Most of the employers that I have networked or interviewed with want to make sure that candidates for their companies have a clear view of “what they want to be when they grow up” within the industry. And fairly so because they want to hire people that they can keep for awhile. My dad thinks very similarly because he comes from the era of “the career path” and strategically climbed the ladder into a position as partner in a major international company. As I was trying to figure out my decision about teaching abroad in Spain, I had a friend ask me the other night what I really wanted to do career-wise and why I don’t pursue that route right now and move to New York or Los Angeles to become a screenwriter. Why waste time with a hiatus from my job search?
All of those conversations boil down to the question of focus. Is it more valuable to have a wealth of experiences or to only take jobs in one field to build my way up to one career?
I don’t have anyone forcing me to be a lawyer or a doctor, and telling me that I have to do a particular thing. However, friends, family members, and business contacts have suggested to me that I should find what I really want to do and pursue it from the get-go. That’s not harsh advice. They’re saying to go after my dream job right away. And, if it’s something I have wanted to do my whole life, shouldn’t I want to focus on putting myself in the position for that job.
After having watched several dream-maker, diamond-in-the-rough shows like American Idol, America’s Best Dance Crew, America’s Next Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance, or even up-and-coming talent on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, I see people taking a risk and chasing their dreams. The shows are only one platform to reach their dreams, and many of the contestants are late-twenties, so they didn’t necessarily pursue their dreams right away. You need a back-up plan incase your initial tactic to achieve your career goals doesn’t work.
In the United States, there are a lot of people with dreams. A lot of people move here from other countries for that reason: they want their piece of The American Dream. Many of us have a tendency to want instant gratification. We can’t bear to think too far ahead because we can’t bear the thought of waiting around that long for our dreams. We want them now. However, that road is longer than we think and does not have a finite end. Sure, we might have more energy to pursue our dreams when we are young and energetic, but look at someone like Betty White who just hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time, becoming the oldest host on the history of the show at 88 years old. And she still is a firecracker of wit and talent.
I want to pursue my dreams some day, but the practical side of me can’t help but think about the financial implications. I am someone who is interested in many fields, most of which revolve around communications and writing, and I don’t like to limit myself to one thing or the other. In this economy, I can’t afford to only pursue one career path. I need options. All of the jobs I am applying for are jobs that I am genuinely interested in and would like to do. Right now my dream is to find a job. My Dream is still in the mix, even if I take the scenic route to get there.
I have heard the argument that if you wait to long to pursue your dream job, you’ll eventually lose steam and be stuck in the path you have chosen. While I’m sure that is true for some people, I don’t believe it has to be this way. You always have the choice. And, if you maintain your drive and passion for your Dream, why can’t you pursue it just as much in two years as you would right now. Yes, maybe it will take you longer than it could have if you had stuck to it from the start of your post-college life, but as long as you get there, does that really matter?
When I first met with the president of the public television station where I am currently interning, he told me that he started off in the mail room and worked his way up. I expressed my interest in screenwriting and television production regardless of the fact that I had no experience. He found a value in my communications, writing, and bi-lingual skills and advised me to look at corporate communications opportunities within media. He said to network as much as I could once I was there and learn what I could about production from co-workers, and that eventually I could work my way in. Now, I am interning at the station and getting the experience that I had previously lacked. I have met people in various departments. That is not a direct path, but it is another route I could take.
The president also told me that these days, companies can’t afford to hire several people. They would prefer to have one person who could do five different tasks rather than five people who could each only do one task. The versatile employees are the ones that survive when employment cuts need to be made.
I have eight different versions of my resume because I have had experience in multiple fields and I am concerned that employers will look at my resume and see all of the “irrelevant experience” and say that I do not have enough in their field. However, as “irrelevant” as they may be, all experiences contribute to your skill-set. You may be doing a job in PR that is a lot of direct and written communications, but maybe the company could use someone with production knowledge to design a promo or ad. You never know when your extraneous knowledge will come in handy. For instance, I hostessed one night at my restaurant and a group complained to each other in Spanish that I had given them a table as opposed to a booth. I speak Spanish and could understand them, so I explained to them in Spanish why I couldn’t seat them in a booth. They were so surprised and excited that I spoke Spanish that they forgot their complaint and it smoothed things over. It pays to have a breadth of knowledge as opposed to a narrow focus.
I admire the people who know what they want to do before they even graduate and pursue a specific career right away. Those people have focus and that is a good thing. However, I don’t think it is a bad thing to consider different careers. That way if one doesn’t work out, you can fall back into another job of your choosing. It is better to have layers on when it’s cold out rather than wearing too much or too little because you can’t account for changes in body temperature. You can’t predict if a job is going to work out or not. Some may see experience in multiple fields as unfocused and unmotivated, but I view it as versatility and flexibility. It takes just as much work, if not more, to become an expert in several careers.
While employers might tend to hire people who are more “focused”, in the long-run, they are going to want to keep the people who wear many hats in the end. So, why bother with the charades and admit that a lot of experience in different fields can be just as valuable as a lot of experience in one specific career-line? One is not better than the other, so why discriminate against one type? There is no one solution to any problem and sometimes focus can come in the form of diversions that lead you to think about what you want more clearly.
When you drive down a one-way road you can’t turn back. Even though a one-way road may get you to your final destination, if you drive down it the wrong way, there may be casualties. Instead, take the multi-laned highway that has multiple exits. Chart all of the possible routes to your final destination. Use GPS if you want, but in the end, go the way that you think is best. Don’t let backseat drivers frustrate you.
