Reality Check: Navigating your career path

One of the things I often hear from women on campus (particularly those who are not tenure-track faculty), is that they are unsure of how to navigate their career path.  Do you wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder?  Try to move up in your own organization?  Move to another one?  These questions (and more) don't have one definitive answer and, like most things, are context-dependent.  Below is a story of navigating my own career path, which you will see has not been a straight line...(and in my opinion, rarely is).

Undergraduate:
I started out as a chemical engineering major in undergrad, and I loved it.  I was really into math and science, so the classes and coursework suited me just fine.  That is, until it came to finding a job, and I realized that it wasn't all calculus and deriving equations...Once I realized the kinds of jobs that chemical engineers typically do, I found that the industry I related to the most was Consumer Products (vs. Oil & Gas or Chemicals).  Without knowing much about job hunting, I went to the Engineering Career Fair at my institution and, fortunately, procured a job at General Mills for an internship, which then converted to a full-time offer after graduation.

First job:
I worked at General Mills for 4 years and learned more than I could have imagined.  It wasn't about math or sizing heat exchangers (typical chemical engineering subjects) but about people and teams and business.  I also learned a lot about myself: I love having a LOT of projects going on at once.  I love being around people/in meetings and not in a lab.  I know (knew) nothing about business, finance, strategy, and the language being used by the senior executives during company meetings.  These were all such valuable learnings that helped me to navigate my next steps.  

I took advantage of the opportunity at General Mills to work in different divisions, learning about our global business and supply chain, how organic food production and distribution works, and what the jobs of my cross-functional team members actually were.  Eventually, I realized my heart wasn't in it anymore -- I am a Learner in the CliftonStrengths, so learning new things is exciting for me, but the level of challenge started to diminish.  I also realized that maybe Consumer Products weren't my calling.  It seemed it may be time for me to say thank you and move on.

The next 10 years:
I could go on forever, but let me fast forward a bit (that being said, come and find me the last Friday of the month at the U's Women at the U Social; we can talk more there).  After General Mills, I went on to pursue my MBA so that I DID finally understand the language of the senior executives -- and because I wanted to learn strategy.  Then, I figured learning strategy from "the best" was a good idea, so I pursued consulting at Bain & Company after hearing from my classmates that consulting was a great place to land (and that it supported my idea of working on multiple projects over time).

While I was at Bain, I met my husband, who lived in Minneapolis, MN, so I pursued an opportunity there which would allow me to continue consulting-like work.  I landed at Target Corporation in Corporate Strategy and was later tapped on the shoulder to manage a team in Target's Marketing area.

After realizing that I could no longer deal with Minnesota winters (I'm a huge freeze baby), my husband and I discovered that he had a valuable professional opportunity in Salt Lake City.  So, we moved.  At this point, I remembered that feeling from General Mills that I hadn't "found my passion."  It was then that I discovered higher education, the U, and the David Eccles School of Business.  Here I am 7+ years later, now with a doctorate in higher education management.  That, as they say, is that.

So, how DO you navigate your path?

• Don't be afraid to try new things.  What you learn is as much (MORE?) important than finding the "perfect" job.  Also, what perfect is changes over time...
• Pay attention to your gut, to the little whispers telling you about you.  It doesn't mean you need to make major changes right away based upon those, BUT, you may find that something you learned about yourself early in your career becomes more important later on.
• Have feedback partners/mentors (who can be peers!).  As I mentioned in a previous post, having people to bounce ideas off has helped me navigate next steps.  They can act as a mirror, sharing back to you what they are hearing about you.
• It's not a linear path.  If you find that you need to take a step to the side, to the back, diagonally, whatever, do it.  There's not one right way to navigate a career path -- do what is right for you.

To learn more about my journey, how I navigated specific jobs changes, and how I realized higher education was my passion, you can check out my blog here: https://www.ruchiwatson.com/blog.