I'm sure we've all heard about the big "Milennial Problem" of highly educated young people being chronically underemployed - and I know all too well that for some of my closest and most respected peers this phenomenon strikes very close to home. And I have talked to almost every person I know about the infamous Experience Condundrum: You need 2-3 years of experience before you can get the 2-3 years of experience you need to start a career.
A month or two ago I was talking to one of my good friends about this, and about finding direction. She could be considered in the "chronically underemployed" category, despite the fact that she is brilliant, intrepid, and one of the hardest, most dedicated workers I know.
I'll admit this isn't an entirely fair categorization, because she works at least 3 or 4 very demanding jobs, as well as traveling, volunteering, taking classes, and working on personal projects on the side, and has recently been accepted into grad school. She also lives on her own and supports herself.
But she is not doing what she wants to be doing, and most of her job requirements are not related to her course of study or academic interests. And as someone who has been in the position of evaluating resumes and even making hiring decisions on occasion, I know that having gaps in your resume or having plenty of work experience outside of the field can raise some questions in the minds of interviewers that won't exactly help your cause.
To my friend's credit, she has been going to incredible lengths to flesh out her resume and rack up some really desirable job skills, even if it means volunteering or taking unpaid internships alongside work that pays the bills. She's also managing to keep a really positive attitude about the whole thing, and said to me, "Life is short...but it's not THAT short. We can be strategic. And I'm taking the term curriculum vitae literally."
Curriculum vitae translates to something like "the course of one's life," and in the modern American business world it usually refers to a brief summary of professional experience, a little more in-depth or touchy-feely than a resume, maybe (according to Wikipedia).
But the poetry in what she said struck home for me: She's building a "living resume", bringing her education to life. I think it's a beautiful phrase to encompass this second set of baby steps that we are all taking out of college and toward the End Goal, whatever that is.
For me I think the End Goal is finding an End Goal. How many of us actually know "what we want to be when we grow up"? Does my ideal job description actually exist? And if so, is it reachable for me, from where I am now? Would another degree or strategic networking or a hefty raise get me any closer to my dream life?
It sounds cheesy, but in the meantime I'm slowly working toward a degree in "Life." The important part of my experience has far more to do with the non-linear accounts of the things I do at work, and how I choose to spend my time outside work, than it does with my to-do list or a list of classes I've taken or my official job description(s).
I learn something new every day, whether the source is a human interest story on NPR or a new scientific report; an online article or a book I'm reading or a conversation with a new friend or an old friend or someone in the locker room at the Y; yoga class or work or a writers' meetup.
And I'm thinking about this, too, as my youngest sister sent her enrollment deposit to St. Olaf for September. It continues to amaze me how that haphazard decision I made when I was 17 has affected the course of my life since then, and the person that I am now. The curriculum vitae for my college experience, the summer after senior year, my current job, and living in Wilmington, are permanently infused into my developing vocation, my writing, and the course of my life from here on out.
A month or two ago I was talking to one of my good friends about this, and about finding direction. She could be considered in the "chronically underemployed" category, despite the fact that she is brilliant, intrepid, and one of the hardest, most dedicated workers I know.
I'll admit this isn't an entirely fair categorization, because she works at least 3 or 4 very demanding jobs, as well as traveling, volunteering, taking classes, and working on personal projects on the side, and has recently been accepted into grad school. She also lives on her own and supports herself.
But she is not doing what she wants to be doing, and most of her job requirements are not related to her course of study or academic interests. And as someone who has been in the position of evaluating resumes and even making hiring decisions on occasion, I know that having gaps in your resume or having plenty of work experience outside of the field can raise some questions in the minds of interviewers that won't exactly help your cause.
To my friend's credit, she has been going to incredible lengths to flesh out her resume and rack up some really desirable job skills, even if it means volunteering or taking unpaid internships alongside work that pays the bills. She's also managing to keep a really positive attitude about the whole thing, and said to me, "Life is short...but it's not THAT short. We can be strategic. And I'm taking the term curriculum vitae literally."
Curriculum vitae translates to something like "the course of one's life," and in the modern American business world it usually refers to a brief summary of professional experience, a little more in-depth or touchy-feely than a resume, maybe (according to Wikipedia).
But the poetry in what she said struck home for me: She's building a "living resume", bringing her education to life. I think it's a beautiful phrase to encompass this second set of baby steps that we are all taking out of college and toward the End Goal, whatever that is.
For me I think the End Goal is finding an End Goal. How many of us actually know "what we want to be when we grow up"? Does my ideal job description actually exist? And if so, is it reachable for me, from where I am now? Would another degree or strategic networking or a hefty raise get me any closer to my dream life?
It sounds cheesy, but in the meantime I'm slowly working toward a degree in "Life." The important part of my experience has far more to do with the non-linear accounts of the things I do at work, and how I choose to spend my time outside work, than it does with my to-do list or a list of classes I've taken or my official job description(s).
I learn something new every day, whether the source is a human interest story on NPR or a new scientific report; an online article or a book I'm reading or a conversation with a new friend or an old friend or someone in the locker room at the Y; yoga class or work or a writers' meetup.
And I'm thinking about this, too, as my youngest sister sent her enrollment deposit to St. Olaf for September. It continues to amaze me how that haphazard decision I made when I was 17 has affected the course of my life since then, and the person that I am now. The curriculum vitae for my college experience, the summer after senior year, my current job, and living in Wilmington, are permanently infused into my developing vocation, my writing, and the course of my life from here on out.
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