Tag: Career Exploration

Balancing Act: thinking about the future and being present here, now

Last night at Penn Convocation, I listened to remarks by several senior leaders, all of whom offered good advice. Trustee Claire Lomax, Col ’84, greeted new students on behalf of the board and Penn alumni. One of her statements really resonated with me. She told the students to “be present,” to enjoy and fully participate in Penn and the Penn community. Oh, sure, you may be saying, of course I will do that. But too often, we meet students, be they undergraduates or graduate students, who are so focused on the future, on the next step, that they do not fully engage now in all that Penn has to offer, both academically and in the range of activities beyond the classroom or the lab.

This may seem counterintuitive for a Career Services person to be saying, but it really isn’t. Don’t select classes to protect your GPA. Learn something new, even though you may not get an A. Pick up a new skill or try a new activity (an intramural sport or a performing arts group, for example), as Provost Vincent Price suggested during his Convocation speech. The choices, both on campus and off, are well beyond anything a great many of you have seen before. Be here, and by fully engaging, you might serendipitously discover a path to your future. But don’t choose something for that reason alone. Being present is its own reward, one you don’t want to miss.

On behalf of everyone in Career Services, all the best for a great semester.

A cool job, favorite things and careers

By Sharon Fleshman

icecreamAs I dedicate this blog to two of my favorite things (summer and sweets), I wonder how fun it might be to dream up jobs related to them.  With the heat of the summer months comes an opportunity to enjoy something cool. As much as I appreciate a frosty glass of iced tea or lemonade, there’s nothing quite like a scoop of ice cream. (Just about anything with chocolate works for me.)  So imagine my glee when I stumbled upon information about John Harrison, who has what I would call a “cool” job – ice cream taster.

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say ice cream is a favorite of yours.  As you add ice cream taster to your list to related jobs, consider some more possibilities.  You could develop new flavors, manage or own an ice cream shop, develop a marketing plan for a brand of ice cream, and so on.

Brainstorming around favorite things for career options may seem whimsical, but imagine what could emerge. This process may not be so much about finding a career involving that specific favorite thing as much as a chance to allow your creativity some space to roam in your career development.

Enjoy the last days of summer and the treats that come with it!

 

 

Pathways: Reflections on First Jobs – Revisited

By Sharon Fleshman

Recently, two of my colleagues offered some food for thought regarding the search for passion and meaning in a career.  Hopefully, Pat Rose’s blog –  Passion? What Passion?, and Claire Klieger’s blog – Career Exploration Lessons from the Cheshire Cat will encourage you to give yourself permission to not have things all figured out as you get started in your career.  As I reflect on my first job after college, I am reminded about how it informed my career path.

When I received my degree in Computer Science from Penn, my first job was in information technology consulting. I never expected to come back to Penn to work, or to be a career advisor. As time went by, I noticed a growing restlessness about my sense of purpose as it related to my career. My church and community involvement was certainly a catalyst for my eventual transition to the non-profit sector as I had felt increasingly more fulfilled in my roles outside of work. In spite of this, I have no regrets about my first job because I discovered a lot about what I want and don’t want in a career. I liked certain elements of consulting. I enjoyed helping clients in ways that required intellectual curiosity and allowed exposure to a variety of areas. Consulting also challenged me to learn and adapt quickly and project more confidence about my abilities. My colleagues were smart, friendly and motivated, but it was hard to forge strong collegial relationships given the need for consultants to move from client to client. In retrospect, I realize that having a sense of community at work was and still is important to me. When I found out about a Career Counselor position at Career Services twelve years ago, I was drawn to the opportunity to continue my advisory work in an environment that is more compatible with my work values.

All of this is not to say that one can only find meaning and purpose in a particular field or sector. My point is that your first job will not define your entire career, but it can potentially be a springboard for cultivating self-discovery that will help you to progress in your development. As you enter the next phase of your life in the world of work, make sure to take the time to reflect on lessons learned on the journey

 

Passion? What Passion?

Students, if you can see the end of your Penn years looming in the not too distant future, this post is for you. It concerns passion. You may have been asked or are asking yourself what your passion is. You may even be tired of hearing well-meaning friends and relatives say, just follow your passion.

If you actually have a passion, carry on. You are fortunate. You are also in the minority. Most undergraduates (and many graduate students as well) do not have anything resembling a passion. So don’t feel bad or inadequate if you don’t yet have a passion that is leading you to a particular kind of work.

In my experience after watching the careers of numerous Penn alumni unfold, graduates discover their passion through the development of skills, and this frequently happens in the workplace. It is through the daily discipline of a job that you develop the skills and expertise you need to feel like you are really making a contribution. You feel good about yourself when you do something well. You become excited about the work, and your strong performance on the job. In this way you develop a passion for this work (and perhaps the industry), and you seek positions in the future where you can use and continue to develop these important skills that you can now demonstrate.

What if you do have a passion, but it is for a political candidate, or a charitable organization, or a sports team, or any number of other things? You would do anything to work for that candidate, or that non-profit, or that team. This can be hard. The positions available may be volunteer, or extremely low paying. They could be routine, and give little opportunity to develop skills or to advance. But if by working in the organization you are meeting people, observing the roles they play, learning about the field and developing a vocabulary, then give it a try. After all, if you can’t take a risk at 22, when will you ever be able to do so?

If you can’t make it happen (or can’t afford to), don’t despair. The world is full of people who pursue their passions outside of work as volunteers. In the meantime, you can be working someplace where you can make a living, develop expertise, and perhaps find a new passion, one that is potentially more authentic and long-lasting.

The Complexity of Career Planning

puzzlepiecesI’m currently studying complexity theory, the way “patterns emerge through the interaction of many agents.”* Because the actors and issues and environment continually change, patterns also change as they emerge, stabilize, and then perhaps dissipate. Observation and flexibility are the keys here.

This seems particularly applicable to planning and navigating careers. Since everything is in flux—organizations, technology, economies, the environment, politics, relationships, and YOU—we’re aiming at moving targets. Preparation for a career can take years as we study, develop skills, and gain experience. When we finally get “there,” the “there” has likely changed.

So in order to prepare for the evolving and complex landscape of the future, developing the skills of observing, learning, and adapting is critical. “Probing” is key. Your liberal arts education at the University of Pennsylvania provides a foundation for this perspective. I encourage you to observe, question, discuss, and engage as often as possible. In the realm of career planning, this means opening up to a range of options. If you have already identified a career goal, plan for it and pursue it while simultaneously continuing to learn about other opportunities and how they are similar to or differ from your initial focus. If you are exploring career options or haven’t yet begun to do so, jump in and learn about career possibilities in every setting. Pay attention to the work that people do and ask them questions about it. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing, do it! And talk to others who also do it to see if/how they’ve used their skills in professional settings.

The best tactic, the one that will help you adapt to how the future unfolds, is to explore.

 

*From Kurtz, C.F., Snowden, D. J. “The New Dynamics of Strategy: Sense-Making in a Complex and Complicated World,” in IBM Systems Journal (42:3), 2003.