You Majored in What? (40 page)

If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?
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Visit me at
www.youmajoredinwhat.com
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ACKNOWLEGMENTS

This book would never have been possible without my amazing agent, Bonnie Solow; my insightful editor, Alessandra Lusardi; my smart and funny attorney/friend, Margaret (Peg) Anderson; and, of course, Viking Books. A special thanks to Judi Hays and Elizabeth Alexander for their help with the illustrations. This has truly been a magical writing experience, thanks to y’all.

Certain educators are forever burned into my brain because of their kindness, brilliance, creativity, and unknowing contribution to this book:

• Mr. William Shoemaker, my fifth-grade teacher, who always warned us about an invisible sign over the door that read “It’s later than you think” and who told wonderful stories while taking us on bird walks on the Gettysburg battlefield.

• Mr. Paul Johnston, my ninth-grade writing and typing teacher at Harrisburg Academy, who taught me the two skills that have helped me land and survive every job I’ve ever had.

• Professor Carol Small at Gettysburg College, whose Art and Visual Perception course taught me to think visually and who opened the world of art history to me.

• Dr. Michael Yura, former professor at West Virginia University, whose Adlerian approach to counseling and brilliant insights into projective testing taught me to read between the lines and helped shape ideas for this book.

• Dr. Stephen MacDonald, former dean at Dickinson College (now president of Lebanon Valley College), who encouraged me to follow one of my Possible Lives and teach film courses at Dickinson.

• Dr. Linda Ferreira-Buckley, at The University of Texas at Austin, who hired me to run the liberal arts career services office because, as she said, “This is the first person I’ve met who really ‘gets’ the professional value of the liberal arts.”

• Dean Richard Flores, at The University of Texas at Austin, who encouraged me to take my ideas and create the first Major in the Workplace career courses for credit at UT, and Dean Marc Musick, who continues that support.

And to my dear friends:

Judi Hays, who got me through the proposal-writing stage; Gayle Bolinger, the most creative accountant I know, with whom I taught a course at Dickinson College in 1991, The Liberal Arts in Business, which provided some of the early thinking behind this book; Mar-jean Fieldhouse, Julie Lake, and the other members of our Chez Zee Writers Group who encouraged me to keep writing; my wild and brilliant friends from Dickinson College: Dave Crouch, Chuck Zwemer, and Cindy Samet, who are always there to provide the humor; and the amazingly talented musicians of the South Austin Bakery JAM, whose music provided wonderful respite from writing each weekend.

Don’t even get me started on all the writers whose books have inspired, educated, and moved me throughout my life.

And finally, to my students, my talented and creative career center staff members at both Dickinson College and The University of Texas at Austin, and everyone else I’ve failed to mention because my editor wants me to keep this short, thank you. You know who you are.

Katharine S. Brooks Austin, Texas August, 2008

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

CHAPTER ONE: A BUTTERFLY FLAPS ITS WINGS AND YOU FIND A JOB

Bright, Jim E. H., and Robert G. L. Pryor. “The Chaos Theory of Careers: A User’s Guide.”
The Career Development Quarterly
53, (2005): 291-305.

Dickens, Charles.
Great Expectations.
Michigan: Ann Arbor Media, 2006.

Krumboltz, John D. “Serendipity Is Not Serendipitous.”
Journal of Counseling Psychology
45 (4) (1998): 390-92.

———, and Al S. Levin.
Luck Is No Accident.
Atascadero, CA: Impact Publishers, 2004.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
DVD, directed by Joel Coen. Walt Disney Video, 2000.

Parsons, Frank.
Choosing a Vocation.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1909.

Sinetar, Marsha.
Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow.
New York: Dell, 1989.

Sloan, Julia.
Learning to Think Strategically.
Burlington, MA: Elsevier, 2006.

Tetenbaum, Tony J. “Shifting Paradigms: From Newton to Chaos.”
Organizational Dynamics
(Spring 1998): 21-32.

Buckingham, Marcus, and Donald Clifton.
Now, Discover Your Strengths.
New York: Free Press, 2001.

Buzan, Tony, and Barry Buzan.
The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain’s Untapped Potential.
New York: Plume, 1996.

Dasgupta, Subrata. “Multidisciplinary Creativity: The Case of Herbert A. Simon.”
Cognitive Science
27 (2003): 683-707.

Hagstrom, Robert G.
Investing: The Last Liberal Art.
New York: Texere LLC, 2000.

Novak, Joseph, and Gowin D. Bob.
Learning How to Learn.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1984.

Cameron, Julia.
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.
New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1992.

Krug, Steve.
Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability,
2nd ed. Berkeley: New Riders Publication, 2006.

Maxwell, John C.
Thinking for a Change.
New York: Warner Books, 2003.

Pichot, Teri.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy.
New York: Haworth Clinical Practice Press, 2003.

Seligman, Martin E. P.
Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment.
New York: Free Press, 2004.

———.
Learned Optimism.
New York: Pocket Books, 1998.

———, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. “Positive Psychology: An Introduction.”
American Psychologist
55, no. 1 (2000): 5-14.

CHAPTER FIVE: WHY SETTLE FOR ONE CAREER WHEN YOU CAN HAVE TEN?

Dyer, Wayne.
The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way.
Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2004.

Markus, Hazel, and Paula Nurius. “Possible Selves.”
American Psychologist
41, no. 9 (September 1986): 954-69.

Gelatt, H. B., and Carol Gelatt.
Creative Decision Making: Using Positive Uncertainty.
Boston: NETg, 2003.

King, Stephen.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
New York: Scribner, 2000.

CHAPTER EIGHT: MY JOB AS A KRACKEL BAR

Moore, Ian.
Does Your Marketing Sell?
London/Boston: Nicholas Brealey Publishers, 2005.

Cameron, Julia.
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.
New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1992.

———.
The Right to Write.
New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1998.

King, Stephen.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
New York: Scribner, 2000.

Lamott, Anne.
Bird by Bird.
New York: Pantheon Books, 1994.

Maisel, Eric.
Write Mind.
New York: J. P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2002.

Palumbo, Dennis.
Writing from the Inside Out.
New York: Wiley, 2000.

Sher, Gail.
One Continuous Mistake.
New York: Penguin, 1999.

Strunk, William Jr., and E. B White,
The Elements of Style.
New York: Macmillan, 1979.

Shain, Merle.
Some Men Are More Perfect than Others.
New York: Bantam Books, 1977.

Sheehy, Gail.
Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life.
New York: Dutton, 1976.

Peaceful Warrior,
DVD, directed by Victor Salva. Universal Studios, 2007.

The Untouchables,
DVD, directed by Brian dePalma. Paramount Studios, 1987.

INDEX

A

Academic writing, versus business writing

“Act as if,” 228

Action, taking

self-assessment for and thinking

Action words

in cover letter

in résumé

Adaptation

and flexible mindset

and survival of the fittest

Adler, Alfred

Analytical mindset

components of

developing

relationship to workplace

Anthropology major, skills derived from

Attractors in chaos theory.
See
Pendulum attractors; Point attractors; Strange attractors; Torus attractors

B

Behavioral job interviews

Berkshire Hathaway

Big Picture thinking.
See
Systems mindset

Biology major, skills derived from

Buffett, Warren

Business writing, versus academic writing

Butterfly effect

butterfly moments self-test

chaos theory

defined

Seeking the Butterfly

Buzan, Tony

C

Cameron, Julia

Campbell Interest and Skill Survey

Career

excuses as barriers to

family influences

major to career, assumption about

and major in college

and mindsets

Possible Lives approach

study abroad, strengths related to

success, personal definition of

See also
Workplace

Case job interviews

Chaos theory

abductive reasoning

applied to careers

butterfly effect

versus linear approach

mathematical basis of

pendulum attractors

phase shifting

point attractors

strange attractors

torus attractors

Wandering Map

“Chicago Way” metaphor, for job search

Classes.
See
College classes

Collaborative mindset

components of

developing

relationship to workplace

College

career services office

postgraduation chaos

College classes

attention and focus, improving

getting most out of

grades

as point attractors

positive thinking about

professors, relationship with

showing up, importance of

skills derived from

studying guidelines

visual maps for studying

Connections, systems mindset

Cover letter

audience for

editing/proofreading

example

formatting

haiku as

marketing component of

opening hook

paragraphs

SWOT Map for

Creative mindset

developing

relationship to workplace

Creativity

dimensions of

reflection, benefits of

as Wandering Map theme

Culture of workplace

assessment of

cross-cultural perspective

visual clues to

D

Daily choices, and goal setting

DeBono, Edward

Deductive reasoning

Dickens, Charles

Doctorow, E. L.

Dyer, Wayne

E

Economic major, skills derived from

Education section, résumé

Emergent variables, in chaos theory

Employers.
See
Workplace

English major, skills derived from

Experience section, résumé

Experimental wanderings

case example

end results of

guidelines for

and moving forward

networking

purpose of

questions to ask

researching career field

study abroad

Experimentation, and flexible mindset

F

Family influences

and career choice

parent-influenced goals

Figler, Howard

Films about workplace

Flexible/adaptive mindset

components of

developing

relationship to workplace

Flow

Foreign experience.
See
Study abroad

Foreign language study

Formatting

cover letter

résumé

G

Gap analysis

Gelatt, Carol

Gelatt, H. P.

Geography, considering in job search

Global mindset

components of

developing

relationship to workplace

Goal setting

barriers to

daily choices in

organizing environment

Possibility Planning

Possible Lives information in

Premack’s principle

Probability Planning

Seeking the Butterfly

Grades

and earning power

as focus

improving, steps in

See also
Studying

H

Haiku cover letter

History major, skills derived from

Hobbies

fun versus profit

I

Intentions

defined

examples of

Seeking the Butterfly

selective perception

setting daily

visual reminders of

Interests section, résumé

Internships

strengths gained

value to employer

Interviews.
See
Job interview