Establishing A Clear Career Objective

Imagine you are at the car lot to end all car lots. Every car known to man is available for purchase. The salesman asks you which car you want. Money is not a concern when purchasing this car.  Take a moment to picture in your mind your ideal car. On a sheet of blank paper, describe this car.

Looking at your car description, take note of a few items. Does your description name the make and model of the car? Did you include model year or exterior color? Have you gone as far as to think about the interior material, rim size, and any additional desired upgrades? If you were to describe your ideal car to the salesperson at the car lot would they be able to clearly understand and picture the vehicle you are imagining?

At some point in your college career you will probably be asked the question, “What do you plan to do with your degree?” or “What type of job are you looking for after graduation?” Your ability to clearly and specifically answer these questions will determine the level to which the person asking the questions can help you in your job search. The first step in any job search is to define your objective. If you aren’t certain of the type or even types of positions you want, how can you go about effectively searching for jobs, networking with potential employers, or soliciting support from friends, family, and faculty?

Just like knowing the specifics of your ideal car can help your salesman locate it, knowing your career objective will help your target audience, those in the position to help you reach your goals, be able to connect you with desired opportunities. 

As you develop your career objective think about the following criteria:

• What industry do you want to work in? Examples: Manufacturing, Banking and Finance, Logistics, Healthcare, Retail, Education, Hospitality, Agriculture, Real Estate, etc.
• What kind of role do you want to play? Examples: Research and Development, Consulting, Design, Engineering, Business Management, Service, Accounting, etc.
• Would you prefer to work with a smaller or larger company?
• Is your ideal job located in a certain part of the country?
• Are you looking for a company that offers a certain salary or benefits? Examples: Affordable Health Insurance, 401k Matching, On-Site Childcare Options, Flexible Work Hours, Bonus Pay, Tuition Reimbursement, an Employee Gym, etc.
• What are the key skills and qualifications you can offer a potential employer?

Having a specific career objective in mind will help you pitch your goals and value to others who can support you in your job search. It can also provide motivation to jumpstart your job search in the midst of fulfilling your many other roles and responsibilities. As you begin to identify and apply for opportunities note criteria that you are willing to compromise on or be more flexible with and items that are non-negotiables for you. Modify your objective as needed as your goals become clearer.

Next time you are asked the once dreaded questions, “What do you plan to do with your degree?” or “What type of job are you looking for after graduation?” you can respond with more than the quick, vague default answer, “A good job.” 

And I'll take one of these babies in the driveway.

It's the Most Wonderful Time...for Informational Interviewing

On November 5^th LinkedIn promoted “Bring Your Parents to Work Day” to help parents learn about what their adult children do for a living and to encourage them to continue providing career advice after college. In a survey of over 20,000 people, they found that 55% of parents admitted to not being entirely familiar with what their children for work. Many parents know their child’s industry, employer or job title, but few know about the day-to-day responsibilities, tasks and accomplishments that comprise those titles. The same likely goes for children lacking awareness of their parent’s jobs.

During the upcoming holiday season take advantage of extra time with your parents and extended family to learn more about their jobs and career paths. Ask questions about what they do, what they like about their jobs and how they got into their chosen field in place of small talk about the weather and how your fall semester was. This informal informational interviewing can you help as you explore your own career path. You might even find that a member of your family is doing the type of work you desire and can serve as a connection for internships and full-time jobs. Or, you may learn about an interesting new career that you never knew existed.

Come back to the Career Center in the spring to discuss this new found information and use web resources at auburn.edu/career to do more exploration. Our career counselors can help you choose a major to reach your career goal or talk about how you can use your current major to pursue various career options.

Happy Holidays and Happy Info Interviewing!

Let's Talk Salary...

Very often, it seems, conversations with students about any potential career path seem to follow a specific pattern.  The student finds that over the course of their education here at Auburn their interests have changed, or perhaps they have found a new potential career path about which they are excited.  We will discuss what type of work someone in the particular field might do, what types of degrees might be necessary for advancement in the field, and even potential opportunities for the student to gain more information by job shadowing or informational interviewing.  At some point in the conversation, however,  the student will ask the same question, sometimes in hushed tones as though to broach such a subject was somehow considered taboo: “How much money can I make?”  While this is both a relevant and necessary question for anyone doing research on a potential career, it is one that is easily answered by utilizing the resources made available for all of us on the Career Center website, as well as a few other sites easily accessed on the internet.  

 For your convenience, I have summarized what some of the more popular resources have to offer:

 Auburn University Graduate Salary Information

Accessed via a link on the Web Resources tab of the Career Center webpage, this resource provides salary information for recent graduates of Auburn University divided by major.  The most recent data is for graduates from the summer of 2012-spring of 2013.  Some of the information is provided for department rather than specific major, but Auburn students should utilize this resource as a great tool for setting reasonable entry level salary expectations for their chosen career field

The National Association of Colleges and Employers Salary Calculator

 This handy tool provided via a link on the Career Center website allows one to search for salary date by location, occupation type, and education level.  Upon entry of the relevant information, the tool will provide one with salary data for entry level positions, the median for the area specified, and the top ten percent of earners for the desired occupational field.  Perhaps most useful, the tool also provides one with the salary one can expect in the market specified, which should equip a student with the information necessary for negotiating that first salary with a potential employer.         

Occupational Outlook Handbook (bls.gov/ooh/)

A website maintained by the U.S. Government, the Occupational Outlook Handbook provides information on a wide variety of careers, including degree requirements, expected growth, and, you guessed it, the median salary for a field.  One need simply choose an occupation from an extensive list to access this information.

Having a realistic understanding of salary expectations is important, but remember that the your experience level will impact your earning potential. Do yourself a favor and take advantage of opportunities to gain relevant experience while in college to help boost your starting salary.

Written by Christopher Burkhalter

Practicum Student in the Career Center

           

What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?

My sister-in-law, who is a freshman in college, came to visit sunny Alabama for spring break. We talked about her college classes, her friends, joining the intramural bowling team, and finally came to the topic every relative of every college freshman trots out during family gatherings since, well, the dawn of higher education.

Her major.

Turns out, she likes her ancient history class and knows all the names of early Roman emperors. She fantasizes about traveling to the Mediterranean to dig up the bones of our pre-historic ancestors. I thought as hard as I could, accessing all my career super-powers, and acclaimed, “Have you thought about majoring in history or anthropology?”

She had, of course. Astonishing how many people know what they want without even a counselor’s super-powers. Then:

“But you can’t do anything with a history major.”

Ah, my friends, here, as Hamlet says, is the rub. What will the history major do after she’s graduated? Or, for that matter, the English, art, philosophy, music, Spanish, or theater major? It’s no secret only a select few write the next great American novel or land roles on Broadway, and these few not only made the best grades, gained huge amounts of related experience since age five, and created connections with all the right people. Plenty of liberal arts majors have done the same. The “professional” liberal artists of our generation also were born under some, even if it’s barely twinkling, lucky star. The hard truth is that, yes, almost all liberal arts majors do not “do” what they “went to school for.”

But not being able to do anything with a liberal arts degree? That’s just unimaginative. You’re a liberal arts major, right? Haven’t you learned to be creative? To find answers to problems in new ways?

What about those excellent writing skills you gained in Personal Essays 311? You learned to work as a team with every cast and crew member for the curtain go up on opening night, right? What about that verbal fluidity you loved cultivating in Ethics, ferreting out holes in classmates’ arguments? And hey, didn’t you perform well under pressure during your senior recital, even though you also took four classes and served at Mellow Mushroom this spring? These are called transferable skills , and, my dear liberal arts major, employers want them.

I’ll tell you another secret: these employers don’t care if you developed these skills as a business major, family studies major, or liberal arts major, but they need you to make that connection between your degree and your transferable skills for them. It’s up to you to explicitly flash the following in neon lights: “Developed Strong Leadership Capabilities Through Stage Managing Cast Of 50.” Otherwise, they’ll never know how jam-packed full of skills that theater degree really is.

Who are these employers? And how do you find them?  

Honestly, they’re everywhere. Now, these employers certainly do not hire liberal arts majors for positions that require specific degree paths (think nurses, engineers, architects, etc.), but every engineering firm and every hospital needs people to organize, schedule, promote their services, and basically keep their business running. Find a company or organization you like, and look at the position posting section on their website. I guarantee you’ll find positions for the liberal arts major, more than likely camouflaged in titles like “Coordinator,” “Outreach Assistant,” or “Social Media Editor.” Truly, liberal arts majors can be found anywhere, and do not just end up in education (tell that to the aunt who inevitably asks at holiday dinners, “What are you going to do with that- teach?!”), unless, of course, they want to be teaching. 

But there’s another glitch to gaining that position. Not only does the savvy liberal arts major market her transferable skills well, she plans ahead. She knows that it’s not enough to just have a degree, but that almost all employers are looking for related experience. If she’s going to be hired right after graduation, that means she has to gain experience while still in school. This means pursuing an internship, co-op, or volunteer opportunity within the industry in which you’re hoping to work.       

So, go on, major in your most-loved subject, and create a career plan. Be prepared that, more than likely, your career following graduation may not be exactly in that subject area. This may be frustrating. I argue that if you’re convinced you shouldn’t major in art because you won’t be able be able to use that degree, well, then you spend your entire college career and beyond not doing art. But if you major in art knowing you might not get to use all aspects of your art degree, you at least spend four years immersed in your passion, and then hopefully are in a better position to either engage in art in your spare time following graduation while earning a living, or find ways to incorporate your passion into your current position.

For example, an English major who works in a career center can volunteer to write a blog post on using a liberal arts degree. 

Shari Black

Graduate Assistant in the Career Center

pursuing PhD in Counseling Psychology

Bachelor of Arts in Theater and English