One of my closest friends, a successful food and travel writer, provides the following wise counsel: "when you've explained something or said something for the third time, it's time to post it or publish it." In keeping with that advice, I will be writing a regular column for the Graduate School newsletter. These columns emerge from the conversations I have on a regular basis with the amazing grad students here at The University of Texas (UT).
What is Your "Career"?
One of the most stressful elements of graduate school is answering the question: What are you going to do with your degree? Or, how does the job market look? Especially at this time of year when job search rapids are building, I'd like to offer some perspective on finding a job, or even more daunting, starting a career.
My advice is simple: Don't build a career. Build a consistent and excellent record of making a difference for people.
And, of course, find a way to support yourself while doing it. This may mean that you have a job or a profession doing what you love, making a meaningful difference, and getting paid well. This may also mean that you have a profession doing something you love well enough, getting paid well enough, doing your most meaningful work "on the side."
Consider my own path, for example. Since earning my Ph.D. in Communication Studies from UT (which is presumably when my career began) I have had the following titles: Assistant Professor of Communication, Associate Professor of Communication, Lecturer, Coordinator, Director of Professional Development and Community Engagement, and Director of Community Partnerships. I have had some of these titles at the same time. In addition, I am an active participant in community organizations, a board member, and a consultant. The question is, what exactly is my career?
What is anyone's career? For some, it is a profession or a job. For others, it is an accumulated body of work. Whatever a career is, it is not something sitting out there waiting for you to find (through a search) or launch. It is the common thread that connects all the meaningful work you do, and it is as much a matter of interpretation as anything intrinsically real. This means that you can't know your career ahead of time—you can only "figure it out" as it unfolds over time. Your career will emerge as you do interesting, meaningful work and as you take the time to reflect on what you are doing and connect the dots.
This is not to say that you shouldn't worry about a career or plan for a career. The process you go through developing a career plan is incredibly valuable, because it enables you to articulate your strengths and values and discover where you can bring value to others. Like business plans or project plans, career plans are as important for the process of putting them together as anything else. You should revisit your own plan often. This will help (force) you to continually reflect on your own situation as it changes—which it will.
Best advice? Connect with people who are doing work that really interests you or inspires you. Connect with people doing work you want to do yourself. Talk to them, tell them what you are doing, and listen for the gap between what they've done and what they are still trying to accomplish. Wherever you can help close that gap, invite yourself to help them. Initially, this will probably mean that you get to volunteer. Over time, though, it may mean a new position or a consulting job, if that's what you want. Either way, you will be actively involved with others who share your commitments, working on issues that matter to you.
Other best advice? Start now. Relationships take time to develop and deepen, so start finding and talking to people. Take advantage of the amazing resources that are available to you in career service offices, faculty, and colleagues, both on and off campus. The work you want to do and the relationships you need to do that work are not sitting "out there" waiting to be found. You will create them, or help them emerge, by continually finding opportunities to make a difference and actively engaging others to work with you.
