How to manage
Lately, I've had the variations on the following conversation with several people:
"So you're a general manager?"
"Yep, that's right."
"Wow, so what sort of educational background do you need for that?"
"Well, I majored in English Lit."
*confused stare*
There is, I think, an idea that's prevalent even among people who are no longer students and are struggling through their first few years in the job market; namely, that your education has anything whatsoever to do with what you end up working with. This is simply not true. Unless you are a doctor, dentist, hairdresser, plumber or similar - in other words, if you have an education that specifically prepares you for a certain job, all bets are off.
Anyone that's ever applied for a job is familiar with the Catch 22 of every job requiring previous experience in the field, making it very difficult for potential entry-level employees, but there is an upside to this way of thinking - if you have experience, companies tend not to care how you got it. Your major is less important than your actual experience. Most companies asking for someone with a university degree, simply want someone with a BA or MA; the major will be generally uninteresting to them.
Sometimes, of course, your education will be relevant; if you took credits in writing, that's a plus if you're applying for any job where you will need to do a lot of writing. Computer Science credits are good for virtually any office job; credits in any sort of cultural studies can be relevant for jobs in communication, or for companies that deal with other cultures a lot. And not just your education, of course; I list the fact that I'm in charge of my choir's flea market, which nets NOK 350 000,- over a weekend, on my CV.
What I'm getting at is: LIFE decides where you end up. You yourself rarely do. There's a lot of randomness to employment history, and unless you're lazy, like me, you can get far with sheer perseverance and hard work.
So how do you become a manager? Keep on living, get to know people, apply for jobs and realize you have skills and how to market them. Then, one day, you too could work in an office where the kitchen door is labeled "Meat Master" and there's a picture of Sarah Palin in the men's room. DREAM BIG, folks.
"So you're a general manager?"
"Yep, that's right."
"Wow, so what sort of educational background do you need for that?"
"Well, I majored in English Lit."
*confused stare*
There is, I think, an idea that's prevalent even among people who are no longer students and are struggling through their first few years in the job market; namely, that your education has anything whatsoever to do with what you end up working with. This is simply not true. Unless you are a doctor, dentist, hairdresser, plumber or similar - in other words, if you have an education that specifically prepares you for a certain job, all bets are off.
Anyone that's ever applied for a job is familiar with the Catch 22 of every job requiring previous experience in the field, making it very difficult for potential entry-level employees, but there is an upside to this way of thinking - if you have experience, companies tend not to care how you got it. Your major is less important than your actual experience. Most companies asking for someone with a university degree, simply want someone with a BA or MA; the major will be generally uninteresting to them.
Sometimes, of course, your education will be relevant; if you took credits in writing, that's a plus if you're applying for any job where you will need to do a lot of writing. Computer Science credits are good for virtually any office job; credits in any sort of cultural studies can be relevant for jobs in communication, or for companies that deal with other cultures a lot. And not just your education, of course; I list the fact that I'm in charge of my choir's flea market, which nets NOK 350 000,- over a weekend, on my CV.
What I'm getting at is: LIFE decides where you end up. You yourself rarely do. There's a lot of randomness to employment history, and unless you're lazy, like me, you can get far with sheer perseverance and hard work.
So how do you become a manager? Keep on living, get to know people, apply for jobs and realize you have skills and how to market them. Then, one day, you too could work in an office where the kitchen door is labeled "Meat Master" and there's a picture of Sarah Palin in the men's room. DREAM BIG, folks.