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?
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