In graduating college I've started to evaluate my career goals and considering if the path that I've chosen is the path that I want. From the time I was a sophomore in college, I've always loved operations. I didn't fully know what that meant or what type of jobs are available but I had a passion for analyzing processes and learning new things. I liked to see the big picture and know why a decision is made to do something a certain way.
When I started my junior year at CalState Eastbay I declared my major to be Operations & Supply Chain Management with a minor in Marketing. I later found out that because they are both Business options I couldn't minor in Marketing. So, I decided to change my major to Marketing. The logic was that it's easier to get a job in Operations without a degree than in Marketing.
As I started to take more marketing classes I found it more an more interesting, learning more about the field and seeing how a lot of things I've been doing in my volunteer work fall under marketing. It was cool to finally put a name to the skills that I picked up over the years and see how they could fit into a career option.
At the same time all this was happening I was also getting questions about what type of operations I wanted to do... I didn't know. I didn't want to limit myself to one thing. I couldn't think of one industry that I wanted to solely focus on. I like learning new things, I like seeing how things work, and through all my different career paths, no matter the jobs, I enjoyed learning about it all. So I went back to my option, marketing. I wanted a job that combined the creativity of marketing with processes of operations.
I started my marketing internship and loved it. But as I got closer to finishing school and choosing my career path I knew this wasn't what I wanted to do every day. I liked my job and was good at my job but I wanted to do operations, not marketing. I appreciated what I learned from marketing and I see how marketing skills can be used and helpful in any career. But I had to go back to my "first love" (so to speak)...
I've decided to take my skills as an Operations Assistant and use them to find a job as an Executive Assistant or an Operations Specialist. Either path will allow me to develop my skills while getting to see the big picture. While I gain experience I also want to continue learning and growing in the skills that will help me towards my career goals. I've been taking some Instructional Design classes (which are helpful with operations because a lot of operations jobs have to do with supporting and launching new processes, having that understanding of instructional design is very helpful). And I want to take classes in Project Management (which is key because that helps with the time management piece and staying on time and on budget).
I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me but I'm so excited to find out.
Comments