13 September 2007

So all that education worked out well....

Thanks to Peripatetic Polar Bear and Jane Dark, I, too, have learned that I'm in the right career. My top 10 career results were:
1. curator
2. professor
3. anthropologist
4. ESL teacher
5. foreign language instructor
6, sport psychology consultant
7. website designer
8. historian
9. music teacher
10. psychologist
11. humanitarian aid worker
12. librarian

and amusingly, hairstylist was just above activist somewhere later down the list.

Librarian, for a long time, was the career I wished I'd pursued, along with that of a park ranger or museum docent. So curator isn't too far off the mark.

I'm teaching a unit in a few weeks on preparing for life after college, something I put into the capstone seminar I'm teaching for our seniors. I've realized, of course, that little in my own professional training has really helped me advise students about how to look for jobs straight out of college. I'm reading a lot of job search websites and planning a resume workshop; I've asked them to visit the career center for a counseling appointment (something which seems to have mixed results). Any readers have good ideas for graduating seniors? I'm happy to take suggestions from the peanut gallery as I work up this new unit.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interestingly, mathematician isn't on that list, which may provide a clue as to why your top ten list has twelve entries. ;)

No suggestions from me... my only post-grad thoughts were about grad schools.

susan said...

OK, that is very funny, That Mommy (and welcome to the comments here, too).

I meant to just list the top 10, but then I saw librarian was nearby and added it. I can count to 10, most of the time, anyway. (in fact, I once drove across Ohio counting to 10, the day that Curious Girl first realized she could count to 10, and was just so happy to do it over, and over, and over, and over. At least it wasn't Pennsylvania.)

Magpie said...

I graduated 25 years ago and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Anonymous said...

Well, if either of us get tired of what we are really doing, at least we know that we could get together and open a hair and makeup salon...

I have a couple of ideas for your capstone, but will email you, as Blogger is being weird about my comments...

jo(e) said...

I just went and took the quiz, and Professor was in the number one spot.

That seems almost creepy ....

Bardiac said...

I got actuary in my top spot. I don't quite know what that is.

For your after graduation thing. Maybe check out the stuff on the AAC&U website (the LEAP Executive Summary, perhaps?)for ideas about what employers are looking for in graduates. The idea is to think about oneself as having skills rather than being an X major. Those skills are valuable to employers in obvious ways, though hearing someone talk about themselves as an X major may not be.

http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/index.cfm

Deb Cohler said...

Delurking...
I teach a gender studies capstone. I ask them to write out their professional/job goals for the next year, for five years from now, and then 10 years from now. It takes a little of the "decide the rest of your life now" pressure away and reminds them that they have some time.
Also, alumni panels are great if you can swing it.