of layoffs and decided to form his own company, Bighill Systems, with a partner.
"Going back to school is definitely worth it. Now that I have my own business, all of my courses have come in handy in handling my company," said Hillers.
Robin D. Everson is a native Chicagoan who resides in Dallas, Texas. Her appreciation for art, food, wine, people and places has helped her become a well-respected journalist. A life-long lover of education, Robin seeks to learn and enlighten others about culture. You can find her work at Examiner.com.