Making it in the real world: Skills for survival post graduation

One of the biggest unknowns in my life right now is what I'll be doing post-undergraduate-graduation. Will I start a career at a company I'm excited about, or take a more reliable job to make sure bills get paid? Will I still be in school four years from now, working toward a master's degree or PHD? Though I have ideas, there's no way to know for certain where I'll be. That's why, in addition to academic knowledge like this-is-how-you-integrate-in-three-dimensions, I'm glad that I'm working to polish career-related skills.

While I have a resume, am comfortable with my interview theory of get-the-interviewer-to-recognize-your-person-hood (i.e. let them know who you are, what you're good at, and try and get them to like you), I know that one thing I'm still working on is persistence. Both Charmise Knox's presentation on career skills and Professor Manis's talk on writing emphasized the benefits of not getting discouraged - reaching out, making an effort, and then moving on to new opportunities if your talents are clearly not wanted can get you the job, the publication, or whatever else it is that you need. It always makes me slightly uncomfortable to "name-drop" and use the connections that I have - it doesn't seem fair to people who are just as qualified (or perhaps more qualified) but don't know that person. However, to get your dream position, it can really help to have a network in place of people who can give you a leg-up.

Another common theme was presenting to an audience. During the career building seminar, I realized I'd like to improve my "elevator speech" by shortening it, and possibly having multiple prepped so that I can tailor what I say to my audience's interest and time availability. The benefits of having an audience in mind while writing a research paper were also clear - it can make the paper more beneficial to the ultimate readers and can help market it for publishing.

The next time I'm confronted with a writing- or career-related dilemma, I'll be sure to apply my newly learned skills!