Definition By Negation

Yesterday was the career fair. I usually bike to work and back, but yesterday, with suit in tow, I opted to take the bus. In being forced to interact with the sort of people who ride the bus, I noticed that my view of people has changed a little bit. I guess I used to feel that these people couldn't be like me because I was a grad student in the physical sciences and they weren't. I'm not trying to describe any sort of classism; it's more like they automatically weren't in my peer group (ok, maybe that's what classism is). Anyway, I found myself being more open to being friendly with everyone. Not like I was really hanging out and being buddies with everyone. It's hard to describe, I guess.

A lot has happenend since I last updated the blog. I had an informational interview with another Chicago design firm. But these guys actually seemed interested in giving me work of some kind (outside consulting, intership, or full-time). They like that I have materials knowledge and want me to learn CAD. I like stuff they do. I'll be meeting with their head of engineering in a few weeks. And this was an interview that I initiated! Their website didn't say anything about them hiring; I just liked the sort of thing they did. I initially heard of them through the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America). So there's one way to find jobs: contact people out of the blue that you find through trade organizations.

I talked to 11 companies at the career fair. It was clear that I wouldn't fit well at a few of the companies and that a few others do uninteresting things. Overall, there are about six that I'm interested in. I'd say the level of interest of these companies in me range from "it's possible" to "we love this guy". As far as the kind of work I could end up doing, there's a software engineering firm, a few consulting jobs (either internal to the company or regular consulting), a job in algorithmic financial trading, an intellectual property patent law firm, and an engineering rotation (in which I'd spend two years doing a few different sorts of jobs in different locations). Each has its appeal. I'm excited about learning more about each opportunity. Now I wait for them to contact me about interviews.

The career fair also really helped me to figure out what I want to do. I realized that I think it's really fun to ask the question "How can this be done better?" I think that's what's appealing about design: you are essentially an inventor. But with most of these other jobs, that interest could still be fulfilled. I could be making operations better, an application better, a product better, and so on. Obviously, just getting to make things better isn't all that I'm interested in. In grad school, my job was to find a way to make hydrogen-storage materials better, and I started to not like it after a while. I need a little more creativity and intuition thrown in there.

For the career fair, I compiled my resume and unofficial transcripts into folders, each with the company's name and the position I'm interested in. A few company reps really liked this idea. At the worst, it makes you look super-prepared. It also makes your information physically stand out; imagine the stack of resumes they get at the end of the night, and then imagine mine in a folder approximately 1 inch larger in each dimension. Ha. I win.

I initially wanted to call this blog "careerchange.blogspot.com" but that name was taken. If you want to be sad, read that blog. I thought it would be run by someone who has changed careers trying to give advice to future career-changers. No. It's some guy who hates his job and wishes he knew how to change. Ech. Career is such an important part of our lives. But we are somehow supposed to know by about age 18 what we want to do. My boss says that some of the freshman he advises come to him claiming to know that they want to do academic science for the rest of their lives. He says he's reluctant to call "bullshit", but he isn't sure what else it could be.

A friend asked me today what I'd do if whatever new job I get ends up worse than grad school. I told him I'd kill myself. I was joking, of course, and that's because I don't think I'll like my new job worse than grad school. I haven't regretted leaving yet, and the positions I'm looking at seem to require the variety, creativity, and problem-solving I need to feel happy and fulfilled.