Attention College Graduates: A New Book Offers A Radically New Approach To Finding A Meaningful Career and Ideal First Job
Nationally known career counselor Dr. Katharine Brooks dispels the myths and old-fashioned thinking that can make choosing a career and finding that first job so confusing and stressful.
Katharine Brooks, author of "You Majored in What?: Mapping Your Path From Chaos to Career" discusses career exploration based on the 'chaos theory' of exploring the interests, themes and threads in one's life.
Commitment: Why is selecting a career path so difficult for so many new college graduates?
Katharine Brooks, Ed.D.: Students attend college for a variety of reasons, and just one of them is to find a job or career. I find that for many students having to choose just one career is a daunting task.
They have lots of interests and are worried about being tied down to just one career field for the rest of their lives.
They don't necessarily realize that their first job is just that-- a first job that will lead them to other opportunities and maybe even back to school to follow a whole new career path.
Commitment: What mistakes do you often see new graduates make when choosing a career?
Dr. Brooks: Failure to research the career by reading everything they can and by meeting with people in the field is probably the biggest mistake I see students make.
They apply to law school without ever working in a law firm; they interview for a publishing firm without researching the field first; or they choose a career because it sounds interesting. Sometimes they are so eager to make a decision, they make it too quickly and regret it later.
Also, sometimes they select a major or career to please their parents or because it looks good.
The best way to avoid these mistakes is, quite frankly, to make them early. If you think you want to go to law school, try interning at a law firm. If you find out you don't like it-- that's great because you won't waste time/money in law school-- you can move on to another idea.
I tell students to make career "mistakes" early and often! :) That way they will know what doesn't work-- which can be just as important as what does work.
Commitment: What are some of the root causes of career indecision? Do you think college graduates have a harder time deciding on a career than their parents did 20 and 30 years ago when they graduated college? If so, why?
Dr. Brooks: I think the opportunities today are broader than in the past. Companies like Facebook or Google didn't even exist then and entire new career fields have opened up creating new opportunities.
Women certainly have many more career options than they did 30 years ago. Everyone is more mobile and willing to move around the country (or even internationally) to find the career opportunity they seek. All this leads to more choices, more options, and yes, perhaps more confusion.
I compare the job market now to walking down the toothpaste aisle in the grocery. There was a time when we could choose from just a few basic options. Now there seem to be hundreds of choices even within one brand.
Commitment: Can you explain to us what the chaos theory of finding the right career is. How is the chaos theory a new and different way of finding the right career, as opposed to the linear path that generations of college graduates used to follow?
Dr. Brooks: Chaos theory is all about prediction. "Can we do a better job of predicting the weather?" was the question underlying chaos theory. And the short answer is "no," because it is too complex and there are too many uncontrollable variables. We can predict the weather a few hours from now better than we can predict two weeks from now because too many things emerge.
Career planning is similar. We can usually predict where we'll be in a day or two, maybe even a year or two, but to try to predict where someone will work at age 23 when they're 18 and just entering college is less reliable. Too many events will happen in between-- they might change their major, they might find an interesting summer job, they might decide to go to graduate school, etc. All of those events (yet unseen) may play a role in their career.
A linear approach says that what you major in becomes your career. It works for some people-- particularly those who enter school to study a specific trade or profession like accounting or engineering. But for many students, the linear path just doesn't make sense because they can move into a lot of careers with their college degree.
Commitment: How does applying the chaos theory relieve a new graduate of some of the stress and pressure of finding the perfect career after graduation?
Dr. Brooks: Chaos theory tells us that there is a pattern after all; that it is possible to step above the immediate confusion and find the connections. Students can start to see "threads" or "themes" in their lives that they will take with them wherever they go.
If they can learn the value of their skills and knowledge and adapt them to the setting in which they'd like to work,, they will find that they can have many "perfect" careers in a variety of fields.
Also, chaos theory has the "butterfly effect"-- the notion that a small event can lead to a major outcome. You never know what that job at Starbucks might lead to-- or that volunteer opportunity that might turn into your future career.
Commitment: Tell us about your career path. Was it linear or chaos? How did you find a career that suited you?
Dr. Brooks: My path looks chaotic at first, but the threads and themes are there. I had no idea what to "do" with my sociology major when I graduated from college.
I worked in retail merchandising because I had worked in gift shops throughout college so I knew something about the field. I was transferred into human resources in the department store, and I learned that what I liked most about that job was interviewing individuals who had disabilities and trying to find the right job for them.
I left merchandising to work for a nonprofit organization serving people who were blind. I then went to graduate school to get my master's degree in rehabilitation counseling.
During an internship I learned to work with children with learning disabilities and ended up ultimately getting my school psychology certificate and running a psycho-educational clinic. I got my doctorate in Educational Psychology.
My husband decided to go to law school so we moved to a small town and I took the job I could get: a counselor at a liberal arts college. I stayed on for 19 years-- becoming an associate professor (teaching film studies!), running the career center, managing disability services, and other great jobs.
Then I moved to Texas and took my current job as Director of Career Services for the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin.
So...it looks pretty messy... and I wish I could say I planned it all, but I didn't. I just focused on what I liked and what I didn't like-- and did my best to move toward what I liked and away from what I didn't.
The themes and threads?
Writing-- I have used my writing skills in every job I've had.
Helping Others-- I have to help someone or my job doesn't have any meaning.
Teaching/Learning-- I have to be learning something new and I have to teach others in some capacity.
Creativity-- I can't stop the flow of ideas- I'm always looking for a way to connect what I know in one field with what I'm learning in another.
Independence--I like being able to structure my day and develop new ideas and projects.
Commitment: You quote J.R.R. Tokien, from "The Lord of the Rings" saying "Not all those who wander are lost." Can you explain this quote and how it relates to finding the right career?
Dr. Brooks: I think students put pressure on themselves to find the perfect career, or know exactly what they want to do when they graduate. I think it's great if you have a goal and know what you want to do, but I also think there is value in "wandering" a little-- trying things out and learning.
As long as you are learning, there can be much value in wandering. I have pretty much wandered my way into most jobs-- and my careers-- and I can honestly say I consider myself very lucky and blessed to have had many rewarding experiences.
Commitment: Do you think it is a mistake to reason that "my major equals my career"? If so, why?
Dr. Brooks: I wouldn't say it's a mistake, but I think you need to be careful of restricting yourself from other opportunities. Sometimes interesting careers can be found in combining your interests. For instance, an accounting major who also likes music might want to see if there's an intersection between those two interests-- could they become an agent or work as an accountant for a music conservatory?
The major is a start-- it's a clue to what you might enjoy in the future- but don't let it limit you.
Commitment: Isn't the chaos theory a disorganized, haphazard way of finding a career? How can a person make sense of the chaos and be open to possibilities, without acting in a directionless and fickle way?
Dr. Brooks: That's why I call my system "Wise Wanderings" and not just "Wanderings." Yes, thoughtless and aimless wandering is not the goal.
Rather, the type of wandering I recommend is to constantly be in a state of learning and assessment.
-Do I like what I'm doing? Yes? How can I make it better?
-What could I do next?
-Do I not like what I'm doing? What could I change? How could I stop doing this?
-What have I learned from my experience so far? What do I want to learn next? What will get me there?
Those are the questions to ask while you try out new experiences. That will make your wandering productive.
Commitment: Can you give us some examples of how a new college graduate can apply the chaos theory to their job search? How can they find the threads and themes in their life that will help them make a satisfying decision?
Dr. Brooks: I find that my students love making the Wandering Maps (chapter two in my book). They uncover threads and themes in their lives that they didn't realize existed, or they find new strengths and learn to re-interpret events in a more positive way.
Also, the Possible Lives Map (chapter 5) open students up to all the possibilities in their lives. I find that the "chaos" of the job search (too many choices, too many things to do) is greatly reduced by creating visual maps which help make sense of everything.
Commitment: Can you share with us your best ten suggestions for a new college graduate who is ready to move forward with their life and find their first real job.
Dr. Brooks: Well, first, read my book! Just kidding :)
1. Use your career center-- many students don't and regret it later.
2. Prepare the best possible resume which is targeted to your field(s) of interest.
3. Practice, practice, practice before you interview.
4. Check out your online profile-- make sure employers can't find party pictures or other "digital dirt" online.
5. Research your fields of interest. Do everything you can to be an "expert" in whatever field you plan to work in.
6. Don't be afraid to experiment-- take a chance, try something you're not sure will work.
7. Mine every situation for what you can get from it. Look for the story-- how can that disastrous internship make a great story about your ability to handle challenges?
8. Create great stories for your interviews-- you'll be memorable and you'll develop a skill many great leaders possess.
9. Be ready to say "yes" when the butterfly appears. Take advantage of opportunities that come your way.
10. Always stay in a learning mode. If you learn, nothing is a failure.
Commitment: What are your best five tips for a recent graduate who feels ''stuck" and unable to find a career that feels right to them?
Dr. Brooks:
1. I find that when I'm stuck it's usually because I'm missing an important piece of information. What do I need to know that I don't know now? What is keeping me "stuck"?
2. What new thing have I tried this week? Have I been focusing on one method of job searching? Maybe instead of always using the internet, I'll join a local club or group related to my field of interest.
3. How am I using my time while I'm "stuck"? Maybe a little too much time on the computer or watching TV? What could I read that would make me better informed about my area of interest? Who could I talk to?
4. Do a Wandering Map to see where you've been. Identify the times you had a lot of energy and interest in something. How close is that to what you're doing now? What are your threads and themes and how can you keep developing them?
5. Create a vision board or collage of all the things you want to accomplish in life-- even if they seem like distant dreams right now. Focus on where you want to go not on where you are at the moment. Look for little opportunities to move one step closer to where you want to be. Try not to look too far into the future-- that can be overwhelming-- instead, where would you like to be a year from now? What would you like to have on your resume that you don't have now? How could you get it?
Commitment: You started Chapter 1 with this quote, "You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star" by Friedrich Nietzsche. Why did you include this quote and how does it relate to finding one's ideal career path?
Dr. Brooks: I like the images in the quote-- chaos, birth, dancing star. Such optimism and hope-- it all starts out a little crazy, and then one-by-one ideas are born, and then you get to dance. Sounds good to me-- and not a bad career path!
Commitment: What are the ten traits employers are looking for that a new college graduate should be aware of?
Dr. Brooks: Some of this depends on the field of course-- but generally employers seek (this list is in no particular order):
• Communications skills
• Analytic skills
• Research ability
• Computer literacy
• Teamwork skills
• Social/interpersonal skills- ability to get along with a variety of people
• Flexibility
• Multi-tasking: the ability to carry on several projects at a time
• Leadership/management skills
• Problem-solving
• Self-management: planning and organizational skills
To purchase "You Majored in What?" click here.
About the Author: Katharine Brooks, Ed.D., is the director of Liberal Arts Career Services at the University of Texas Austin. A nationally recognized career coach, trainer, professor, and counselor for more than twenty years, she is also the creator of the National Association of Colleges and Employers Career Coaching Intensives, highly successful, sold-out training sessions for career counselors. She has a doctorate in educational psychology.
