What I’ve Learned From the First Job in My Career Field

My mom always had a chronic case of indecisiveness, which I, endearingly yet annoyingly, inherited from her. This shared quality of ours has gained full potential in my college years, (if you know me, you know this story well), especially when it finally became time to decide on a major—I wasted no time in taking monumental leaps between environmental studies, then early childhood and family studies, then psychology, and then spontaneously landing on the ground of public health last May. Even with no experience whatsoever in the field, and with a limited understanding of what my future in the major really meant, the threat of another boring pandemic summer motivated me to search for any job remotely related to the area, just to keep me busy and perhaps add a gold star to my developing resume. 

Unsurprisingly, with a lack of knowledge in anything I was doing not being an adequate opponent to the competitiveness of the public health field, I was turned down for most of the internship and job opportunities I could get a weak grasp on. The one response I had gotten back was at a job on campus that entailed me assisting a professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences within the School of Public Health, mostly in off-kilter office tasks. I had to be honest with myself, as well as my interviewer and now-coworker, when I admitted that most of the stated responsibilities in the posted job description were completely beyond my current abilities, but to my utter shock (and horror, to be honest), I was offered the job the next day. And while I’ll admit that no, I still don’t completely know what I’m doing at work some of the time (or really, all of the time, because of the brilliance of my peers with several Doctorates and PhDs), there have been some benefits of pursuing entry-level work in my major right off the bat; and I’m here to tell you that even if we’re not in the same major or share even remotely the same goals, these are pretty universal. 

The first thing you should, by far, is that it’s okay to be candid about your abilities going into the job. During my virtual interview, which had me anxiously tapping my feet and twirling my hair hours before it even started, I felt my stomach turn into knots when I got asked the question, “Is there anything in the job description you don’t feel comfortable with?” Admittedly, after finishing two years at UW, a school where competition is the end-all be-all in almost every campus environment (different article for a different day), you’ve probably gotten used to inadvertently overly-embellishing on your abilities for your first couple of jobs, because we’ve been constantly conditioned to hide anything that might be perceived as underqualification in our hopeful job markets. However, when I truthfully told her that I didn’t know what X software was and wasn’t experienced with conducting Y practice in public health research, it was relieving to know that I should’ve been viewing the job as “a place to learn”—or, in other words, she promised me my willingness to give this unfamiliar territory a try was all they needed to guess that my chances of succeeding in the job was pretty high. Let’s face it, these employers with multiple higher degrees won’t, or at least shouldn’t, expect you to know how the world works to a tee just yet. Being honest about your current abilities that can help you in the job, while also demonstrating your eagerness to improve upon these skills, is a better bet to take when working towards your first job in a professional workplace. 

Second, as you’ve heard this from your parents and professors and roommates alike, open and frequent communication is the key to adjustment, including within your workplace. In my opinion, in any new situation, you should never be afraid to ask questions about what’s expected of you, or even just questions that arise about your work out of pure curiosity. More likely than not, the people you’re working with will be impressed that you’re taking the initiative to engage with them about the work you’re doing, which is why you should never be afraid to speak up in a case of uncertainty about small and large things alike. Additionally, although this is rather blunt, I find it helpful to remember that most people love to talk about themselves, and you can most definitely use that to your advantage in your first few beginning jobs within your area of study. If there’s someone you interact with, whether on a daily or less frequent basis, don’t be afraid to seek out their stories and advice from their various career paths that may give you some inspiration, and reminders, for your own road that lays ahead of you. All in all, when you’re engaging in this new entry-level experience, you’re bound to have a wide array of questions about anything and everything, and it can work to your advantage to view the people around you in this exciting environment as a long-term resource. 

Finally, I hope to play the role of your daily mental health advocate with this last piece of advice—it’s crucial, possibly above my previous two points, to dedicate your best effort to whatever job or opportunity prospect you may find yourself in, but realize that there are finite spaces for work to fill in your life. There have been moments where I’ve been assigned perhaps too many tasks to complete for my job—or, sometimes, procrastination wins in our daily battle—but I have to remind myself, as a personally helpful note, that because the task at hand is temporary, it doesn’t deserve the chance to stress me out to the point of mental exhaustion. Getting a job within your major can be intimidating and tricky for a lot of different reasons, but it’s critical for you—yes, you—to set appropriate boundaries by recognizing it’s a small part of your life that deserves just the right amount of dedication. So, if you’re bound and determined to get some files submitted or that paper written, try to remember that you, as a human, overall, reserve the right to rest and should allow yourself to set a manageable pace for whatever tasks at hand. This is where communication becomes key with not just your co-workers, but yourself as well: you can’t grow and learn without letting yourself rest once in a while. That’s just basic science.  

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