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Chart your course
COLLEGE CONNECTION MAGAZINE
Recently, my 17-year-old son and I took a road to trip to scout out colleges and meet with professors in his chosen career field. His heart was set on chemistry, but after meeting with the first professor, his face fell. Suddenly he wasn’t sure if the major he intended would result in the career of his dreams. Perhaps he should have talked with a college career counselor. “I’m a firm believer that degree does not equal career,” said Mark Smith, vice chancellor and director of the Career Center at Washington University in St. Louis. Lesa E. Ketterlinus, director of the Career Center at Truman State University, agreed. “When I hear the phrase ‘marketability of a degree,’ the first thing that comes to mind is that for many students it’s not that important what they major in. I’d rather see students choose majors they are passionate about. Some careers, such as nursing, education and accounting, require specific career paths, but for many other careers students can take a number of paths to get where they want to be.” According to Ketterlinus and Smith, the question students should ask is “What do I ultimately want to do?” not “Can I get a job with this degree?” Rebbecca Brown, a graduate of Lindenwood University and an area middle school teacher, countered Smith’s and Ketterlinus’ theory. “Neither my husband nor I would be where we are without the specific education provided by our degrees,” she said. Her husband has a master’s degree in business administration. She offered her brother Chris as an example of how real life enters in. Chris had intended to follow his passion and major in animation, then he found a job with a good company, met his wife and got married. Attending school at night, he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Both Brown’s brother and husband like what they do and do it well, but she maintained that neither man is following his passion. “They chose degrees they believed had marketability,” she said. As we debated passion versus practicality, we reached a consensus. Perhaps the ideal career, we decided, is a little of both. If you choose to pursue a degree that you think will be marketable, you still better like what you’re doing or you’ll never be happy and you’ll never do what it takes to advance yourself in your chosen career. If you choose to follow your passion, such as majoring in fine art, you better have a personal marketing plan and be working it from the first day of your freshman year, or you might never find the job of your dreams. Smith, who began his professional career as a lawyer, suggested students use a Venn diagram to help define their career path. “In one circle, they should write all the things they love to do. In the second circle, they should write all the things they you are good at doing. In the final circle, they should write all the things they can get paid to do. They want to see if they can find a career where their circles intersect,” Smith said. “Eventually, there has to be an intersection of passion and actual job,” said Ketterlinus. On this point we all agreed. We also agreed that those intersections can and often do arise from internships and extra- or co-curricular activities. “One of the roles of the Career Center is to help students define what they have learned through their extra activities,” Ketterlinus said. College students, she and Smith suggested, need to: • work hard; • study what they love; • investigate jobs they might want to have; • ask questions of professionals they admire; • participate in internships and activities ... every year; • volunteer and network on- and off-campus (it really is about making good connections). “Obtaining a degree is part of living an examined life,” Smith said, but it is often the extra experiences associated with college that define a student’s career path. “College provides students with the opportunity to develop the traits employers are looking for, such as critical thinking and qualitative analysis skills, writing and communication skills, leadership ability and technical skills that specifically pertain to the field of their choice,” Smith said. Back in the Classroom Again For adult learners, like Brown, college is often much more focused. Most of these students are looking to refine their career or make a career change. Many have already completed their “college experience” years and are now looking for very specific courses to help them advance on very specific career paths. In health care, education and information technology (three of the most in-demand careers according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), continuing education is a must. Brown will begin working on her master’s degree this summer. Without it, she could not advance her career financially. “Teachers are involved in on-going professional development, but a master’s degree is needed to continue to be eligible for pay increases,” Brown said. Final advice to recent grads and job seekers “Here’s the paradigm for finding a job (or marketing your degree),” Smith said. “You expect it to be like applying to college – fill out the form, meet the criteria, get the job. But it’s more like dating – you have to meet a lot of people before you find the right fit.” Ketterlinus cautioned, “Recent graduates don’t have to hit a bulls eye with their first job. All they are trying to do at age 22 is to get on the target.” Then they can begin working toward their career goals. “They’re going to refine their skills and their ambitions a lot over the years,” Smith said. And that means, to keep themselves marketable, recent graduates may one day find themselves back in the classroom again.
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