Hello Mentees! Guess what? Sadly, this is our last blog posting for the semester. Of course, we can look at the bright side – that means it is almost time to sign up for classes for NEXT semester! (You thought I was going to say the bright side was that this semester is almost done, right?) Wow! Where did the past 10 weeks go?!
This week, let’s look at this article about what employers are looking for in new candidates: http://www.quintcareers.com/job_skills_values.html What do we see here? I see two key things emphasized repeatedly in an Interdisciplinary Studies program - “Analytical/Research Skills. Deals with your ability to assess a situation, seek multiple perspectives, gather more information if necessary, and identify key issues that need to be addressed.” and “Problem-Solving/Reasoning/Creativity. Involves the ability to find solutions to problems using your creativity, reasoning, and past experiences along with the available information and resources.”. As employers continue to explore new ways to squeeze more from their existing resources (including people resources), it becomes more important to find ways that we can leverage that need to our advantage. As IDS majors, we are uniquely positioned to do just that. Employers need professionals that are able to expand their thinking beyond a singular discipline and look at all facets of a problem to formulate new solutions.
In my world of engineering, I see this happening more frequently than in previous years. Although my primary background is electrical, I can no longer focus my work only on the electrical issues to solve a complex design problem. In the “Old Days”, electrical engineers attacked the electrical portion of a design, the mechanical engineers did the mechanical, and the industrial engineers just made all our lives miserable by pushing the schedule and budget. Now however, designs are more of a collaborative effort. There are more brainstorming sessions where everyone sits down and looks at ALL the aspects of the project and how they interact with each other. This gives a new perspective to an issue when an electrical engineer might see how a mechanical design won’t coexist well with his electrical design, so he comes up with some modifications to make it work better. The mechanical engineer might now assist the industrial engineer in planning the scope and schedule of the project because he knows that you have to wait 8 hours for the concrete to cure before you can start the next part of the schedule. The integration of disciplines becomes an enormous asset to the company because through this partnering and understanding, new creative solutions to problems can be realized.
What are your thoughts on employers looking for people able to diversify themselves and branch out into other disciplines (such as an IDS major), versus looking for narrowly focused, single discipline candidates? Do you think they might see more value in someone with an IDS degree versus a single major? Here are some other questions to ponder. Feel free to answer any or all that you like.
· How have you used your interdisciplinarity in your professional life?
· What has been your professional history?
· What are your strongest and weakest job skills?
· What can you do to develop and improve upon your weak skills?
· Identify two professional clubs or organizations that are useful to your chosen career.
· How have internship or externship helped your professional development?
· Discuss your personal philosophy concerning your professional life
· How is or isn't this philosophy interdisciplinary?
· How have your career goals altered?
It has been a great semester, and the Mentor group thanks you for all the awesome conversation on our various topics! May the rest of your semester go well, and good luck on your IDS degree and future career!
PS – Remember to sign your comment with your full name in order to receive full credit!
John Seybert
I think that we have all used interdisciplinary aspects in our lives at some point. Whether at school or at work, the way we deal with issues today forces us to deal with them using different perspectives. When I worked in an office setting, I did tasks within different departments. The tasks allowed me to learn the inner workings of each department. I can take what I learned from them and apply it to jobs in the future. My experience from there will definitely be advantageous to working in any other setting that has different branches within it….which are all jobs.
ReplyDelete-DeAnna Powell
Right on DeAnna! There are so many ways we can use interdisciplinary studies in the workplace!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for your contribution to the blog discussions this semester! Wishing you all the best for you future in IDS!!
ReplyDeleteHi DeAnna,
ReplyDeleteI think that the office environment is probably one of the most interdisciplinary areas there is! Especially for someplace like a small business, the person in the office is usually the one who knows everything about everything, and constantly comes up with new ideas on how to make things run better. I think even the single discipline majors are starting to see that they can no longer live life in their own little world, and they need to expand their thinking if they are to succeed. Thanks for joining in on our conversations this year! I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your Interdisciplinary studies!
John Seybert
I agree with DeAnna and John, that in the work place interdisciplinary skills are very important. My father owned and operated 5 small businesses and had to juggle and manage many different disciplines at once. He was officially a contractor, but had to know how to manage, design, and perform public relations to name a few. Nowadays it is important to know how to perform a few disciplines just to get a paycheck. Like John said, we can't just rely on one discipline to get us a good job, we need to be able to perform and excel in a few.
ReplyDeleteKylee Jones
"What has been your professional history?"
ReplyDeleteI have found interdisciplinary skills to be very important in some of the jobs I have had in the past. A few years ago a friend and I started up a dive operation at a local spring. Not only did we have to be able to advertise to get divers to come, but also to organize tours, manage the money side, and operate under state and national park regulations. We had to have public relation skills and be able to make a profit (something we all want). If I had just been a diver then the operation wouldn't have worked. So being skilled in one discipline doesn't always insure you a bright future nowadays, we need to be trained in multiple disciplines to make it.
Kylee Jones
How have internship or externship helped your professional development?
ReplyDeleteI am a very shy person and used to hate talking in front of people. I am sure that I am not the only one to fear public speaking, so in high school I did some volunteer work at the local aquarium as an exhibit interpreter to the guests that visited. If someone had a question about the animals I was there to answer them. After a few months I was able to approach guests and ask if they had any questions about the animals they were looking at. This has helped me to get the job I have today, as a backstage tour guide/Dive Master at Disney. I am now able to conduct tours in front of a large crowd and not feel self conscious. The experience at the aquarium really prepared me not only for the position I have now but for positions I hope to acquire in the future.
Kylee Jones
Hi Kylee,
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about interdisciplinarity in the workplace, we need to be careful to differentiate between "interdisciplinarity" and "multidisciplinarity". Using your diving business as an example, the advertising, organizing, and money managing are all discrete disciplines, and thus it would make this "Multidisciplinary". Now, how can you merge all that together and come up with something entirely new and different in the diving business? Don't forget that integration is key to interdisciplinarity.
Now when you take your volunteer work and public speaking and your dive skills and integrate them all together to create a backstage diving tour, I think that might be a good example of the integration that defines interdisciplinarity. I am by no means an expert on this subject (even after all these classes!) so I would certainly like to hear others opinions on this as well.
John Seybert
When we talk about strong vs. week job skills and developing your week skills, here's an interesting perspective. About 10 years ago, I worked for a company that was very committed to the "soaring with your strengths" concept. The theory being that you identify what you do well and do more of it and don't worry so much about what you don't do well.
ReplyDeleteSounds kind of silly but it was actually pretty cool (and, looking back, somewhat interdisciplinary). Based on research from the Gallup organization, the idea is that people spend too much time trying to fix what they don't do well - without results. Gallup believes that good leaders know and focus on what they do well and - in an effort to see multiple perspectives - they surround themselves with people who have differing strengths.
That's it in a nutshell. There's a little more to it, but you get the idea (I hope).
Lisa Schmidt
I like John's reminder that we shouldn't mistake multidisciplinary with interdisciplinary. We're all still trying to grasp the concept, right? It's not just bringing different disciplines to the table, it's taking the perspectives they bring and developing a new story (idea, concept, process) and maybe even a solution.
ReplyDeleteIt's sort of a difficult concept to grab hold off and it's not second nature - at least not for me, not yet. It's going to require content attention for now, but hopefully, it'll become second nature before we know it!
Lisa Schmidt
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteYes, Interdisciplinarity is a difficult idea to grasp. I still find myself constantly asking the question "am I thinking interdisciplinary, or multidisciplinary?". Most of the time I realize I am just thinking multidisciplinary and not really integrating the different perspectives.
I found your post about soaring with your strengths intriguing. I understand the concept, and agree to a certain extent, but if people never step outside of their comfort zone of things they do well (their strengths), then can never grow and expand their ways of thinking. Surrounding yourself with people who have different strengths is a savvy business move, but if you know nothing about those disciplines, you leave yourself wide open for a whole bunch of problems. While soaring with your strengths may be good for a while, I think in the long run it would limit a person's potential and they would also find themselves burning out at what they are doing. I think the key is to know when to call it quits when you are doing something not so well, and move on to another challenge. Most people don't know when to give up, and many managers miss the key signs of a person that is in the wrong position and ready to move on also. Had I personally stayed with my strengths years ago, I probably would not be where I am right now or had the opportunities I have enjoyed. However, I DID fail at different thigns along the way, but I knew when it was time to move along too and didn't get bogged down or stuck trying to fix something I wasn't good at. Just my thoughts, let's hear from some of the other mentees - is it better to stay with what you know, or is it good to expand your horizins?
John Seybert
@Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Soaring with your Strengths and have worked for a company in the past that incorporated those ideas. Overall, I support the idea of knowing what you do well and doing more of that. It make sense when you consider we are hired for a job based on the employer believing we do a particular thing well, and that skill we have will benefit them. We aren't hired by an employer because they want it to be their mission to "fix" the areas where we aren't proficient. That's not to say we should ignore an area that we aren't proficient in if that deficiency detracts from the workplace or our ability to contribute to the company. For example, I might be hired to be a programmer and I might be an excellent programmer. That's great, but if I am terrible when it comes to communication or interpersonal skills we can't just say "oh well, at least he's a great programmer." The book talks about finding your "brand" which is a very good concept, but some people take that to imply if they are good at one thing, then that is their brand and they don't have to be good at other things. There has to be some balance, and that means that sometimes we have to be held accountable for improving areas where we are simply not proficient. But, I did like how that system encouraged people to acknowledge that everyone is not equal and that some people are better at some things than others.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with Soaring with your Strengths! Have you ever heard of or worked in an environment that supported "feed forward"?
-William Powell
@John,
ReplyDeleteI agree that sticking with the concept of "soaring with your strengths" can limit one's potential, but I think it depends on how the person applies those principles.
Soaring with your strengths might be good if you use your strengths to advance and supplement your strengths with complimenting skills and disciplines. In that case I think it can be awesome. In other words, don't become a dabbler. Recognize and understand where your strengths are, use your strengths, and supplement your strengths with other skills and disciplines that can make you even stronger. For those that seek to know a little bit about everything, they may have a hard time identifying or articulating their core strengths.
One of the problems I see is that things often get reduced to an all or nothing choice. You ask if it is better to stay with what you know or expand your horizons. Well, does it absolutely have to be one or the other? Which is better, bananas or strawberries? Interdisciplinary Studies teaches us that it is ok to reject that question by saying I want them both in a smoothie, not one or the other. My question would be in what ways can you identify your strengths and compliment your strengths with other skills or disciplines to expand your horizon (if expanding your horizon is something you want to do)?
-William Powell
@Bill
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not familiar with "feed forward," but I'd love to hear more about it. Please share!
@John
I agree, too, that there are definitely times you need to move outside of your comfort zone and work on those things that aren't your strengths. For example, if you have the opportunity to lead others, you owe it to yourself and the people who report to you to learn to lead.
I find it reassuring that interdisciplinary vs. multidisciplinary is still a challenge for you. At least now I'm more aware and I occasionally find myself asking: "Is this an interdisciplinary approach?"
I've enjoyed your postings! Thanks for giving us something to think about.
Lisa Schmidt
What are your thoughts on employers looking for people able to diversify themselves and branch out into other disciplines (such as an IDS major), versus looking for narrowly focused, single discipline candidates? Do you think they might see more value in someone with an IDS degree versus a single major?
ReplyDeleteWell, depends on the job. Overall, I think and IDS mindset is a tremendous asset for a company for reasons already stated. The ability to have an open mind, sound research/analytic skills, and problem-solving/reasoning skills is an awesome skill-set to bring to the table. As I've said in previous blogs I don't believe IDS to be the be all end all solution. If you want to go to law school, then I think a broad IDS degree where you can hone research/analytic, problem-solving/reasoning skills would be great. If you want to become an actuary with an undergrad degree it may benefit you to have a degree with heavy coursework in calculus, statistics, mathematics, etc. It isn't required, and there are exceptions for every rule, but you may be better primed for success as an actuary with one of those degrees than to take a sampling of those courses as part of an IDS degree. If you want to be a nurse, I'm not sure an IDS will do much for you on its own.
It also depends on how you sell yourself. Going back to my actuary example, a degree in a major related to the actuarial sciences is not required to pass the actuarial exams. So, in theory you could have an IDS degree, do well on the actuarial exams. But realistically you should be prepared to be challenged and do some explaining in interviews, if you get the interview. Could the requirement for a statistics degree be used to disqualify you if you have an IDS degree? Sure. A well written resume doesn't always conquer all obstacles. The ability to sell yourself and articulate your strengths and value to an organization is critical. Assuming you do get that interview, you would have to be prepared to explain how an IDS degree makes you an asset and not a liability compared to someone with a more traditional degree for that job.
For me, an IDS degree is what I choose to make of it. It is one of many tools in my toolbox. It will help in some instances, but I recognize that it will be something to discuss or explain with some prospective employers. I don't resent hesitation from employers, rather I focus on being prepared to explain or justify the value of your IDS degree and experience. I don't feel the IDS degree, in and of itself, will break down barriers to entering a field or getting hired by a company. I believe it's how I shape my specific IDS degree, what I gain from my IDS experience, and what I do with what I gain from my IDS experience which will make the difference in my career.
-William Powell
@Lisa
ReplyDeleteOff topic for this blog, but what the heck.
We're mostly familiar with the idea of feedback. A manager or supervisor sits you down and explains the things you did well and the things you didn't do so well. Common sense tells you that you need to continue doing the things he or she tells you were done well, right? Ok. Some believe that by pointing out the things that were bad, it doesn't really explain what the desired behavior or action was. Explaining in a blog is hard, let's look at an example.
We're going to the beach, and I hand you a map. You look at the map, you think you know where you're going, and so off we go. Eventually we get lost. Ok, so we look at the map and I ask you to tell me which path you followed. You show me where you turned left at an intersection and which exit you took from I-4. I could respond by telling you that you shouldn't have turned left there, and you shouldn't have taken that exit. I told you what you did wrong, but really you already knew you did something wrong. Instead of focusing on the past, it might be more help to explain what I want you to do in the future. If I say you shouldn't have turned left, it doesn't tell you if going straight or turning right was the correct option. There are so many options for what you could do in the future, but if we focus on the past then you only learned that turning left was wrong. What should you have done to make the right decision?
Do we get more benefit by outlining what you did wrong, or by discussing what I want you to do in the future?
To oversimplify, the concept of "Feed Forward" is that as a supervisor I should explain what an employee has done well, so the employee knows to continue doing those things. I should also outline what I want the employee to do in the future and how doing these things in the future benefit the employee. Feed the person information to make a positive impact moving forward instead of feeding the person information about how he or she made mistakes in the past.
An all too real and all too frequent real-life experience of mine.... When I burn the dinner in my house (which, by the way, is every time it's my turn to cook), it doesn't help me to have my wife tell me I left the food in the oven too long or the temperature was set too high. Yeah, I already knew I screwed up so pointing out the fact that I screwed up doesn't do anything for me. If my wife were to tell me to set the oven to 350 and bake it for only 35 minutes that would tell me the RIGHT thing to do and would help me in the future.
That's a very very basic idea of Feed Forward. It was developed by Marshall Goldsmith, and you can get more information from http://www.marshallgoldsmithfeedforward.com/html/FeedForward-Tool.htm if you're interested.
-William Powell
In my opinion it is very important to an employer that one has diverse skills. I think many employers would like an employee with many skill sets to bring to the table. Having different skills or an interdisciplinary degree shows ones ability to work in different subjects at once and to solve problems from a different perspective. Being interdisciplinary also means you will be a stronger member of the team. It also shows that they are able to venture into different disciplines if the job calls for it, which is a huge plus to an employer. Just my thoughts.
ReplyDelete- Michael Sanacore
Bill,
ReplyDeleteGreat point on the feed forward method. Too many times we see employers trying to correct mistakes using "negative feedback" rather than provide helpful direction. Not only does that not help the person who needs the feedback, it wastes valuable time that the task could move forward instead of dwelling on the bad aspects.
You are right about how a person applies their skills to things that are not their strength. Is it all or nothing? No, I agree with you, it shouldn't be one or the other. But by the same token I do not want to be "pigeonholed" into something that is my "strength" and not be able to find out if I can soar at anything else either. And to your point about needing to become proficient in some things whether we want to or not (like interpersonal communication skills), yes there will always be things like that requiring us to branch out into other areas. What it all comes down to I believe is dependant on the person, the company, and the situation. There are no hard and fast rules, and programs like Soar with Your Strengths and Feed Forward are a great way to help employers focus on cultivating top notch employees.
John Seybert
Michael,
ReplyDeleteBeing a strong team member is crucial in business today. The fact that one has interdisciplinary background is a big step toward being able to talk intelligently among the different disciplines and rbing some cohesiveness to a group of people. Many times the different disciplines of a project get caught up in their own little world and they seem to forget they are part of the bigger "team". Being the interdisciplinarian in a group should help you be able to bridge some gaps and make the team stronger.
John Seybert
@ Lisa
ReplyDeleteAs far as talking about strong vs. weak job skills, i myself have definitely come to realize how important it is to show off your strong skills so you can learn on using the same approaches when it comes to strengthening your weaker skills. Not everyone can be good at EVERYTHING, but you can certainly use yourself as a measuring stick in working on those skills.
Scott Pollack
I agree Scott, part of being a good team member is to bring your skills to the table. And if others are better at different skills, then that's how you come together as a team. By working together using your different skill sets, you can learn new skills and try to better yourself, as well as teaching others new skills as well. That's how a good team should work, and many companies lack a interdisciplinary mindset or team, and I find they fall behind other companies that do. I plan on using my interdisciplinary skills to help me throughout my career, and hopefully to be successful in everything I do.
ReplyDelete- Michael Sanacore
I'll bring up a different point: there's an assumption in this discussion that it's all employer versus employee or work as an itra-team effort. There are many who work for themselves and the working world isn't necessarily "professional" and "corporate" oriented...though we've basically been programmed/brainwashed to think this is the correct and preferable method of organization. Doesn't anyone aspire to be independent and write their own ticket? Just asking.
ReplyDeleteYes, most aren't qualified or industrious enough to do that or want to do that--granted. I'm just trying to present a different perspective for thought in the IDS sense.
Jonathan Harris
My strongest skills are in organizing/planning, implementing, and monitoring progress. My weakest skills concern details/minutiae...but I compensate for that by delegation. Impatience is something I've been working on and figuring out and "weeding out" the legitimate from the illegitamite causes and issues when progress is impeded. I'm not fun to work with but then again work isn't necessarily fun...fun and enjoyable aren't synonymous...in my mental lexicon.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Harris
My career goals have drastically altered since I began my college career. Initially I had no plans beyond retiring from my current "profession" in seven years then chilling. I've found I want to teach history so this is a radical departure from my original goal and my whole life has been turned upside down. Academia is just another environment and I am extremely adaptable, flexible, and versatile and don't anticipate any problems in migrating--especially with insights gained in this class!
ReplyDeleteJonathan Harris
*It was enjoyable interacting with all of you. The best of luck and success in your future endeavors. -j
I have been able to use my interdisciplinarity in my professional life in nearly every job I have had since my first run of college. Working as a sports writer forced me to rely not only on my writing skills, but my people skills. I had to be able to be objective in my writing, but also develop relationships with those that would be important later on down the road. In Sales, I have been forced to be knowledgable about a particular product, but also be able to also develop relationships.
ReplyDeleteI view my weakest job skill as my inability to acuratly budget my time to complete all required tasks in a prompt fasion. I sometimes allow myself to get bogged down without being able to dig out of it in a reasonable window.
My personal philosophy in regards to my professional life is simple: Do what you love. I would like to make "6 figures" but as long as I can get up every morning and know that I will enjoy my work, I will consider myself successful.
All of this talk about interdisciplinary aspects within jobs/organizations really makes me notice how much our lives incorporate interdisciplinarity. And without us even trying to do it. I chose a generalized degree, but I don't see it to be detrimental. I feel more comfortable now with my degree than before because I learned that even if you want to go to grad school, the degree wouldn't hold you back unless you don't have the obvious talents and skills to get by. I am considering going to law school, and I think that as long as I do well on the LSAT, and provide a good application, that my IDS degree will maybe show them how well-rounded I am.
ReplyDelete-DeAnna Powell
Johnathan,
ReplyDeleteI always think that there's room for people to be independent thinkers. These people are the ones who go off on their own path and take risks, not knowing what is to come of it. Sometimes, these risks lead to great innovations in things like technology, architechture, entertainment, etc. Without these people, we would be forced to live uneventful lives, repeating the same mundane tasks over and over. I've recently realized that in order to even think I can realize the dreams/goals I have for my future, that I'm going to have to be a "go-getter" and not follow what others are doing.
-DeAnna Powell
Great comments everyone! Jonathon, you make a good point about independent people "writing their own ticket". Even if a person is self employed, I think a lot of these discussions are still pertinent. A person working for themsleves has to deal with customers (similar to other departments in a business), suppliers, marketing, finances, etc. Working for oneslef is still a business in that sense, and if one is to be successful in their field they should certainly be professional at what they do. It is just a matter of context I think.
ReplyDelete@Sean, I agree that we should all do what we love! Personally, I have always planned to be independently wealthy, but unfortunately that has not panned out so well for me. As my father-in-law used to say "I'm already working on my second million! Gave up on trying to make the first one..." Now if I can find a park ranger job that pays six figures, I know where I will be! This job did look appealing to me at the time, and was as close as you might come to a dream job: http://islandreefjob.com.au/about-the-best-job/
@ Deanna - "I'm going to have to be a "go-getter" and not follow what others are doing." - Well said! I couldn't agree more!
John Seybert
Analytical and Research Skills are very important tools in the career field.These two tools Deal with your ability to assess a situation, and seek multiple perspectives.Also they help gather more information if necessary, and identify key issues that need to be addressed.When analyzing a document, it is essential to pull out crucial key points and facts. This helps make summarizing a passage and pulling out the main ideal a much easier task.
ReplyDeleteGeorges Desliens
Problem-Solving/Reasoning/Creativity.These three tools Involve the ability to find solutions to problems using your creativity, reasoning, and past experiences along with the available information and resources. With problem solving, tactics and strategies can be used to solve problems. With reasoning, a person can make logical sense of the problem that they solved. These two tools go hand in hand in a career setting when working on a team.
ReplyDeleteGeorges Desliens
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we have all used interdisciplinary aspects in our lives at some point and time. Although, we have been technically programmed to think this is the correct and preferable method of organization, this is not the only alternative. Creativity is a tool that allows a person to push the envelope. Creativity allows a person to show difference and not be like everyone else.With these tools , organization could be better.
ReplyDeleteGeorges Desliens
To whoever mentioned independent work versus the corporate work field. All work is going to be interdisciplinary, even if you own your own business and work for yourself. My father has owned his own company and worked for himself for as long as I can remember, and he is always having to work with others to accomplish goals and work with other fields to finish the product. He is a photographer and works with advertisement agencies, stylists, models, film makers, etc. All of these people work in very different fields, but they all mesh together to make a team when working on a certain job, and that is why having Interdisciplinary skills is important.
ReplyDelete- Michael Sanacore