One Year Out
Because I haven’t contributed to the blog for over a year now (last post was in July 2006), I wanted to re-introduce myself.
My last post here (on “Work Parties”) was just before I started my first job out of college, which was my second full time job. My background is diverse. I worked retail with increasing responsibility from the ages of 15 to 21, and spent 3 of those years in commissioned sales where I managed to pay for college without going in debt. I graduated from college with a B.A. in English: Creative Writing, with an almost-completed minor in Marketing. The job I took last August was in advertising/media sales, mostly outside sales to local businesses, and I left it at the beginning of June.
I could write 100 posts on this summer (and I just may eventually), but it’s been a myriad of experiences: a return to retail for a few weeks when times were tough, a seemingly great new job that didn’t work out, many interviews, a return to a former employer, networking and developing consulting work, much soul searching, and finally getting 2 job offers last week. Those are just the headlines.
Some people transition smoothly after college. Some people search for a long time and get stuck in retail or temp jobs for months or years. Others take the kind of path I’ve taken so far – 2 steps forward, 1 step back, with a lot of turbulence.
Anyway, the whole process (and this year in general) has me thinking about choices.
I used to view a resume as a compilation of experiences and achievements, and I’m still sure that those are important, key points. However, I think a resume actually presents our choices and values even clearer than it presents our strengths. Sure, nobody has unlimited options and sometimes we don’t get to choose exactly what we want, but part of me thinks the paths we choose to take and the choices we make – with schooling, career, activities, etc – are actually the “loudest” part of any resume.
For me, at this point in my life, I want to make career choices based on learning. Simply put: I’ll pick the job where I’ll learn the skills I think I’ll need to build a better me and enhance myself as a “product” in the workplace. Money, benefits, time, excitement – and even advancement within the company – are all secondary to, “What job will teach me what I need to learn?”
Because most of all what this first year out of college has taught me is what I don’t know and what I think I need to know.
As such, in addition to whichever of the 2 new jobs I choose, I’m also going back to school for an MBA (for the knowledge – whereas if I had gone back last year, it would have been for the degree), keeping up my network and my consulting jobs, and doing everything possible to build the brand of “Alison” inside and outside of the company I choose.
Questions answered...
1. What profession would you like to try?
Besides progressing in the things I've already tried (sales, advertising, marketing) - and shifting gears entirely - part of me still wants to be a professor or a novelist.
2. What was your best interview experience like?
I loved the interview process with the alternative newsweekly where I sold advertising (for about 10 months from last August to this June). It was fast-paced, with 4 interviews spread over a little less than 2 weeks last July, and very thorough. They had a phone interview, an in-person interview with the hiring manager, an in-person interview with the hiring manager and the publisher (some of which was redundant, but it allowed for meeting more people and developing the questions and dynamics on either side), a professional personality test, a follow up on the personality test, and an offer made in writing and explained in-person. That's the only place that has had an offer "put together" for me and gone over it in-person, rather than sending it out via e-mail and speaking over the phone. For me, that still stands out as a huge plus. I also appreciated the discussion about the personality test, as it helped me better understand myself, their needs, and how to succeed.
3. Where do you hope to be in five years?
I have no idea. I think planning details 5 years out is impossible to do honestly. I used to consider 3 year, 5 year, and 10 year plans. Now, I really don't think I can look at more than 18 months with any sort of sincerity, and I've told employers as much. I know I want to have an MBA by then, because I know I want to go back for that to gain the accounting and business foundation that I think would round out my sales and marketing skill set. I know I want to have a stronger network. I know I want to have furthered my experience in marketing and also know a lot more about podcasts, blog marketing, SEO, and other web marketing functions - since I have a stronger background in traditional media and direct mail at the moment but an aptitude for understanding internet functions. However, as far as where I see myself? Happy and stronger are the only two words that come to mind.
4. What would a movie about your life be called and who would play you?
Right now, I'm taken with the word "berrieh" - which is a Yiddish word for "woman with remarkable energy." So, perhaps that would be the title. In traditional Leo fashion, I'd like to play myself. If I had to pick a Hollywood actress, perhaps Natalie Portman. I think she has a "complicated" sense about her that I've always admired.
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