In the current environment of an abundantly college-educated competitive workforce, how does one stand out for professional opportunities? How can you re-engineer your educational and professional background to match the changing needs of the workplace? By remaining flexible, being creative, and finding ways to integrate your professional essence into the workplace, the opportunities become limitless.
Graduating from university at a time at the beginning of the current recession, we were unprepared for the challenges which lay ahead. We were encouraged to do well in school and that everything else would fall into place. Graduating in the later half of the 1990s, I was among some of the last cohorts of students who were repeatedly told that a college degree would be the ultimate key to financial success, and that employers would be excitedly waiting to hire us. When I graduated with a masters degree in cultural anthropology, I was completely unprepared for the needs of the workforce. Friends and family often asked “What are you going to do with that major?” (which I will answer later in this piece). My science and math grades were discouraging, and this shut down my original plan of majoring in Biology. As a student, I was focused on completing coursework instead of seeking internships and professional development opportunities, which I had heard little about.
The now-familiar conundrum was reflected in the lack of interview requests – I had a university graduate degree, but no work experience. I needed work experience in order to be offered work. In order to pay the bills, I began working full time at retail stores and at fast food restaurants in the evenings. I finally landed a full time opportunity as a secretary for mid-sized company. My self-esteem took a hit as a younger, high school educated colleague was selected to be my manager. In addition, I saw that younger college grads with degrees in social science would enter the company in more professional roles. I wondered what I had missed out on. When I asked managers about the possibility of me moving into these roles, they responded saying that I lacked a particular skill they sought (such as writing a business plan, or understanding procurement procedures).
In those days, I also gave up easily. I was not very confident in my abilities either. I believed that my skills were not important, and, after all, I was the one who applied for that administrative assistant role. My next job sent me to a call center answering phone calls. Among the hundreds of employees, a fraction of the line staff had undergraduate degrees, and just a few individuals had graduate degrees. I spent the next three years at this office, where micromanagement of staff down to the minute was of statistical importance to the agency. I was unfulfilled and needed to find an answer. It took these three years, but this is where I began to see the light.
I took that deep breath and began to fight for my place in the professional world. As my previous degrees had not taken me far, I was determined to go farther. I applied to an evening graduate degree program in administration and completed my studies with distinction. I applied to any leadership opportunity I could find through the use of the internet. When my workplace invited applications for an in-house mentoring program, I submitted my application the same afternoon the email was distributed. I joined community leadership programs, and I began a daily search for new professional opportunities.
I mentioned above that I was not very confident, and this did not disappear. I was pleased to have been accepted into a community professional leadership cohort, but felt inadequate at networking meetings. I was placed in conversation with executive directors, high level managers, and other professionals doing the work I wished I were doing. Some days I would leave events early feeling insignificant and out of my league.
Nonetheless, I persevered. I began to read the resumes and professional backgrounds of individuals I admired. Interestingly, I did not find that my background was much different. I simply needed to find my way into professional opportunities. I began to understand the need for networking and making my skills known to the workforce.
Soon after graduating from my evening program, I was offered a new position as an analyst. For the first time, I am employed in a role which requires my degree, working on challenging and exciting new projects. I can now reflect on the journey and begin to work creatively on shaping the future.
I began to understand and develop my professional essence. I love working with communities, I enjoy understanding diverse cultures, and I can now connect these skills to the business world. I can now see past professional boundaries and create my own path. Reflecting on my past educational training, my passion was in anthropology and the study of international cultures. Through this discipline, I learned about the values of communities and how to be aware of the cultural nuances of diverse groups. I have traveled abroad and love learning about the cultural values and lifestyles of people around the world. I have now begun to integrate this interest in my current work as an analyst, understanding the ways that culture can affect marketing. I have suggested and created projects connecting to these themes, which have been well-received. In addition, I enrolled in a certificate program in technology, in order to learn how to map population demographics. Working in this new field is exciting, and I have begun to integrate all of my interests. I have finally seen the light.
With this new awareness, I have begun preparing my consulting business and am currently in process of learning how to establish the business. I am already assisting clients in mapping demographics, writing ethnographic reports, and designing programs to improve business processes to serve diverse populations. I am working with health care, government, and nonprofit industries to prepare these organizations for changing demographic trends across communities.