Study business at one of IU's top schools
IU Bloomington has 16 degree-granting colleges and schools—many of them are among the nation’s and world’s best—and several offer business degree options.
IU Bloomington has 16 degree-granting colleges and schools—many of them are among the nation’s and world’s best—and several offer business degree options.
There isn’t one path to success in business. Explore the options to study business and build lasting momentum for your career.
College of Arts and Sciences majors
School of Public Health majors
Complement your IU undergraduate degree with expertise in business to set yourself apart to employers.
Business minors (21 credits) include:
Want a business education with more flexibility than a minor? Try the Entrepreneurship Certificate.
Discuss majors, internships and opportunities at IUB that lead to careers in business
For currently enrolled IUB students, find your academic advisor
Learn about +Kelley graduate programs, open to all IUB majors
Representing a wide variety of academic backgrounds, these IU alumni found rewarding careers in business.
Description of the video:
Megan Ray: Great. And if it's okay with you all, and I can turn this off, if it's not, I'd love to record this if you all. Don't mind. So if you'd rather me not. That's okay. So just raise your hand. If you would rather me not record.
Megan Ray: Okay. Seeing no hands raised. We will move forward so, and Hi! Welcome to our participants who are coming in. I'm really glad to see you all here, so wonderful. Angel and Cal, Amy, Andy Akash, James. Great! Thank you so much. Hi, Katie! Glad that you all are joining us. Luke
Megan Ray: Liam Shawn. Hi! Hello! Welcome! Well, my name is Megan Ray, and I'm your moderator this evening for this panel, and I am so excited because we have some amazing, incredibly accomplished alumni who are here with us this evening. We're going to talk a little bit about their roles, about their major programs that I you. But what they did to get themselves successful and into the places where they are. So
Megan Ray: what I'd love to do is, have you all go ahead and introduce yourselves and Aly, if we want to start with you, and then we'll go to Fuhong, and then to James Alyssa Claymiller: Awesome. Well, I'm super happy to be here with you all today. My name is Alyssa. I'm from outside of Fort Wayne and graduated from IU in 2019. Alyssa Claymiller: and I work at intuitive surgical. We have a surgical robot. So a lot of people think that it's the robot doing surgery. But it's actually the surgeon who is is doing that just gets them some more precision and control. and I originally wanted to be an optometer. So I studied science, and we can maybe get into that later. But how I made this the decision to get more of a business row.
Fuhang Mou: Everybody. I'm Sue Hong, Mo. I graduated from IU in 2020. I studied biotechnology. And after I graduated I moved to Chicago to work at Abbey and V is a pharmaceutical company. We have Fuhang Mou: products like humor and botox. those are like 2 of our most
Fuhang Mou: well known products. So I started in marketing, went to market research. And now I am in the sales in Raleigh, North Carolina. So happy to be back at.
Fuhang Mou: are you with you all?
James Markwith: Hi, everyone I'm James Mark with also located in Chicago now, but originally from Seattle. Washington, Graduated from Indiana, first in 2021, and then again in 2022 after grad school. Now I work here in Chicago for United headlines. So happy to be here excited for this pad.
Megan Ray: Well, thank you all so much. I really appreciate it. So the first thing I'd like to do is a ask you all about the undergraduate major if you each chose a different undergraduate major to go into. And so how did you pick that major program? And then from that.
Megan Ray: how did you then decide to either move into the work that you're doing right like, what area of that, or what led you then into the grad school route right out of that. So. And, James, if you want to go ahead and start since you. You just spoke last, and then we'll go to Fuhong. And then Alyssa, that'd be great.
James Markwith: Yeah, sure. So an undergrad. I studied economics and political science, and you know I had a minor in business, but I I really wanted to kind of grow the the business side of my you know, education and knowledge a little more So I did the one year masters of Science and finance program through Plus Kelley
James Markwith: after finishing that, you know, I wanted to kind of go into the corporate world, you know. Try it out. And about a year in at United Airlines here in Chicago. I do. It United is, for it's called pricing and revenue management. James Markwith: And so it's pretty related more to the econ side of my background. James Markwith: you know, revenue revenue management's looking at demand and setting fares. And you know, making sure that we maximize revenue essentially. James Markwith: so it's you know it's been. It's been closely tied to my education you know, the whole way through. But Is there any other part of that question I missed. I can't.
Megan Ray: You did. Great. That was awesome. Thank you. And I'd like to go ahead and encourage our attendees who are watching. If you have questions, go ahead and put those into the Q and A. Specifically, that'll be really helpful for us in terms of getting those answered so excellent. Okay.
Fuhang Mou: So I When I first started at Iu, I wanted to be a physician, right? So I I took the pre-med courses. I kind of followed the traditional path of Fuhang Mou: like a science curriculum, right deep science. And then somewhere along the line, I discovered that the business side was more. Yeah, you know, plays better to my strength, and it's an area that I felt I was better able to contribute to this life science, ecosystem, the business side of life sciences. So I study more Fuhang Mou: business that I, you, and kind of work to connect the science aspect of my science, major curriculum, and then my business curriculum, my business courses together, and Fuhang Mou: once I graduated from my you, of course, I went into marketing. I have this. So a business role in a science company and and I mean, that's what I've been doing ever since.
Alyssa Claymiller: So for me, a very similar story. I was Alyssa Claymiller: originally start off as biology and decide to transition, to exercise science to my my my pre-re Alyssa Claymiller: requirements for optometry school, and it was around my junior year. I think I started it. Maybe sophomore year started to like, have that little voice in the back of my mind. That was during the question. If I really did want to become an optometrist and started looking in a bit more to the business side. And even because I kind of had my blinders on for a long time like I wanted to do optometry, that's all I wanted to do. Alyssa Claymiller: And anyone who goes pre-med or pre-physical therapy knows that Alyssa Claymiller: all of those kind of decisions start a long time ago, like in high school, so it can be really hard to change your mind. but I think it's really important to listen to like your gut instincts and what you feel. because I'm really grateful for my science background. But and I think it's really helped in the career that I have now. But Alyssa Claymiller: but I I was starting to realize as I was preparing for up optometry school. I was starting to think I like. Well, I was like, maybe, like, you know, later on, after practicing for a while, I can like be one of those doctors who like helps with the pharmaceuticals of things that or is like the. Alyssa Claymiller: Sometimes there's physicians who Alyssa Claymiller: have a big influence on the research piece. Alyssa Claymiller: and I started to realize that I could just go right into medical device or pharmaceuticals. So I think that was what I decided that Alyssa Claymiller: that it was easier just to go with that route, then to go all the way through school and go a half 1 million, or like quarter 1 million in debt. Before coming to that conclusion. Megan Ray: It was a good thing. You caught yourself, Alyssa, probably right like in that process. So so one of the things that I think is is on the mind of the students observing this, they're all interested in business, right in some way, shape or form. Megan Ray: and are looking for a business degree outside of what the traditional business degrees are at the Kelley School. And so a couple of you have this sciences background. James. You have this background in econ and political science. But I'm wondering, too, just broadly. Are there folks around you who you know, who you work with, who are coming from different backgrounds other than a straight business degree who are doing things in your areas? And and if so, what were some of those paths? So that we can kind of open that up?
Fuhang Mou: I think those people that I work with now in my sales capacity and then in my marketing and market research capacity
Fuhang Mou: of of all backgrounds. Right? I I think once I I mean, once you graduate and you enter the corporate world, you realize that you're gonna meet people with all different sorts of majors. Yes, there is going to be a lot of business majors. But there's also going to be science, major political science. There's going to be everything. And it's really up to you at that point, to make sure that you are able to, you know, grow, grow in your role, learn what you need to to be successful in your role. It's really Fuhang Mou: I may may be the major right, your your college degree, your major, is the. Fuhang Mou: It's the thing to get you into the door in a corporate Urban America Company. But once you're in the door, it's really up to you to sustain your success and your learnings there. Megan Ray: If you want to add to that. Alyssa Claymiller: I would agree that in my ever since graduating college I've worked with people who come from all different Alyssa Claymiller: backgrounds, and it really is it? Alyssa Claymiller: It's more than just what your degree is on paper. It's it's the different Alyssa Claymiller: multifaceted type people that a strong organization wants to attract Alyssa Claymiller: and if they're only looking for one specific type of person or specific background, it's probably not a very diverse company. or doesn't value those kind of mindsets. So Alyssa Claymiller: I think that. like the degree that's on your paper isn't the end. I'll be all James Markwith: yeah, I'd completely agree. I'd say, speaking from experience at United. I know many people who they do have business degrees. I know many people who don't, or you know, social sciences, and what not James Markwith: I would say that most of the people that even if they had the business degree, what makes them stand out is they're interviewing skills. Their personality, like other, you know, aspects of the interview process, or being a good candidate, that kind of actually get you that job. So James Markwith: you know, if you. James Markwith: If you do end up getting a business degree, you're interested. That's great. It's gonna certainly, you know. Teach you things that will help you in the future. But even if you don't, you know, you can be successful regardless, that's what I Megan Ray: let's talk about what some of those skills and things are that you have to actually lean into right, like the other stuff that you did outside of the classes in your undergrad experiences. And I, too, hung. I'm gonna start with you. You know what were the things that you did outside of academics that help get you ready for where you are right now and then James will circle to you and then to Alyssa. Fuhang Mou: yeah, Megan, I think there was a lot of like leadership. Right? How do you work in a team. How do you work with other people? I think it's exactly what James just alluded to. Right? It's a lot of the kind of the social interactions that you're gonna have with the different people you're working with. Right? When you enter a corporate company, there's going to be a lot of different teams, a lot of different players with a lot of different opinions. And it's all about, how do you navigate the Fuhang Mou: the relationships that you're gonna have with each one of them, and that they have with each other. So it's a lot of I I think college is a great time to help, you understand. And really hone in on your kind of a relationship management. You're kind of, you know. Fuhang Mou: social navigating. And and that's gonna be really beneficial. As you enter the corporate world. Alyssa Claymiller: So some things I was involved in outside the classroom. I worked at the study of broad office after I studied abroad. And I found that that gave me a lot of great skills that I use in my career today. We would have Alyssa Claymiller: if you've ever seen like the tables out, for I use study abroads like that used to be me behind that table we did a lot of outreach and helping with the financial aid and their application process. Once they decide, they wanted to study brought and usually it. It's somewhat of a long planning process. Alyssa Claymiller: you know, at least 6 months before someone studies abroad and helping them get all the puzzle pieces put together for that to happen. You know their financial aid, or the classes going through even the nitty-gritty like, what do I pack like? How do I do this and that make a bank account when you get there? So helping people through that I feel like has helped me in what I do now, which Alyssa Claymiller: we help train the surgeons to do the robot surgery. And essentially it's again like a very long process, like there has to be a lot of ducks in a row, and so I feel like that was beneficial. Alyssa Claymiller: And then other than that I think. Alyssa Claymiller: find something you're passionate about and try to get a leadership role in it. I mean, it doesn't matter if it's in a real volleyball, and you're the team lead. Just find something that you're passionate about, because little examples like that can go a long way to in an interview. James Markwith: Yeah, I completely agree with what Alyssa said. Something I add on to that is just connect with your professors. You know they're a great resource. I had the opportunity of working pretty closely with Professor Broth. I don't know if anyone's here has had any experience with him. he taught introductory micro and macro James Markwith: And so I was a ugi for that class for about 2 years. And you know, through some I had a a good relationship with him, and just he kind of helped me along in a later years of college. So just connect with your professors especially use Linkedin. James Markwith: if you don't have a Linkedin account, you should definitely make one James Markwith: and also utilize handshake. So the school gives you a lot of tools for, you know, getting a job or networking, and I just recommend utilizing them. Megan Ray: You know, I really interested you talked about the networking stuff, and and these are students who are going into the start of the sophomore year. So networking is something they're familiar with. But Megan Ray: it's also probably still pretty dag on intimidating, right as you're going through that process when you're thinking about that. what was one of the things that you use like a tip or a trick that you use that you felt like. Once I figured this out it was a whole lot easier for me so, and I'll start with Alyssa, and then we'll go to Fuhong. And then, James. Alyssa Claymiller: so do you mean in terms of networking? Yeah, like either a conversation star or maybe that you had, or a story that you told about your experiences that helped connect, like all of those different things. Alyssa Claymiller: awesome, I think I think Alyssa Claymiller: bringing humor into it is always easy, or I, when your first meeting someone, sometimes even Alyssa Claymiller: just noting something that's happening around you can give you something quick to mutually bond over Alyssa Claymiller: whether I mean, like you're waiting in line for the bus or just anything. You can really start a conversation with anybody if you want But I would say also, just like as soon as you can just find mutual ground. And I feel like that helps people connect right off the back. Fuhang Mou: I I think it's just about like Fuhang Mou: getting used to the flow of these networking conversations right like when you're entering these networking conversations and making sure you understand what you want out of the conversation, and how Fuhang Mou: the conversation can move towards that. Right? Yes, you, wanna, you know, find what you have in common right to make the conversation a little more personable, and, and, you know, build the connection, but also make sure you keep in mind, and are moving a conversation towards the questions you want to ask right that are important to your career. The the reason why you're networking with them. So keep the end in mind and you know, over time. The more these kind of cold networking calls you have with people, the more familiar you'll be with the Fuhang Mou: the flow of it. I mean, they're all pretty similar. And and people people have advice they want to share. So make sure you are able to effectively listen. But James Markwith: yeah, I agree with what Fuhong and Alyssa said. And just to add on, I would say, You know, do your research? you know you don't want to be asking questions that James Markwith: you could find in a quick Google search. Or, if you know, if they've made it pretty obvious in their like profile, if you're doing a cold cold email or cold Linkedin message to someone. if you're trying to, you know, reach that connection. so you just want to kind of be prepared essentially. James Markwith: you know. Know what they do, what kind of sector they're in, maybe. I think a list all alluded to this. Just be caught up on current news in their sector. If you know, something big's happening in that industry just know about it. Maybe bring it up as a touching point. It could be as a starter for a conversation. Megan Ray: when you are doing that kind of research, James, and thinking about that right? Because I think that's so important to personalize the conversation. And you know not that you have to become a expert on their mission statement on their website or anything like that, but certainly reading it and understanding what things are important to the values of the company. Where did you get that kind of information. Were you just a Google fiend during that period of time? Or were you like using some other sort of process to figure that out? James Markwith: you know, using various new sort news websites, you know, if it's a finance related interview, you know, looking at Bloomberg, or, you know, financial times. I I believe our the Masters program gave us a free subscription in the financial time. So that was quite helpful in a few cases. other than that. Just Linkedin's James Markwith: obviously great James Markwith: posts in that industry, you know, you can see you can search that on there. But Google also always does the job. So where wherever you can find it, basically. Megan Ray: absolutely, we've had a question now from one of our attendees. That, I think, is a really strong one, and the question is, if you were in your sophomore year today, what would you do different than how it panned out for you, and why so? And, Alyssa, you have the unfortunate luck of being off on your mic right now. So I'm going to tag you first. Alyssa Claymiller: my sophomore year. I would. One thing that seems kind of random, but I probably would do it probably live a bit closer to campus, because I think Alyssa Claymiller: I've lived a little far off that year, and I feel like I could have been more involved on campus if I was closer, but I was kind of at the mercy of whatever the 9 bus or whatever I was on, whenever I could go on to campus and then also. Alyssa Claymiller: probably, if I wouldn't have the foresight. At that point I would have probably slowed down a bit on my science courses and trying to get a business minor Alyssa Claymiller: because I was close to having a business minor. I think I had pretty much everything besides accounting, and maybe like one of the Alyssa Claymiller: like, either Mac or micro Econ. One of those I was like pretty close to just being able to have a minor which doesn't Alyssa Claymiller: you know, like. Alyssa Claymiller: make or break like where I ended up today or anything, but I think it could have given me some insight that'd be helpful. Alyssa Claymiller: because. Alyssa Claymiller: yeah, ultimately, some of the science classes I was taking were pre-rex that I didn't end up meeting. But everything all happens for a reason, and I think some of those classes probably help me today, too. So but I I think just listening to the voice like, if you have doubts about where you're going. Alyssa Claymiller: have a conversation about Alyssa Claymiller: someone who's in that position and see how they really feel about it, because that was what started to change the script for me. you know, I spoke to some people in the the dream job I wanted. Alyssa Claymiller: and was finding out that they were as happy. And it is, I think I was hoping they would be so I think that's really important, too, is just asking them some of the the real questions. Alyssa Claymiller: If you need help deciding. Megan Ray: I think that's great. So what would you do if you could turn back time? Fuhang Mou: Me and I I think I would do exactly what I did. I I think sophomore year for me. I. I was like freshman year. I was like, Okay, I want to be a physician. And then, towards the end of freshman year, moving into sophomore year, I was like, Okay, maybe there are things outside of being a physician that I wanted to explore. So I spent maybe half a semester finding out. But I, if I wanted to be a lawyer? Right? And so the answer to that was, no. And then I Fuhang Mou: it's the business side of life sciences, and and I mean here I am now so sophomore year for me. It was like a Fuhang Mou: like a a time of career exploration. I think I I mean that that's important, right? As you determine what path you're going to take for the rest of college. And thereafter Megan Ray: that's a great point. So, and you you mentioned the life sciences, and I know that you and Alyssa both became involved in the Center for the Business of Life Sciences which is housed in the Kelley School, and it's open to students of any major program at I you, what was that experience like for you like, what do you feel like you got out of Cdl. Fuhang Mou: It it it was good. I I I think the center really gave students a good Fuhang Mou: understanding and contacts of how the life sciences, industry operates. So there's 2 courses. When when Alyssa and I were in the program, right? And and in each of these classes, industry, professionals from every single area of the industry would come in and talk to you about Fuhang Mou: what they did, and and that gave us great understanding into the rep, the the possibilities and and the options of jobs are out there. I I think normally, people just think of like, maybe like marketing finance right? But there's so many other things in the life, sciences, industry, that the courses in the center really gave us exposure to that. I was Fuhang Mou: very helpful. And then there were, I mean at Abbey right there were. There was a speaker that came from Abbey that spoke in one of our classes, and I mean I've been at the. Now I've been connecting with her. So it's important, right in that working to keep the connection Fuhang Mou: going into yeah, to just lean into the resources that you have around you to have that connection? Megan Ray: Okay. Alyssa Claymiller: a hundred percent agree. Alyssa Claymiller: What was one of my favorite things about that program? Was it opened my eyes to so many positions that I didn't even realize were available. I came from a small town in Indiana, and you know, realistically like. Alyssa Claymiller: if you were one of the brighter kids they kind of were like, Okay, you give me a doctor, a lawyer that was kind of like the like Alyssa Claymiller: we'll have they put you down so. But when I I realized that there was so much more because it brings you through everything from research, like the years and years of research that happens before I met even gets to the stage where it can get FDA approved. They had people from the FDA come in, and then Alyssa Claymiller: go into all the different types of medications and devices that are out there. and then even post-market stuff. So it really gives you a broad Alyssa Claymiller: idea of what all is out there. The other thing I really like to is that it is like professionals out there. I think sometimes. Alyssa Claymiller: you know, we just have our professors like for the whole semester, and we've got it was either two or three different presentations in each class. Alyssa Claymiller: that we're all from people out in the field, out in their profession. So I feel like you just got such like excitement and breath from that and it's also like an amazing networking opportunity. So that's that was one of the main reasons that I decided to change my mind and go more that direction, because I like found myself being excited to go to that class. Megan Ray: Hmm! Megan Ray: That's a good, a good indicator, and James will turn back time with you for a minute. If there's anything with the sophomore year that you could remember that you'd change as a part of that process. James Markwith: I kinda I agree with. what Fuhong, said I, I wouldn't change a thing. I certainly, you know, made mistakes earlier in college of taking a class. I shouldn't have you know, or whatever you want to say, but and roadblocks that came up, but you know they were all important, and, you know, led me to where I am so happy where I am. So I don't want to change anything Megan Ray: so out of the major programs that you all did, or your grad program also, James? In your instance, what were some of the courses that were really really helpful for you? That you were like, yeah, this really worked James Markwith: absolutely is one that stands out. Kinda got me proficient in excel and excel is used in every company. Just you gotta know. Excel. So if you want to go into business pick up that skill another one James Markwith: this is undergrad. Only us, right? So you could also add a course or 2 that you had in your grad program that you were like this just locked it down for me. Yeah, sure. So one in grad school that I took was called cloud based analytics. And it went into using power bi and some sequel skills. So those are becoming more and more important in James Markwith: a lot of businesses being able to analyze James Markwith: pull data, analyze data and visualize it. So those kind of skills will never go out of style. Basically. So I, you know, try to pick up at least one of those James Markwith: other courses that I just enjoyed. you know, that helped me James Markwith: intellectually, was just philosophy. I love philosophy got So reading that kind of stuff was a a a joy James Markwith: absolutely. How do you see how that exploration into philosophy has helped you now like, in terms of what you do day to day, whether it's work related or quality of life related quite frankly, because I think there's a piece of that, too. James Markwith: this one class. I took. You had to write a paper every week. It was about a 10 page paper every week, so I got a lot better at writing that semester. certainly. You have to write a lot in business, you need to, you know. Write drafts or put together a, you know, an email, professional email toward someone, maybe higher up. And it's gotta, you know, look good and sound. Good. So. James Markwith: yeah. Megan Ray: absolutely. And Alyssa were there courses that were stand out for you during your time. Alyssa Claymiller: so what helps me a lot in my current position is my, it's like anatomy. It was a teaching system for that that has really helped me. I think also, this is speech debate. Type classes can be helpful to Alyssa Claymiller: to learn how to like, take any kind of topic like they could throw at you, and and Alyssa Claymiller: come up with your opinion on it, I think, is helpful, too. Megan Ray: absolutely too long. What do you think? What were some classes that were stand out. Fuhang Mou: I think, other than the 2 center for the business of life sciences, courses where the different professionals came in. I took a class in the own new school on the pharmaceutical industry, and I think that was really helpful, right? So that gave me a good Fuhang Mou: understanding of how a drug kind of move through moves through the pipeline all the different players of it. formulary. Fuhang Mou: just a lot of different things that are, you know, pillars and the pharmaceutical industry, and and gives me a good foundation going into the industry. Megan Ray: So in that shift gears here just a little bit, let's say you talked about a study of broad experience, and I'd love for you to elaborate more on that. And if if either of you, who Hong or James have experiences like that, you want to say, or if you want to encourage a student to do it. please. By all means, I share that, you know. as we're going through that. But Alyssa's talk a little bit about that like what you got out of that experience. Megan Ray: what kind of stories it gave you to talk to folks about. And then you know, what should people think about if they're thinking about doing a study of broad type experience. Alyssa Claymiller: Yeah. So I actually got to study. Read twice. I did a short term study abroad, after my freshman year of college to the Dominican Republic, and it covered culture. in history. I forget it, was it? Alyssa Claymiller: It satisfied one of my general education requirements, I forget exactly which one, but I think probably the most fun way to cover that credit. So that was my first time out of the country. So that was an amazing experience, and we got to go all around the country of getting seen different sites. And then I did a semester study abroad to Australia, which was absolutely amazing. I don't think anything will ever live up to it in my whole life. Alyssa Claymiller: But what some of this skills that I gain from that that I could bring up and interviews is it really shows that you're adaptable and willing to accept change and inherently you just the more you see of the world the more you understand and can can have like Alyssa Claymiller: things to speak about with, you know. I'll run in or like, say, I meet someone from New Zealand, and I can talk about my. The time that I said to broaden was over there, too. It just really makes the world feel more connected. And getting to see different ways of life. It's always really helpful for Alyssa Claymiller: for setting abroad. This sooner you can start planning the better. I'm actually a big proponent of trying to study abroad as early as possible, because it makes it easier with your credit. transfers, because the longer you wait, the more specific Alyssa Claymiller: kind of classes you're getting into at the end of your Major, so in the beginning is definitely a good way to do it, and a lot of your scholarships can go a broader detail if you do. Alyssa Claymiller: Of those. Fuhang Mou: I never studied it abroad. I was going to, but and then Covid happened. So I didn't. But I think it's not. It's not necessarily about study abroad. It's just about these like types of experiential learning experiences that gives you more to speak to. Right, gives you more Fuhang Mou: life, experience and opportunities to hone in these like skills of communication team work Fuhang Mou: things like that. So what? Whether you study abroad or don't study abroad, it's important to lean into these experiences that you've had in your life, right? Whether it's whether it is study abroad, right? Whether you're in organization, whether you're, you know, in a in a team project. Right? What? What are these these like stories that you can tell people to highlight who you are? Megan Ray: That's a great story, and you're absolutely right. You all would have been right in the middle of that Covid, and would have really struggled from that. So that makes a ton of sense actually within that. So that's great, James. Anything to throw in there. James Markwith: I'd say. Foo Hong said it better than I would. Megan Ray: Well done. So it does seem to be really important. This collection of the stories through your undergrad experience that when you're walking into this thing, you're looking to make a connection with a person right, because that's part of the networking piece. But then you're also trying to figure out how to extrapolate what you've learned inside and outside the classroom to talk to those folks because they also want to know that you know your stuff right as you're going into this. And as you've looked at that process, you know, as you all are looking Megan Ray: to, what your next move might be right in your career. What are some of the things that you think are fundamentals that maybe we're missing from your undergrad degree, that you think that you ought to put back in like I know, James, you talked about excel, and about how like you just can't have too much right as you're going through that and and building up those skills. Megan Ray: But I mean wondering if there's also other things. Now, like I, you know, thinking about artificial intelligence, and how that's so very, very vastly changing the way that things are being done. Now, are there things like that that you all are seeing in your industries that you're thinking. Well, if I were in school right now, and maybe start to look at this, because I think I'm going to need that for my next leap. James Markwith: Yeah, it's certainly say, like strict coding would. If I was a genius, Coder, it would certainly be helpful in certain aspects of my job. But you know there's tools now where you you can kind of skate by with. you know, limited knowledge. It's coding. So if I mean, if you're interested in, it's a great skill to pick up so python or James Markwith: C. Any of these kind of more James Markwith: you. You know James Markwith: usable coding languages I'd certainly recommend at least having a baseline knowledge about, or if you're super interested and maybe pick it up completely. So Fuhang Mou: I'm in marketing and sales. And I I I think the digital marketing Fuhang Mou: stuff. I I I think that would be really valuable for suit students right now to home in. I I think it's it's definitely blooming in the industry and Fuhang Mou: that will have a lot of value. Once you guys graduate Alyssa Claymiller: for me, I don't. There's nothing I can think of in particular. what I would say Alyssa Claymiller: is just making like certain you're choosing a company that Alyssa Claymiller: gives the resources. If you want to continue to learn. this, I think. Alyssa Claymiller: personally, I think out of college one of the best size companies to try to shoot for is mid to large, because they will have more resources for you to do, continued education. but also, sometimes smaller companies. You're wearing a lot of hats, and you kind of get forced to learn very quickly. So, but I think it's important that when you're interviewing to to ask what kind of continued learning they have? because ideally, they they have the resources there to help set you up for the next position. Megan Ray: Absolutely. That's really helpful. So so E. Another question that I, I think, is helpful to folks. Could you all give us? And I know that in the world of work there is no typical day, right? But over the course of a week could you give us an idea of like 3 or 4 job related tasks that you all are doing. that might be helpful in kind of illustrating what a routine experience might be like in your particular area. Megan Ray: And Alyssa, we want to start with you. And then Fuhong. And then, James. Alyssa Claymiller: yeah. So Alyssa Claymiller: my typical day, which I cover a territory basically, all of Northern Indiana, so about from Carmel and then Michigan cities. About the first West I go. I'm in a hotel right now. I usually am not traveling for work, but as a component if I don't want to drive 2 and a half hours in the morning to get down to Indy. But Alyssa Claymiller: I would say, normal part of my day is, I mean, multiple surgeries helping. This is the surgeon during that procedure. So it'd be a hysterectomy, or they're taking someone's gallbladder out of call it cholecystectomy. Alyssa Claymiller: helping support them with the robot. It's a big piece of equipment. So, being a support to them helping teach them anything. that they don't know like about it. And then also another piece that we do is we're here at the residence. So now residents learn Alyssa Claymiller: robotics Alyssa Claymiller: while they're going through that. So helping assist with that, and also training up new surgeons and then sometimes mixed in there as conferences Alyssa Claymiller: and I will say that even when I graduated college, if you were told me I'd be in the operating room and I could give a surge in the suggestion, or I'll teach them something. I just want to believe you. So Alyssa Claymiller: yeah, every day is a little bit different different hospitals. Alyssa Claymiller: But yeah, that's typically what it's like. Fuhang Mou: So I'm in sales right now, right and then, sales. I I mean, like a list of every day is very different in sales. in pharmaceutical sales. I'm probably Fuhang Mou: going to an office, you know, trying to. Fuhang Mou: Yeah, I'll see the doctor share about my my drug with the doctor, and maybe having lunch with a doctor. Maybe there's a dinner program. There's like a variety of different different things we can do to kind of share our product to the physician when I was in in marketing and market research, so a more like in house, like a like an office corporate job Fuhang Mou: and that that was a lot of meetings, right? A lot of meetings to push different projects forward. And Fuhang Mou: I I I I think, in both sales. And then these marketing market research kind of in-house capacity. It's really about you, and and how you push projects forward. Right? You dictate your day and kind of Fuhang Mou: you know who you need to meet with here. You need to talk to and Fuhang Mou: and then you move projects forward that way. James Markwith: Yeah, I'd really hone it on what for Long said with the meetings a lot of meetings every day. at least for me personally, you know, we I work remotely a lot. So a lot of teams calls with either directors, managers, you know, going over certain reports that I've up together. for you know various events or James Markwith: you know, projects on our team that we're we're working towards. But my kind of you know, daily responsibilities. I cover Africa, India, and the Middle Africa, India in the Middle East for pricing. And so I'm looking at markets and just making sure that we stay competitive with American and Delta. So James Markwith: it's kind of a James Markwith: you know. There, there are certain aspects of my job which are routine. And then there are certain aspects which are change every day. So it's a good mix of both. And James Markwith: yeah changes. By the I'd say by the month. Mostly Megan Ray: that's super helpful. So now, thinking about back to your college days, right? So, as you were doing this, what were the kinds of clubs and organizations that you became a part of that maybe you haven't mentioned yet. Or how did they change from when you were in your first or second year until a later part of the year. Because I, Megan Ray: one of the things that I think is really interesting about the college experience is that a student might be involved in something in their first year, and then be involved in something completely different that they love by their senior year. So it I, James, if you want to jump back into this and tell us a little bit about some of those things that you were involved in, that you found valuable outside of the classroom. James Markwith: sure, I wasn't in too many clubs. I did take part in the Economics Club and the you know. I I think I touched on that. I was a undergraduate instructor for the economics. Other than that. I didn't. I didn't really play sports for the school, or I wasn't really a part of any intramural or that kind of stuff. James Markwith: from when I was there things James Markwith: mostly stayed the same. I'd say up until Covid, of course, and then, you know, didn't really do much from then on in the school, as a virtual for most of junior year, and then back a little bit of senior year, so I would say, not much changed from at least freshman the senior, but James Markwith: certainly was fun. And those experiences helped. Okay. Megan Ray: yes, and Alyssa. Alyssa Claymiller: So I was around my freshman year. I was a part of the Jill Beerman 5 K. Color run. I did that for a few years, and then trying to think what all I did. I Alyssa Claymiller: a lot of part of what I did, too, that I don't know if everyone knows about that. You can be like a test participant if for different scientific studies. I like to do that as a little bit of extra cash. When I was in college. then I usually had a job going on. I I don't know if we can consider that an extracurricular but yeah, as Alyssa Claymiller: like. I said I was a teaching assistant for anatomy. Then I step study broad office. And then, because of that job ended up getting Alyssa Claymiller: a job at the office of equity diversity, multicultural affairs to help them select which scholarships they are giving out. And then other than that, I'm trying to think I did inner meal volleyball. I feel like it's always, if you can, to have one. That's just purely fun like in social. I feel like that's good to have if you have time for it in your schedule. Alyssa Claymiller: And then I also did like a volunteer kind of program like it. It was Alyssa Claymiller: I took a Grant writing class and so like it was required to do so many hours of volunteering. And then you at the end you'd write a grant for the organization. So I did the volunteering at my sister's closet. Alyssa Claymiller: So really cool organization. you can get business close there. It's been essentially like a thrift store. But the proceeds go to helping women get Alyssa Claymiller: fulfilling careers and employment. So Alyssa Claymiller: I recommend going. Fuhang Mou: I did a bunch of like, like student leadership type, things like like with the Union Board, right? like a events and different leadership opportunities for students. I I I think it's pretty consistent. from freshman a senior year. Megan Ray: That's great, that's really great. So I think, what are some of the things that you all have found in terms of transitioning into the communities that you live in right now, like, how have you created communities or created friendships? Really outside? Because that's something that I do here from some of our recent grad sometimes is. Megan Ray: and it was really hard to get connected to folks right away. And certainly you always have your user family right? But sometimes it's hard to get to alumni events and to do those sorts of things. And some nice the folks going to. Those aren't necessarily the younger alumni right? Who you might want to connect with. How have you all done that like? How have you expanded your circles now that you're in Megan Ray: a different life period. Megan Ray: Oh, yeah, too, Hong, you go ahead. I see you thinking. Fuhang Mou: I I think it depends on what city you're in, and and different ways to meet people. are better in different cities like. So I'm in Raleigh right now and meet up is a big thing in Raleigh. Raleigh has a lot of young professionals, so I I think, meet up is a good way to meet people here, or there's tons of Fuhang Mou: like random young professional clubs. I do a lot of running. So there's like a running club every single day of the week here when I was in Chicago, I mean, there were tons of running club. There were. Fuhang Mou: I mean it just like a a lot of different like opportunities to me Fuhang Mou: people our age. That's great. Alyssa Claymiller: Yeah. So I definitely agree with what he said. Because when I first graduate I moved to Philadelphia and I was doing pharmaceutical sales out there and then Covid hit. Alyssa Claymiller: and we all went remote, and I honestly love being remote for about 2 years or so. But that's was one of the main things I was missing. I felt like I wasn't having Alyssa Claymiller: like the social Alyssa Claymiller: that I needed to be happy. And at the time I was in a small town, Indiana like I moved back, and so that was part of it, too, like, unless I wanted to hang out with people from high school like Alyssa Claymiller: that was my options. But I think some of the ways that can be fun is even if you go on Facebook and go on to events. You can see different events that's going on like I've met people from going to like a free Yoga Alyssa Claymiller: so class that was happening in it apart, and always just building off the the social circle that you have And then also, like Alyssa Claymiller: he said to Bumble, Bfs. you can find people who have similar interest to you, because it's not. Alyssa Claymiller: It depends on where you are. I think the bigger city you're in. Usually it's easier. But if you're in a somewhat small. Alyssa Claymiller: so a place that might might feel harder, especially when we're used to just like being in college and everyone being around our same age and going through a similar phase of life. Alyssa Claymiller: So it's something you have to give more Alyssa Claymiller: of a specific focus in your twenties or your twenties. Once you're out of school James Markwith: yeah, I completely, agree you know from my grad program, our our grad program class was about I think 60 students, and I'd say about half of them with moved to Chicago to work. So I have a pretty good James Markwith: close knit group of friends from that that live here and work in the city. And so, you know, I I'm thankful for that. And other than that, you know. You just meet people through work, and you meet people, friends of friends, and you know you kind of just grow your circle like she said over time. So certainly there are other ways to, you know. If you just you just randomly meet someone out in like the clubs like they said, and those are all good options. But Megan Ray: and it, James, how did you make that decision like you said you wanted to focus a little bit more tailored on the finance piece. Right? But I'm thinking about you're getting this degree in Econ and political science. And then you decide to stay for another year and do this program. So what was really kind of the primary drivers for that decision making for you? Because some folks would say like, Listen, I have done my undergraduate degree. I am out. I want to be pulling down a salary like Megan Ray: what is up with that. So why, why did you decide to wait. James Markwith: Yeah, certainly. So I when I first graduated in 2,021, it was kind of in that Covid era, and I didn't feel like I had the end of my college experience completely. It was kind of, you know, stolen for me whatever you want to call it And so, going back for that last year. It was kind of my, you know, the true end to my like college career, I guess you could say. James Markwith: and really glad I did it, because it was, you know, probably the best best year on campus I had. you know, it was the kind of the surge of coming back to I you every everyone was so just happy to be there. James Markwith: Other than that, you know. It was also just it made sense because I I read some study where you know in a down economic downturn there, it's a good idea to just get more education. It's kind of when people go back to school. So it, it's it was. Certainly just it looked good from all fronts, basically. And the program itself I had, I actually had gotten in the end of my junior year. So I kind of James Markwith: I actually, I think I said yes, right at the beginning of senior year. And it was just my goal from then on to just do that. So Megan Ray: yeah, that makes a ton of sense. So well, we just have a few minutes left in our panel. So I want to make sure that I ask our attendees if they have any other further questions to please put those into the Q. A. And I'm gonna ask you all, these are young people trying to make some decisions looking at their futures. What would be a piece of advice that you would share with them, I knowing that over the next 3 years they're going to be Megan Ray: figuring out a career and getting a job and doing all of those different things right? So that's the final question that I'm gonna ask you. In the meantime, though, what I would like to ask you all. And I'm gonna start with you to ask, how did you get your first job out of college? What's the story of that, because I think that part feels super intimidating, and we'll go Alyssa Fuhong. And then, James. Alyssa Claymiller: so Alyssa Claymiller: it's a super stressful time. that's another thing to the earlier you can plan for that the better, because I started mainly looking for jobs after I graduated and I had actually received a job offer from a pretty good place, but it was. Alyssa Claymiller: or earlier before I graduated, but I felt like Alyssa Claymiller: I didn't want to take the first thing that I got but Alyssa Claymiller: I think so. Mine. I'm pretty sure I found my first one on Linkedin. It wasn't necessarily like through someone I knew. I just was applying for things, and the the more in interviews I had, the more it was helping me narrow down exactly what I wanted. I think I kind of shot for the moon a little bit too fast that I thought I'd be able to get like a manager role right out of college. So Alyssa Claymiller: I think. it's good to know to that, you know it like we all have to be at the bottom of the total hole at some point and work our way up so Alyssa Claymiller: I don't know if that makes any sense but Alyssa Claymiller: But you can always like, if even if you're just interested in something. You can always try interviewing for it if you get an interview, you know it's always Alyssa Claymiller: even if that ends up, not being the one you take. You'll learn something from it Megan Ray: absolutely. Fuhang Mou: I found mine on Linkedin. fall of senior year during the race recruiting cycle. Fuhang Mou: Happy does a lot of recruiting on campus I but I I found mine through up through Linkedin James Markwith: So I got the interview for my job through handshake, which is a service that in Indiana University offers. it kind of just it's like it's basically another Linkedin, but it pairs you directly with like the hiring Hr person to to get an interview specifically. it's not not really for networking James Markwith: So that kind of. James Markwith: you know, led to. James Markwith: you know, interview one. And that went well interviewed to. you know most of these interviews there, 2 to 3 partners. you know. So if you're feeling stressed, it's completely understandable. It is a stressful time, but just in general it'll work out, you know. Just take a breath and kind of James Markwith: Prepare as well as you can, and if you know, the opportunity doesn't work out, it wasn't meant to be. You'll get something else. So that's what I'd say. Megan Ray: absolutely. And, James, you've had a specific question roll into the Q. A. For you asking, was there a specific thing that you learned through your Econ and Political Science Degree that you unexpectedly found to be helpful in real world applications. James Markwith: There are certainly many things from those degrees that help me. They were about it. I don't know if they would be unexpected. certainly the Econ stuff I use basically every day. James Markwith: But I guess what was unexpected was just how much I actually just enjoyed the material itself. you know, reading James Markwith: these, you know. Not not really the textbooks, but they were more books. That kind of talked about the the theory behind the thought of economics. Right? And so, you know, I now I read Econ related books just in my free time. So James Markwith: certainly certainly interesting in it of itself, and not just from a textbook. I'd say the textbook is the most boring part of learning, but the you know, ideas behind them is, what's James Markwith: what's actually stimulating? Megan Ray: That's great. Thanks so much. Megan Ray: And, Alyssa, I, as you're thinking, what advice do you have for these folks? Alyssa Claymiller: I think, never stop learning. always have a curious spirit. whether it's just finding a podcast, that you're interested in and listening to that on the way to work. Always have something that you're learning and growing education does. It does not stop when you graduate. Alyssa Claymiller: or at least I don't think it should. So and find a career that challenges you in the right ways. so that you don't get board. Fuhang Mou: I I think I would advise you all to really like, lean into your college experience and really get all that it has to offer right. All the people that you meet in college are going to be very important for you, not only in your career, but in your life. Fuhang Mou: And then all the experiences that will teach you different lessons, or just lean into your college experience. And Fuhang Mou: I mean, why, what, James? And at the end of the last question, right? What's to just just kill out, and what's yours will come to you, and and just go with the flow Megan Ray: in it. James. Any of last advice for students. James Markwith: Last advice I I think I've James Markwith: I think I've basically said that. James Markwith: You know, I would say it again just James Markwith: it'll be fine. Yeah, that's all I can say. I don't know I was to say, but yeah, good luck to everyone in this call. So Megan Ray: yeah, I think that's really really great. So I just want to thank you all so much for your time. Yeah. And one of the questions that squeaked in here at the last minute was, did you think you were to disadvantage looking for these kinds of jobs versus someone doing a traditional business degree right in that process. And it I I heard you all say that like perhaps Megan Ray: getting in the door. It may have been a little bit easier, but maybe not right like, because you had such a unique perspective. You, James, what do you think? James Markwith: for getting in the door? James Markwith: You know I actually I I've never been on the side of the hiring manager, so I can't. I can't really say if that's true or not. James Markwith: but I do know from what you can control. It's just how you craft your own story and your kind of what? What you're driven by. You know. What makes you passionate about the job that you're applying for. that's the only thing that you can really control. And I would just say to kind of refine that, you know. Megan Ray: that's great. And Alyssa Foo Hong, what do you think? Fuhang Mou: Yeah, I I think it's all about how you craft your own story when I was like making the transition to a more business career path. I mean, I was thinking about. Should I switch to a business, major? Right? But I decided that I would stay with a science major, because Fuhang Mou: I thought and I I mean Fuhang Mou: that it would give me a competitive edge, right? I knew everybody else applying to the jobs that I wanted to get would be a business major right. There would be very few Science majors, let alone science majors that knew and understood the connection between the business and the science. So really understand your story and what your competitive edges and Fuhang Mou: and and lean into that? Alyssa Claymiller: Yeah, I. And for me, I didn't feel disadvantaged with having my science degree. I think Alyssa Claymiller: a lot of people respect science degrees. They know they're not easy. you know. Alyssa Claymiller: I think, is specifically in me and Alyssa Claymiller: industries where it's it is respected to to have a background in science. some some positions matter more with how much science and how much business there is going to be. But having. I feel Alyssa Claymiller: like learning. Science in a structured way, like in college, is easier to learn tough subjects in school like that, where I feel like a lot of business knowledge. You can learn Alyssa Claymiller: either so low or Alyssa Claymiller: like, like. Figure out what you need as you go. Alyssa Claymiller: depending on the role. So Alyssa Claymiller: that's at least how it works out for me. And and I'm happy that that's how I did that things. Fuhang Mou: Yeah, it really just depends on where you want to lean into right. So if you're a like a science major, and you want to lean into our more business role, then like that, then, you know. Make sure you understand the Fuhang Mou: kind of the business, transferable skill aspect of your science role. Right? If you're I mean, just lean into what about your profile Fuhang Mou: lends itself to where you want to go, and and those skills that can carry you there Megan Ray: absolutely. Megan Ray: I can't thank you all enough. I truly can't. So I am always humbled by the generosity of fellow hoosiers. And as an alumna of I you myself from the journalism program many, many decades ago. I just want to thank you all for your time and your energy and your enthusiasm, and Megan Ray: appreciate so much. You're taking time out of your schedules to spend time with these students and to share your stories, which are inspiring and really exciting. And I'm thrilled to see what comes next for you all. So thank you also very much. I'm going to go ahead and close our panel this evening. Take care, and have a very good rest of your day, morning or evening. Thanks so much. Bye, bye. Alyssa Claymiller: thank you. Oh, I I guess last little thing I'll say is, I'm sure the other panelists feel the same. You can always feel free to add us on Linkedin. If you have anything that we would be able to help with in the future, always willing to help another user. Alyssa Claymiller: Oh, thanks, Alyssa, great! Megan Ray: It's great bye.
Description of the video:
Business Pathways: Excellent. So oh, and, Ellen, I wanted to ask, do you mind if I record? Okay, okay, that would be great. So well, hello and good evening. I'm so excited to see our attendees here. So Peter and Jenna Hope and Garrett Brennan thanks so much for coming out tonight to learn a little bit, or depending on where you are in the world this morning or this afternoon. Right? Business Pathways: So thank you so much for being here. I'm really excited. One of the things that is super fun about being an alum about you myself is when I get to meet other alumni of the school. And here about what some of their journeys have been like, and what their experiences have been. And so I am really excited for you all to meet Ellen Mendenhall this evening and hear a little bit about her story. Business Pathways: So, Ellen, I'm gonna have you introduce yourself? Where are you originally from? Maybe what you studied at you? Where are you now? And what are you doing? Ellyn Mendenhall: Perfect? Yes, So I am originally from Indianapolis. I grew up there my whole life, and then went to iu So I I enrolled in 2,016. Ellyn Mendenhall: So I think I was a senior. Well, actually, no, I definitely, probably not overlapped with anyone at this point. I graduated in 2,020 and it still feels like I graduated Ellyn Mendenhall: last summer, but it's last summer is like suddenly, 3 summers ago. And now I'm in New York which I really love. And I'm working right now in marketing for the investment banking division. of woman tax Ellyn Mendenhall: But that was not my first job out of college. and I'm sure we'll we'll discuss more. But I I started at a law firm. right out of college and that was in Chicago. So I've actually been in two cities as well. Ellyn Mendenhall: Oh, and I forgot to say what I study. But I studied history and international studies. I was a double major in those, and then I also had a minor in Spanish and a minor in Jewish studies. Business Pathways: Excellent! That's so great, Ellen. So what what made you decide to focus on those major programs. When you came to, I you to begin with, what was it that got you interested in those particular disciplines? Ellyn Mendenhall: Yeah, I definitely think on a personal note. My mother is a history teacher, secondary like high school, but I think she definitely had an influence on that growing up. I did a lot of spend a lot of time in museums and on historical road trips for Spring Break instead of Ellyn Mendenhall: Florida, which I hated at the time. But I have grown to love and appreciate about my childhood. and I just really really loved it. and I also thought. Ellyn Mendenhall: actually think it's international stage with my first major and I think I thought when I came to I you, that I wanted to be a foreign service officer, which is definitely an interesting career opportunity, and not one that I knock at all. But I think I kind of came to the conclusion pretty quickly. That's not something I wanted to do but so I thought I'd be a diplomat, and then I thought I would be a lawyer. which is kind of like Ellyn Mendenhall: if you have a history, Major. Ellyn Mendenhall: your parents friends are. Gonna say, what are you gonna do with that? which I think we'll talk about as well, but I think law school is like an acceptable answer, and Ellyn Mendenhall: even if you don't want to go off when you want to adopt that out by like feel free, because it got me out of a lot of conversations about what I wanted to do. But I also decided law school really wasn't what I wanted to do, either. but I just like I loved what I was studying. And I definitely like Ellyn Mendenhall: encourage. Ellyn Mendenhall: like, just picking what you're passionate about, because, no matter what you study, I think the biggest thing I took away from my experience was like relationships. I built with my professors over things I was passionate about, and then still to this day to be able to talk about projects and initiatives, and papers that I wrote about what I'm passionate about like that comes up still in like, in interviews and in Ellyn Mendenhall: yeah, I I, networking like that has definitely been the best facet. Ellyn Mendenhall: I guess in my my own progression. So Business Pathways: that's so exciting. So so you came in international studies, was the primary right? And then you added history to that which I'm sure your family was delighted about right like keeping it alive in the family. And those were things that were of interest to you when you were taking those classes, what were some of the classes that you had, that you found, like the most interesting, and then also which have been the most useful to you in the work experiences that you've had since graduation. Yeah, I would definitely, I had a few Ellyn Mendenhall: favorite history professors. I think Ed linen. Thal is still there, and he taught a lot of I I try to remember the course things he tried a lot of like Ellyn Mendenhall: cold war era. I think he he taught at the time. What is history, too, which is like the Intro history major. class that I love. He also Ellyn Mendenhall: he did one. Yeah. So the bomb in American life was fascinating. It was just on. It was cold war, but it was really just focused on like Ellyn Mendenhall: the bomb aspect of it, like we read books on fallout shelters. We read books about Chernobyl. We watched Ellyn Mendenhall: all these like doomsday movies from the time and so that one was really fascinating because it was like historical. But it was also like about American culture, and like a really cool perspective. he also had a World War Ii class, which is super popular, and I Ellyn Mendenhall: was kind of an Elitist history major at the time where it was like the I. There's this like idea of like, it was really annoying to me, because as a history major, everyone's always like oh, so you must know everything about World War. I I'm like, yeah, that's the only thing that's happened in history. so that is like the most popular history class, because I think a lot of people are really interested in world history, which is not a bad thing. Ellyn Mendenhall: but anyway, so that was like, actually my only lecture hall class. and I would say, Ellyn Mendenhall: well, I loved like all of my history classes. There was like. Ellyn Mendenhall: it's like hard to make it there. I think I think the bomb when it was my favorite. But I also took a law in Latin America, like a modern Argentina class, was fascinating. Modern Mexico class. Ellyn Mendenhall: Peter Gordino was the honors program director at the time, and he is an excellent, amazing professor. Ellyn Mendenhall: and super interesting, and those classes are great, even if you don't, wanna. They're like majors and not majors. But they're just I just love them. Ellyn Mendenhall: I say, from all of them Ellyn Mendenhall: having completed like long papers, is like more useful than I thought it would be. just like a is like a writing sample, but also, like you can submit these long papers to win awards Ellyn Mendenhall: or like scholarships. And to say, I completed this research myself, or this is secondary research. Ellyn Mendenhall: that is like super like useful and also like so much of Ellyn Mendenhall: jobs, is like any job is like writing emails and even like writing presentations, writing briefs. You, you'll write so much, no matter what your job is. my sister is in engineering, and she Ellyn Mendenhall: talks about like writing lab reports, and that's like a skill that some of her peers like don't have, and it's like such a key skill to have no like, just no matter where you're at I think it's like really easy to set apart, even though it is like considered a soft scale. Ellyn Mendenhall: see, I think like that, like the research aspect is like the biggest thing Ellyn Mendenhall: and even like marketing. The writing comment, like that connection is obvious, but also like doing research on competitors and like putting together a competitive analysis or just like demonstrating knowledge on a subject like Ellyn Mendenhall: you have to like, learn really quickly and like the ability to like, just consume a lot of material and then be able to speak on it. It's also like really important, I think. I'm also like. Ellyn Mendenhall: I don't want to act like I know everything. I'm 3 years out of college. but it's been really helpful for me at this point. Business Pathways: Well, if it's any any support at all, Ellen. We had a panelists on the panel last night who had done a double major in Econ and political science, and he said almost the exact same thing that the writing had been so essential for him in his work, and he works as a pricing analyst for you now right? But he he said that that training of how to think Business Pathways: and how to work had really been valuable to him in that process, you know. So so were you when you went to the wafer right out of school. Were you looking? Were you kind of test driving it to see if law school is actually an interesting thing for yourself, or how did you end up there, and what what were you doing while you were there? Ellyn Mendenhall: So graduating in May of 2020. I actually didn't. I was like the the one class that really didn't get a graduation, which is fine. Ellyn Mendenhall: it was still a great senior year, and I am appreciative that I had 3 and a half really normal years. but it was a really tough job market. I had a lot of my friends who were business students, who, like the culture and in like Ellyn Mendenhall: business school, is like, you have your job lined up, and a lot of them were like getting job offers rescinded or like. Here's a stipend. We're not going to start you for another 6 months after what we originally told you. And so it was really tumultuous and like Ellyn Mendenhall: for a lot of, I think, liberal arts, and, like other just other majors, like a lot of people. When March 2020 hit people didn't have jobs lined up. Ellyn Mendenhall: and I did it really, either. I think I had like been recruiting. Ellyn Mendenhall: so it kind of like I had done a. Ellyn Mendenhall: It was basically like it was like a family friend connection that ended up Ellyn Mendenhall: like helping me with that where it was like Ellyn Mendenhall: we had, like a family friend who was an attorney, and they were like, Oh, you want to go to law school. Well, what if you just like, based on your like history experience, and like I was also in a sorority, and I had been Ellyn Mendenhall: like special events, share And so they were like, Oh, like Ellyn Mendenhall: you could do like some event planning why don't you try this out? And then maybe. Ellyn Mendenhall: if you want to. You'll figure out, if you like, a law firm. You want to go to law school, And so it just happened to kind of be a marketing position. Ellyn Mendenhall: which is crazy, because now I feel like I love marketing. And I feel like I'm going to build my career upon that. And it was really just like it, like, just happened that way. Ellyn Mendenhall: but yeah, so that's how I ended up there. And what I really did. There was a lot of, and it is a finance law firm, which is how it kind of ended up bridging me to Goldman. A lot of it was like Ellyn Mendenhall: proof, reading what the attorneys wrote. because the attorneys are writers as well. I was definitely not writing like the high brow, legal legal ease. But I was doing a lot of like Ellyn Mendenhall: sending that email proof, reading, formatting it to make it like look good and appealing. like, but also like event list, and like all kinds of like handling unsubscribes from like clients. Ellyn Mendenhall: I don't know, and doing social media as well we like. We started an Instagram, and it was like a pretty small law firm. So it was like brand new to have Instagram. Ellyn Mendenhall: I did. I like taught myself how to do. It was also because it was like Ellyn Mendenhall: brand new with this work from home stuff. They were like, I think we have to start making videos like. Ellyn Mendenhall: do you have the time to try to like what? Something together. And I like taught myself how to use adobe like using mostly Youtube videos. So I like started making videos as well. that was like, really fun. But I think Ellyn Mendenhall: the main thing I took away from like that first job which I really did. I really loved the small team, and I feel like I learned a lot with also that like, you'll go really far, and your progress will Ellyn Mendenhall: show it. If you're you're willing to do any tasks like creating a video and designing a video that's really cool and fun. And you have a finished product at the end. showing people to the conference room because you're on this like 5 person marketing team and like you're helping out a partner with an event they're putting on. It's like less glamorous and like Ellyn Mendenhall: it's like, not Ellyn Mendenhall: necessarily like you're not seeing that at the time is like, Oh, that's really gonna help my career that I'm like, basically a tour guide or whatever But the willingness to do those types of activities and like, just show, and that's still facetime with a partner. And when you show yourself as someone who's willing to like learn anything, we'll try anything, we'll show up Ellyn Mendenhall: is like not too big for any task like I think that that also really helped me there And gave me the opportunity to do like more exciting things. Business Pathways: That's really solid advice on about looking at that. So e as you're listening to Ellen, talk about her journey and it talking about those things. If there are pieces about that career development about those choices that you want to ask her, please don't hesitate to drop a question into the Q and A for us, so that we can make sure that we get that addressed. E. You know one of the other pieces, I think, Ellen? And some of the panelists last night talked about this as well. Business Pathways: The that the stuff that you do outside of the classroom in college is also super important for developing in those skills. Right? I was talking with a student earlier today who Business Pathways: it's really interested in consulting. And I said, Well, have you joined one of the consulting clubs, you know, and they said, Oh, no, I I hadn't realized there were those kinds of options. And so, you know, finding something that's in your area of interest is a really important part. What kind of things were you involved in? And while you were in school up until you know when everything shut down. Yes. yeah, I think I and that is like, is it great? You guys just like, be super involved? Ellyn Mendenhall: I feel like I think about my schedule senior year, and I'm like, I don't even know how it is like living. because now I'm like, I have like a 9 to 5, and I feel like Ellyn Mendenhall: it's so hard. But I was like, I mean, college students. You guys are all a different breed. you can sleep less than other people, somehow. But I was involved in my sorority from freshman year on, and that, I think, brought a lot of leadership experience. I was a director of special events like my fresh, my sophomore year, I guess, and then I was president. My June, from my junior to senior year, like the Ellyn Mendenhall: January to December. And so that was like really challenging. It's definitely, really challenging position to be in Ellyn Mendenhall: with those like the sororities and fraternities are really big at I you But I learned a lot from that experience, and it's like hard to manage your peers. Ellyn Mendenhall: I also started working. I worked all 4 years like part time. I had like one job in the basement of wells in the scholars in if that's still there. Ellyn Mendenhall: and that was fun And then I also worked at the tennis center which I loved so much. if anyone ever wants to play a good game of tennis. Ellyn Mendenhall: I can no longer tell you what the student rate is, but I know it's discount, and I really cherish that experience, and I was promoted from, like the the front desk person, to like a program assistant, which was like Ellyn Mendenhall: in the in the Ellyn Mendenhall: in the office, and doing more like accounting and stuff. And that was really good experience. It's like. Ellyn Mendenhall: I think. Ellyn Mendenhall: whereas nothing I'm doing right now with the it has anything to do with tennis, and I I've never played tennis. I took a few lessons while I was working there. I have no tennis background. Ellyn Mendenhall: but I think just showing that you a like handled like I handle the course load extracurricular activities. And then also a job Ellyn Mendenhall: definitely like demonstrates like a lot of time management. for one. And also just like you can be like, responsible to like an actual job more so than just like classes. Ellyn Mendenhall: yeah, that definitely like taught me a lot. And also just like I mean, like I was working with Ellyn Mendenhall: all these like real, real grown ups and like e-mail culture is like something that you have to learn in your first job, and I feel like I had a head start and like with internships, you learned that as well. So I also definitely like recommend like getting internships. But my internships Ellyn Mendenhall: we're not Ellyn Mendenhall: like I, Nan, need a few summers, and I my my one internship. Well, I one internship while I was abroad. I also did a stay abroad for a summer and then the other engine trip I had was with refugees for Catholic charities like with vulnerable care. Ellyn Mendenhall: So that was like really impactful. And in in in all kinds of ways but also like Ellyn Mendenhall: taught me a lot. Ellyn Mendenhall: yeah, I don't know, like I don't think I could pinpoint one certain extracurricular and say, like that really helped me in my my job. I think it was like the combination of them. And there were other like clubs that, like Ellyn Mendenhall: I was in. But then take a leadership role in like I was in Iudm, and that was like really great and fun. but like. Ellyn Mendenhall: I've also seen people spread themselves, and I think I was nearing it, but I wasn't quite there. But if you spread to yourself too thin in terms of leadership roles, I think that you're not. Ellyn Mendenhall: That's you that you have not being as committed to the clubs as you as you hope to be, and and that can be hard. So I would say, like Ellyn Mendenhall: at this stage, as like as much as you can like. Involve yourself in as much as you as you can, but then, like pick the ones where you're like. This is really where I want to commit myself. Ellyn Mendenhall: whether it's a job or an extracurricular us, we're already for turn to be like. That's where I want to like. Show my leadership progression. I think if you pick something where you can show your growth over 4 years. That's what really matters. Business Pathways: Yeah. Well, I know. One of the conversations I have with soon today was talking about how they they're already starting to craft the story of resilience and change. And you know, yeah, pivoting right? Like that. Ability to pivot when life throws you a curve ball mean that that part, I think, is is a really important skill that employers are looking for. So, E Ellen, how did you decide then what was the Ellyn Mendenhall: driver to move from Chicago to New York, and to move from this financial law services firm into Goldman Sachs like, how did that all happen? Ellyn Mendenhall: I will say candidly, a little romantic. I did move, for I was in a long distance relationship. So I kind of got to the point where we were like. Ellyn Mendenhall: we've got to be in the same place. so I really wanted to move and Ellyn Mendenhall: my, the law firm. It was kind of a tough decision. They it was a smaller. It's a smaller firm, and they did offer like. They allowed me to move to New York, and they offered a little bit of a salary bump. But the cost of living in New York is just really, really difficult, and it is not the same as Chicago. So like, I just kind of needed something that I could live on. a little bit better. And so I like was applying to stuff Ellyn Mendenhall: And it was through a court recruiter that I ended up at Goldman. It is kind of still funny to me that I'm there. I never would have imagined it. I know it's like a lot of people. A lot of people really want to go there, but they want to go for banking like it's I'm not an investment banker. Ellyn Mendenhall: but I would just Ellyn Mendenhall: I really. I've I've been surprised by how much I've enjoyed it. it's definitely been really big in the writing for me, and that I love Ellyn Mendenhall: But I did leverage like it was a good bridge, because Chapman was the law firm was geared towards financial firms. So there was like a little bit. Yes, I was at a law firm, but Ellyn Mendenhall: it was finance focus. I have some background in that now. Ellyn Mendenhall: and it's like I, Ellyn Mendenhall: I have learned a lot about like finance. just through like absorbing it in those roles. And Ellyn Mendenhall: I, yeah, I would also like, I think that people get so Ellyn Mendenhall: focused on like, especially with Goldman. It's all about the bankers of the traders. But it's a huge organization, and there are recruiters. There's a lot of engineers. There's a lot of like all kinds. There's Comms people. There's like all kinds of roles in this like massive organization, and like throughout the the firm, there's like Ellyn Mendenhall: a great culture of like. Ellyn Mendenhall: really hard working. And like, really intelligent people that I've like, really enjoyed. So Ellyn Mendenhall: yeah, it's it's been surprising in a lot of ways, because I definitely think I had a stigma about it like I had an idea of what I thought it would be, and it hasn't really been that at all, like I really enjoyed it. Ellyn Mendenhall: so yeah, I know Ellyn Mendenhall: my friends who did go to business school and and I laugh about how I really thought I would go change the world. And I'm not saying that you can't. I think everyone has the opportunity to, and if you want to go work for nonprofits, then you absolutely should. But I never would have thought that I would have ended up at Goldman. but there's still like a lot of and like a lot of what I learned in history, international studies still comes through like the biggest part of my job is like writing it a weekly email newsletter that's like Ellyn Mendenhall: global macro trends that often have international implications like the the piece that I was working on right before hopping on is like Ellyn Mendenhall: how Russia's actions in Ukraine impact oil prices, oil supply oil demand. And so like, I think Business Pathways: while I'm at a financial firm perspective. Now, I'm still like using the tools for my international studies and history background. Yeah, absolutely, we'd be using those that's really interesting. So and you said, you feel like you've kind of fallen into this marketing thing, and that you really want to guide your career in that way. You know what you talked about offering this newsletter working on email content. What are some other things that would like make up a regular week. Ellyn Mendenhall: you know, in your work. Ellyn Mendenhall: a lot of like really interesting part of my job is that Ellyn Mendenhall: like deal announcements? basically like Ellyn Mendenhall: when an Ipo, for example, is about to to price, or they're about to announce someone's budget as a merger or acquisition. Ellyn Mendenhall: the bankers like want to send that to their clients as soon as possible. just to like. Also, like kind of put a stamp on like, it's a very competitive industry. so they want to say, like. Ellyn Mendenhall: go like we were a part of this deal, because oftentimes, which is something I didn't know about. I've learned a lot, but something I didn't know is like a lot of times. There's like 5 banks involved in a deal, and there's certain positions that I like better leave left. But runner is the term I learned literally like two weeks ago, like, I'm still learning. But Ellyn Mendenhall: there's a lot of like Ellyn Mendenhall: I want to send out this email quicker than Morgan Stanley or JP Morgan. Because, like, I want clients to know that we were involved. Ellyn Mendenhall: And then also, like framing that email is like. Ellyn Mendenhall: oh, like, why, this transaction is significant, or like what our contribution was. Ellyn Mendenhall: so like. A lot of Ellyn Mendenhall: that is like on the fly, which is like kind of fun. You never know what deal is gonna happen. And I think there's Ellyn Mendenhall: we have like the same Ellyn Mendenhall: I like can't invest in the stock market because I have knowledge now, which is also crazy. But there, there's like kind of a need to know basis. So like Ellyn Mendenhall: I never know, I guess when the day starts, what Ellyn Mendenhall: that is gonna look like? but the newsletter itself. Then I can plan out like where it's like Monday. I'm selecting the topics Ellyn Mendenhall: where it's like, what's gonna be big. And sometimes, you know, like, okay, the Fed is going to make a decision on interest rates on Wednesday. That's probably in via section of the newsletter, or like, oh, it's it's almost Earth day, like, let's do an Esg sustainability like Ellyn Mendenhall: focused piece. Ellyn Mendenhall: so that like starts Monday, and then it's like drafting and stakeholder approvals Ellyn Mendenhall: throughout the week until like Friday night, is like basically scheduling because it's a Saturday newsletter But there's also like Ellyn Mendenhall: content strategy meetings, and like I don't, I don't let's see I I'll try to just think about what my one day today was like, because that will be a good gauge. But I would say Ellyn Mendenhall: there was like deals. But there is also like. Ellyn Mendenhall: Oh, we built this email subscription technology. And like, we're working through kinks on it, like I also think. Ellyn Mendenhall: And I'm on the cusp of Gen Z. So I claim that a little bit, but I think this generation will serve really well with Ellyn Mendenhall: like you'd be surprised. I was like, I'm not a tech person. Why am I making these decisions. But I think tech stuff happens in every single job. So when you have to be in it and to raise your hand and say, Let me figure it out like I feel like I understand this, and I think Ellyn Mendenhall: I would. I would tell everyone on this webinar you probably like have a good idea. And I'm not suggesting that older people don't. But like. Ellyn Mendenhall: if you think you have to figure out just like right ahead and say, like. Ellyn Mendenhall: I think that it could be this because you might be right. And if you're wrong, that's okay. You tried to help, and that like shows initiative. yeah, it can be so interesting. And there is still, like, I'm still early in my career. So there's also stuff where it's like Ellyn Mendenhall: you're supporting senior people on the team. So maybe that means you're booking the conference room, or you're scheduling meetings. And like, that's okay, too. so yeah. Business Pathways: there are all those kinds of things. So I think that's so interesting, you know, especially Business Pathways: they, the enticing part of having embargoed information and and what that's like, and and figuring out like the ethics behind that right, like a really huge core of ethics. So critical decision making the ability to kind of, you know. Business Pathways: think through what the different issues are of each piece of information that you're sharing. I think it's pretty critical, you know. Well, Ellen, I want to thank you so much for spending time with us today, and for sharing your thoughts and your insights. If you had a a piece or a couple of pieces of advice for these folks as they're looking for Business Pathways: major programs that would lead them towards a business realm. You know. Business Pathways: What advice would you have for them? How how should they make this decision. Next. Ellyn Mendenhall: I think I mean, I would say I would say, stay curious and focused on what you're interested in, because business is such a big. wide range. And I think even in banking, when I think about Ellyn Mendenhall: like there's Ellyn Mendenhall: there's health care bankers, and there's consumer bankers, and if you make yourself a specialist in a certain type of area that's also a great way to like get into business without Ellyn Mendenhall: and necessarily like a finance or business background. and like, I honestly think, like. Ellyn Mendenhall: maybe it's 5 to my current position, but like just keeping up to date with like the news, and like Ellyn Mendenhall: the the economy and like what things are going like reading a lot Ellyn Mendenhall: about what's like going on. And just like, really, really like the books that interest you honestly? because I think the reading and writing while they're like soft skills aren't going to go away anytime soon, like I know. AI AI scares me. It scares me about writing, but I think that there will be a human need for human right, like humans are going to want to read other humans, I have to believe that Ellyn Mendenhall: And so I think, like in your 4 years, I would also say. Ellyn Mendenhall: like, Okay, so I would say, like, focus on what you're passionate. Make yourself a specialist if you can, and like stay informed. But I would also say. Ellyn Mendenhall: work really closely with professors that you find fascinating like I mentioned to Ed, Lin and Thal. I literally just like took all of this classes because he taught them, and like showed up to office hours and talked to him And even now, like I've been in two jobs. If I wanted to go somewhere else like, I'd still rely on professors for reference letters. And that is like, and that's three years out. So like, I, I think that the relationship you build the professors are like really important. and it's also like a good. Ellyn Mendenhall: I wouldn't say even trial run. But it's it is kind of a good trial one for how you'll have relationship with your bosses, who, like will often serve as mentors as well. so like, just go to office hours, even if it's for one question, because oftentimes the perhaps we want to talk to you, and they want to get to know you. and I think that's especially true Ellyn Mendenhall: in classes with small sizes, like a lot of my history classes were under 20 students. so it's really easy to like make those connections. And they they. That's why they're professors, they they really want to get to know you. So I really take advantage of that. But then there's also like I'm calling my boss from the tennis center tomorrow about a question I have. And like, just like for general life advice. So there's like there's people who want to help you everywhere you look in Bloomington. It's like the best place on Earth. Ellyn Mendenhall: I'm going to visit Labor Day. I'm so excited. but like, yeah, I would I would take advantage of like Ellyn Mendenhall: everywhere you look like there's there's relationships you can build, and and those will really help you in in your progression as well. Business Pathways: That's so great, Ellen. That is rock solid advice. So you got a a thank you from Jenna. So saying, thank you, Ellen, so E. Let me add to that to say thank you so much. I truly appreciate you joining us, and it was such a pleasure to meet you and hear a little bit more about your story, and I I'll be in touch. Ellyn Mendenhall: Perfect, thank you. And I would say also to anyone who wants to to reach out. I feel like I rambled a lot. So if you have specific questions, I'm happy to talk, or do you want to talk about Goldman or law firms Ellyn Mendenhall: or history I am. I'm super happy to chat with anyone. So thank you. Megan, it was like great to all. You Business Pathways: absolutely thanks so much. Take care, Ellen. I have a few more things for folks that I want to share this evening. So Business Pathways: I'm gonna go ahead and share a couple of slides that I have prepared for you all, as you're kind of thinking through. What are the major programs you might be interested in now, certainly, having listen to Ellen and having listen to the panelists last night. Business Pathways: you could be sure in anything right, and still have a really successful career in business and pursue the things that you want to do, and I know it may not feel that way right now, but the reality is that employers are looking just for good people, right? Who have a series of skills. And so Business Pathways: all of the jobs that Indiana University are all posted on handshake, right? And so there's no secret file of jobs for one school versus another school versus the college. Anything like that? They're all in the one place. So I think one of the things to think about is what is something that you know, that you would show a lot of strength in, and something that you would enjoy right, because that's what's going to keep you curious and keep you flexible. And as Ellen talked about, those are a lot of the skills that are going to make you really successful in that work. Business Pathways: So if you're struggling to kind of try to figure out, okay, what is a major program that I could pursue, or what is the next thing that I could do? Business Pathways: I wanted to give you a couple of different ideas, just to be sort of thinking about and thinking too like, what would your next steps be right like? What would be the next thing that you would want to do in in order to move forward at this progress. The first thing right now is really identifying one or two major programs right? Looking through the different majors that I, you checking out the different programs. Business Pathways: I think a lot of times. What happens is that when you have to pivot in the environment that you're in, you suddenly start talking to a lot of friends and a lot of folks, and if everybody's kind of going in one direction, you think well, maybe that would be a good direction for me, too. Now that can work really well. If you're not actually interested in that major program, then that's probably not the right fit for you, right? So you want to find something that kind of hooks you that gives you a little bit interested, and so Business Pathways: just kind of taking a look to see if you were a student who was playing on major and finance, or accounting or marketing. These are some of the different degree plans that I you that could line you up for a super successful career in those areas. There's a public financial management degree out of the O'neal school. That degree itself is put is focused on public governmental type finance issues. But the skill set is very, very much the same Business Pathways: economics degree. A data science degree. One of the things that we've been hearing a lot about Ellen even mentioned is the AI component. And so, understanding a little bit more about that, and about the massive impact that that's going to have on the world. Economy moving forward can be really important. And even in finance it' be pretty comprehensive to get an idea of how these algorithms are built about how data can be crunched to make those decisions Business Pathways: for different organizations that are making financial decisions. So data, science could be something to take a look at. And if you want, you also could plan to do an extra year of a grad program. And there are a couple of different grad programs. The two that I've listed here are grad programs that are in the Kelly school and acceptance into graduate school Business Pathways: is a separate process than separate. Then going into an undergraduate program, right? It's a completely separate piece. So in graduate school, they're gonna look just at the body of your academic work. So they are going to look at the freshman through the junior senior year. How you performed what the grade trends were, what the courses were that you took all of those different things. So there is a masters of science and finance program that's available. Business Pathways: and a masters of science and accounting and data analytics. So if you were interested in accountancy, if you were interested in finance, those might be grad programs that would be of real interest to you. Both of those programs are stem certified as well, which can be really helpful if that's an important component of your educational experience. So the marketing degrees. There are lots of different degrees that relate to marketing. And I, this is just a small number of them. Business Pathways: There's a media advertising degree. But within the media school itself they have a whole series of different specializations like this, interactive and digital media managing media. They have media degrees that focus on the campaign specifically, or that focus on production specifically. So there's lots and lots of ways Business Pathways: to get into those marketing arenas is that's an area of interest for you. Out of the school there is a merchandising major that is focused on retail merchandising that has many, many similar characteristics to the marketing major. Business Pathways: and so merchandising might be a program that you'd want to take a look at as well, and all you would need to do is take the name of this degree, and Google merchandising, I, you, Bloomington, and then see what comes up right? Business Pathways: So you could take a look and see and go into the academic bulletin, which is what I'm talking about right here, right the academic bulletin piece, and see what that next class might be. So for merchandising the course, is the school of art, architecture and design. So it's so add M. For merchandising 109 right like. That's the first next course Business Pathways: that you would take if you were interested in that degree program specifically. But each one of these major programs will have that next class that you'll take in order to get familiar with the content and familiar with the particular degrees that are available in there for School of Public Health, there will be a course, that you would take next for sports, marketing and management for organizational and business psychology. Go in and look and see it's offered out of the psychology department. What's the next class that would you be taking for that? Specifically, you can also go ahead and take a look at one of the different Kelly miners. There are 4 of them, and there are also actually 2 certificates, one in business foundations and one in entrepreneurship. The Kelley minors themselves are programs that only require around seven classes, and you've likely already taken at least one Business Pathways: as a part of that. So that's an important piece to some of the other programs that I pulled that were really really helpful for students to kind of think about as you're looking at this include things that would relate to the supply chain area with in the economics and quantitative methods degree. Again, with data science statistics. Business Pathways: And then, if you want to add a graduate program to that, an Ms. And supply chain Ms. And business analytics, information systems itself. Business Pathways: It's a fantastic joint degree that is, out of the Hamilton Luger School and the lettuce school. That is a cyber security and global policy degree. That is a really really cool option as well. There's the informatics degree. If you're more interested in the human side of data and managing those systems. Business Pathways: There is the straight out computer science degree that students are looking at. And then out of the O'neal school. There is also a health care, management and policy. So you know, when Ellen was talking about getting some specific Business Pathways: information or knowledge base, like becoming an expert in that area. It was really interesting to hear her say that because there was a student last night who works for Avi in sales right? It's a pharmaceutical company, and Business Pathways: he had done an undergraduate degree in biology, had then done the center for the business of life sciences through the Kelley School, because it's open to any student in any major, and then he'd focus down on getting this job with Abbey. But his biology degree kind of put him ahead of other students who were interested in those jobs. So if you're going to be working with a firm or an organization that has Business Pathways: health care division and perhaps centering in on something like healthcare management might make a lot of sense for what you want to do so. And certainly healthcare is going to continue to be an incredibly important industry area. As we move forward. International business, lots of other arenas as well. The policy analysis and the public affairs degrees are out all this, the Neil School. There's an international law and institutions degree, and then international studies degrees. Those are both out of the Hamilton Luger School, and then in economics and political science degree. The student that I mentioned previously, or the alum who was on the call last night, who works as a pricing analyst for United. That was the degree program that he did actually was economics and political science. Business Pathways: and then many, many, many majors within the management area. Specifically so. Business Pathways: A human resource management major out of the O'neal school management, human organization is out of the College of Arts and Sciences. There's an arts management, Major. Like, if you're really interested in the performing arts or cultural events, that sort of thing, and you're interested in getting into, say, like venue management or running a gallery, something along those lines that Arts management degree could be a really great next step. Business Pathways: So all of these different pieces can be combined, then, with a Kelly minor. There's no application process for the killing minor. You simply re complete the requirements for it, file the paperwork, and you'll have a minor the way that you'll use the minor is to put it on your resume, so you'll put on your resume the title of your undergraduate degree, and then you would say. You know, minor in business or minor and marketing, or minor and entrepreneurship from the Kelley School. Business Pathways: So that's how you will position that it gives you just a little bit of additional business texture to your degree, and it will be actually minors will be noted on your transcript. So the certificates will actually not be noted on the Transcript, but you would still include a certificate on your resume as a part of that. and I'm joined this evening by one of my colleagues from the Career Development Center on Campus. Mary Claire and she and I were talking right before we started, and one of the things, she said, is, we have career coaches standing by, who have open appointments. Business Pathways: who are available to talk to students. And so you could actually even talk to a career coach to help you kind of organize your thoughts about. Okay, this is what I'm interested in doing. This is what I've been really fascinated by, or this is something I know I don't want to do. What's my next step? What other things could I consider? And so Business Pathways: I would ask that Mary Claire, if you don't mind dropping into the chat to everyone. If you could take a look in there and take a peek, she can put some information in there about how to get connected with a career coach, you would simply go to the handshake website, and then there'll be information there about how to connect with that coach, and so that could be a really important place as well to get that information. So so what I'd like to do right now is, pause for a moment and see what kind of questions are coming into the Q. A. And what are the things we might be able to answer for you all. Business Pathways: Don't hesitate to drop this right in. Business Pathways: Look here, real quick. Business Pathways: Okay. Business Pathways: Take a peak here. Questions. Here's a question. Business Pathways: Okay. I saw in line that you could get multiple Kelley minors I didn't want to confirm if you knew. That's a great question. I I think that you can. But once you go in and take a look at the different Kelly miners. What you're going to see is that Business Pathways: for most of them there are two or three classes that are very, very much the same, like a 200 right is an accounting course. That's a full semester accounting for that you would take, and then K 201, which all of you have likely taken. And then that's when the differentiation starts with the majors, because there are several different ones. So Business Pathways: so I think that you can do more than one. I'm not sure that it's a benefit to you really like. If you have one, you may not need the additional one, but if you wanted to, you certainly could. So I so that's a really great question. You could also reach right out to your academic advisor and get the very, very specific information about that, Brennan. So thank you for asking that I really appreciate it. there's a question about doing double majors like maybe economics and psychology. That sounds like an amazing con combination. I love that. That would be a conversation to have with your academic advisor as well about how to line that up. Business Pathways: The good news is, you could actually do those degree programs. And since they are both out of the College of Arts and Sciences. There's going to be some pretty significant double dipping that you're going to be able to do so, Jenna, you're wondering, can you double, major and have a minor? And Kelly? Yeah, yeah, you absolutely can. So what I would say is, go ahead and plan to take that next minor course for Kelly next fall. Right? Business Pathways: Get back to campus that a 200 is going to be a good course to get enrolled in, because it's required, for I think almost all 4 of those miners. But if you go on to and I will put this into the chat if you go into the business pathways website, there's a place that links to the descriptions of the miners, and you can dive into that and take a look at those pieces. So hang on just a minute. So the first thing I want to pop in here is the link to the Career Development Center. And there's information there, right on that. First about how to get connected with your career. coach, it says, connect with your career coach, and then the other piece Business Pathways: is. oh. Business Pathways: I you dot you Business Pathways: this path. Business Pathways: Take a look at that. Now somebody open that free and make sure that that goes exactly where we need it to go. I'm pretty sure that's right. Business Pathways: but I just want to make sure. Business Pathways: And that has a lot of the information about the minor. So. Oh, Jenna, you're so welcome. Great! Business Pathways: That's so great. excellent. Business Pathways: So e tell me a little bit in the Q and A. What kind of programs I heard economics and psychology. What other things are you thinking about? Like, even if it's two or three things at this point? That's okay. What are their major programs are you considering? Business Pathways: Go ahead and load that right into the Q and A. Business Pathways: Yup. That is the right link. I just checked it myself, and that is indeed, the right link to get to those miners so great the management, the Spa or sports management awesome. So one of those is in the in your school. And one of those is in the school public health. It is absolutely great. You could actually reach out Business Pathways: to both of those areas to get additional information about those programs and to learn a little bit more about it. So I think that part would be really, really smart to do. And let's see, planning right now, getting a major and management and minors in business and marketing. It was marketing, and a minor and Econ originally, that all sounds fabulous, and that's a great plan. Here's the thing with these plans, folks. Business Pathways: You're gonna end up with the same jobs that you would have had regardless. So that's the really cool part of this, and I've been talking with quite a few alumni over the last couple of weeks who have had majors outside Business Pathways: of the the business specific degrees. And they're doing exactly the same work right? And in some instances what they've told me is they think it's a real benefit, because this is actually what their differentiator is. Business Pathways: You know, they're not coming out of a business specific degree. They've been able to hone in to have some other area of specialty that they can bring to the table. So it was interesting to hear Ellen talk about that, especially when I had just heard that from the long previously. So those are great plans. I love that. I think the other piece, too, that I I didn't get a chance to ask Ellen about was the importance of that study of broad experience. I think that's the other thing to talk to your advisor about and to talk to you. Business Pathways: One of these school specific advisors like, go to talk to someone in O'neal or go to talk to someone in school, public health and say, like, what kind of alternative programs do you have for study abroad like, Do you have summer programs or short term programs or long term? Because that international experience can also be a huge differentiator for you as a part of that process. So absolutely. Business Pathways: I think these are really good paths. Well, just so that you all know Business Pathways: my name is Megan Ray, and I'm working on these Business Pathways as a part of this process. And so if you want to reach out and have more conversations about these or brainstorm. Other ideas. I would tell you. Probably the best people to do this with will be the career coaches. So they are really excellent at this and their actual professionals. But I also am happy to make myself available to have a conversation with you. And so I'm gonna put the dispatch email address into this chat for you all. You also got the announcement for this webinar this evening from that business path email. So that's exactly where you could reach me. if you want to set up a time to chat a little bit more, or if you want to drop me a line, you know, in a couple of weeks and say, Hey, this is the plan that I came up with. I think that part would be really exciting. So I appreciate you all taking the time to come out you this morning or this evening or this afternoon, wherever you are in the world watching this. I really appreciate your investment in this, and I'm excited for you. I think there's going to be some really cool things that you're going to uncover as part of this process. Just let me know if I I could be of help in any way. Oh, you're so welcome, Jenna, absolutely. Business Pathways: absolutely. You will take care, and I, if I don't hear from you shortly, then certainly have a very good weekend, and hopefully we'll hear from you in the next couple of weeks. Thanks so much. Have a good night.
Description of the video:
Business Pathways: Excellent. Well, thank you both so much. I am gonna go ahead and get started with our panel here today, and I really appreciate you both giving us some time and energy to consider these questions. Students are starting to take a look at this. We are recording today. And so that's so we can use this going forward for maybe students who have questions about figuring out Business Pathways: how to come at a major program. Or maybe they decided. They want to shift to a major, but they don't know and then also just what kind of what kind of resources are available for students as they're making these kinds of changes, so I would love to have each of you introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about you know what your work is, and maybe your most favorite thing about your job. Emily Stratton: Okay, I'll go ahead and jump in. So hi! My name's Emily Stratton. I'm one of the advisors in University Division and our division sometimes be a little bit confusing, because we are the only advising unit on campus for all of campus that advises students going into any possible major minor and certificate. So we work with students from every sort of background and interest. Emily Stratton: But that's actually what drew me to this, this position as well, and one of my favorite aspects of working in it is that I get to listen to students who have all sorts of different interests, and see which kinds of programs are going to be a really really good fit for them, not only in terms of their professional interests, but their personal interests, and what kinds of things they enjoy from a really holistic perspective. And I like thinking of different kinds of combinations. Emily Stratton: Okay, so how can we pair a certain major with different minors? What can we piece together that's really going to speak to you and help you as a student grow as an individual. So Emily Stratton: that's what we do here in University Division is talk with you about all those things, and kind of help. Make a whole bunch of different connections. Yeah, I'll turn it over you to Caitlyn. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Hi, I'm Caitlyn and I am a career coach with the Career Development center so similar to Emily, we work with students who are in University Division or potentially changing programs. And so again, the great thing about this job is, we get to work with a variety of students who are trying to set decide what career they want to go into. And so again, the thing that I love about it, similar to Emily is, it's this cool opportunity to meet students who are doing Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): different programs, different things. And we can kind of just explore, like, what's a good fit for you? And just kind of use, like different assessments, and also just like exploring. What are your values and your interests and all these things to figure out a career path that would be good for you. Business Pathways: I'm gonna put you back on the spot a little bit right, because already I'm hearing things that I don't know a lot about. Right? So so you're talking about assessments? Right? So what kinds of things are you talking about when you're describing that? Right. So, typically in career coaching a lot of times, we'll use different assessment tools. So the thing that we focus on are what we call your "VIPs". Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): And it's your values, your interests, your personality, and your skill set and there are different ways to do that sometimes the Myers- Briggs, which a lot of students have maybe encountered in some of their course work already. We do use Myers, Briggs. We use the CliftonStrengths. This fall we're actually introducing FOCUS II which is gonna have some new assessment tools in there. And students will have free access to that all focus years that I you can help you get set up with that and logged in so Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): you can have your results through your entire time here. So that's some of the tools we use. We can also do "wandering maps." Those are sometimes interesting techniques to do. But honestly, we just kind of talk to you about the different types of assessments and show you them, and then kind of go from there where the student feels comfortable. So what area of business it is that I want to go into. I could come in and do some of these things. But how do you get from like Business Pathways: helping a student determine what their values are to a job, or what kind of job they could be doing like, what's the how does that work? Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): So some of the assessments, actually, like the Myers-Briggs, will do this, and there are a few others they will actually show you. Based on the research of oh, my gosh, like 40+ years Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): of where different personality types fit best in different industries. So, for example, like me, I'm an extrovert shocker. I probably wouldn't be the best coder like, I need to be interacting with people. So it helps kind of narrow in on different industries or areas that are appealing to you. And also we just kind of ask you questions to about like, have you volunteered anywhere or had a part-time job that you Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): love, or that you really hate it, because that's gonna tell us what you don't like to do and what you do. Another piece is, are you okay with the 40-hour work week. Do you want to be? Do you want to work for someone else? Or do you want to be an entrepreneur? Do you want to move away? Or do you want to stay close to family? So that's kind of when we're talking about values and your interests and things. If that helps a little bit. Business Pathways: Yeah, it absolutely does. So. So I would imagine that that some place in between, like the work that you're doing with students, Caitlyn, and then, Emily, the work that you're doing and conversing with them. There's a way that you could then can translate some of this material into a major right? Business Pathways: And so let's pretend a student has done all the things, only they have gone to see a member of Caitlyn or colleagues' staff, and they understand themselves. They have a pretty good look at that. They're walking in the door. What do you do with them? Emily Stratton: Yeah. My general approach is to start with a lot of questions. I like to get to know who my students are, so if they've done that work, great! Fill me in. Who do they see themselves to be? What are their interest? What's their background? What are those values? And as they're telling me those things, I always have a little pencil and paper in front of me, and I'm taking notes because I'll think of things like, Oh, this is the course that really speaks to that thing that they just said or like. Emily Stratton: Oh, there's this minor that I think they might wanna check out. And so I'm really, really, actively listening while students are talking to me because I wanna kind of think of these sorts of things to them, present to them afterwards. And so that's my first approach is to a) ask all of the questions, and anyone who's ever met with me before knows this about me too, I'll be like, I know this sounds really invasive, but I promise I'm doing it for a reason. I wanna know all the things about you. Emily Stratton: Tell me your favorite food, I mean, sometimes I'll ask ridiculous questions, but it does. It's so helpful for me to get a sense of who you are, cause that will then guide me into programs that that you might have interest in. So once I have an idea what kinds of things really resonate with the things that a student is telling me. Then I like to do what I call the sampler platter. I'm very food motivated. So I have like food metaphors for a lot of the things that I do. Emily Stratton: I'll be like, hey? So this is a program that came to mind when I was thinking about you. This is my overview of it. How does that sound? Here's another one. And so I'll just give like a little brief overview of it, and then I'll check in with my students and be like, what's your initial feedback? Does it sound good, does it not? If the students like I'm kinda interested in that. Then we take a little bit of a deep dive, and I'll say, okay, let's look at the menu. Then what are the different course options that this is going to require? What do you think of those titles? Does that sound like something you would want to take, does it not? Emily Stratton: And then, usually at the end of my session, I'll send them off with what I call this smorgasbord, which is a whole bunch of links for them to kind of explore on their own time, and really feast themselves to their heart's content. Like here, read more about this. Here's some of the links that will link you up to things that are in our career development center. So you can see what are the kinds of careers that students who pursue these programs usually go into? What kinds of skill sets do these programs help the student develop? Emily Stratton: What kinds of related majors and minors? So maybe this one's not quite fitting it. But there's something that you like about it which ones are related, and then you can just kind of go down the Internet rabbit hole. Emily Stratton: and then I'll ask you to come back with me to follow up on it. Okay, now that you've gone through these things, what do you think? Emily Stratton: It also gives you time to talk about it with other people who know you well, your friends and family and mentors, and whoever else knows you well and think has some insight for you as well that we can be making informed decisions. But it always starts with those questions, because in the same sort of way, that career advising is very individualized, So, too, is advising. It is never a blank slate for any sort of students. Business Pathways: It sounds a little bit like you're creating the charcuterie board of experiences. Right? So absolutely, I love it. I think that's amazing. So I think I have a pretty good view of what would happen if a student went and met for an appointment with Emily. Caitlyn, what would it look like if they came in and met with you, you know. And I know that for both of you there are both in person and also online Business Pathways: appointments available. Is that correct? Okay, okay, Caitlyn, tell me about what that would be like from your seat. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): I don't have as cool analogy, as Emily. Yeah, we do in person and virtual appointments. They're usually about 45 minutes long, and we ,similar to what Emily was saying, our staff takes the approach of, we meet the student where they are. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Sometimes we obviously come in. And they're like, I've these 5 careers that I'm thinking about. And we're like, excellent. Okay, let's start in. And then sometimes we have to come in. And they're like, I have no clue so similar to Emily. We start out asking those questions. Okay, what courses did you like taking in high school or your first year on campus depending on you know what year they are, what jobs did you have that you like? What do you like to do in your spare time, like, you know? Again diving in and asking these questions just to get an idea Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): who you are. And then yeah, I mean, our appointments can be big picture like that, like, just kind of getting a sense of you and what you'd like to do. Sometimes they are more tailored for resume writing, cover, letter writing. How do I even network? How do I do an informational interview. We can help you kind of get those things started. Because again, our office does tend, we tend to work more with the first and second year students. So those are, it's kind of two things I always think of. It's like these skills that we're building. And then also, sometimes there's bigger pictures. Business Pathways: So how do students find you, Caitlyn like, how do they find your office? Students get a lot of email right? Like, there's no question about that. They get a ton of email that can say, Hey, this is who I am. So forth. But if a student just wants to Google the thing. Yeah, that will help get them to you. And then, Emily, I'm gonna ask you the same thing. So how would they do that, Caitlyn? Yeah. So we do some of the larger job fairs on campus. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): which is how some students interact with us. So if they're looking for part time work that is our office. So we help students find work, study and non work study. So the career fairs are one. The other is, if you just Google, like CDC IU, not like the fancy CDC, that we've all known the last several years. But CDC IU then our website comes up. University Division students, which I know is a little bit hard for those folks who maybe were, you know, and coming from different schools. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): You (University Division) are automatically paired with a career coach. So University Division students have their academic advisor. And then that academic advisor has a career coach connected to them. So really, we love our UD advisors. We love them because they sometimes will say, You know what I think? You need to talk to a career coach. "And we're like, Yes, come, meet with us. So that's one of the great ways that we can kind of connect with them. But yeah, if you just Google, CDC IU our website should come up. Business Pathways: And, Emily, how do you? How do they find you or one of your colleagues to meet with you. Yeah, several ways. So certainly our University Division website is a great go to, and I often will link it up in my notes as well, because it has really handy policy. Emily Stratton: But it has all of our contact information on there. So we have a variety of ways that students can meet with advisors. Certainly we have individual appointments, which is all of our favorite ways of interacting with students, because that is our time to have nothing but you on our dockets, like when you book an appointment. Emily Stratton: our time is fully focused upon you, and we prepare for this appointments in advance, so that we can spend as much attention with you as possible. Sometimes it can be difficult. Maybe you have an urgent question, and you don't have time to wait for an appointment. Or maybe it's a busy point in the semester, and our appointments are booked. That does happen sometimes. We still have on demand advising available. We call them drop in hours where you can come in during certain sections and Emily Stratton: meet with the first available advisor on a first-come first.-served basis. It might be me or your assigned advisor. It might be one of our colleagues, but no matter what the cases, we have very, very good communication between all of us advisers that we can see what's kind of going on in your background and your history that we'll be able to kind of pick up where the other person has left off, and provide you with sound advice, and then we leave notes that way. The person who is Emily Stratton: your assigned advisor will be up to speed. Okay, this is what the student accomplished during drop-ins. This is the follow up that they need. When I meet with another student advisor during a drop in. And it's a conversation that needs have a longer time. I'll address whatever is really really important right there quickly, and then say, Hey, let's look at your advisor's calendar. What are your days and times? Let's go ahead and book an appointment. Now that way you can follow up with me. Emily Stratton: and have those more in depth conversations a little bit later as well. But our primary mode of reaching out to students is email. So always keep your eyes peeled on your inboxes because we do reach out individually to our students all the time. Hey, how's that semester going? Hey, got feedback from an instructor that says you maybe are having a rocky time you doing okay? Can we talk about that? Hey, it's time to come in and book an appointment with us. So pay attention to those reminders. Emily Stratton: cause we are kind of giving you cues like this is your time to come. Talk with you. We want to see you. We want to talk with you and make sure that you're doing all right. So yeah, when we reach out to go ahead and reply, book those appointments with us. We're always always excited to be able to meet with you. Business Pathways: Now I know there's some cyclical nature right to the appointment times. Emily, like, you know, folks will see students through New Student Orientation, and then they may see them a little bit at the beginning of the year if students are making adjustments to their schedule. And then there's this massive, super scary, really freaky period of time that is enrollment right for the spring and the summer, you know. That's like, Business Pathways: "What are you doing? How is this all working?" So in terms of like tips or tricks right for connecting and making the most of their time with you. Right? Let's say the student does exactly what they're supposed to do. And they see the email from you. And it says, Okay, schedule appointment. Come in and let's talk about your your schedule. Business Pathways: What do they get ready for that like, what? What's the best way to use that time with you? Emily Stratton: Yeah. So if the student knows for sure, like I got this major that I really love. The best thing they can do....and I always also include little links in my emails... but students can come prepared. But, like refresh yourself on what the requirements are for that major. Have an idea of what those courses are so that we're not starting from scratch. Take a little look through different gen ed offerings to see what kinds of courses you might want to take. Emily Stratton: Take a little look through different majors and minors, just to see if there are any of them that you might be interested in. It doesn't mean you have to go for them or be committed to them, but just Emily Stratton: sounded interesting. That's kind of on my radar that way. I have some talking points to follow up with you, and it's going to help me kind of give you some direction. For what's what sort of courses to be thinking about for your enrollments as well? But yeah, so kind of following those directions. Just kind of making sure that you're doing as much in advance to be informed about your own degree path and requirements. That'll that'll really help us maximize our time together. Business Pathways: I think sometimes students are super intimidated by this process, right? Because there's so much information to sort through, and they're not sure where to come. So I imagine those links would come in real handy right clicking on those and opening those up. And I think there's a real transition. Not so much for sophomores who've been through it right? But for first your students coming in, certainly there's this shift from your high school experience, or maybe you were told exactly. Here's what it is, or you just had a couple of options to suddenly. Business Pathways: You're at Iu, and there's 4,000 classes to choose from every term. And what would you take? And and how does it fit in all of those things? So if if you had to identify and like, maybe some of the myths right? About, you know courses that you choose to take right in that first year. What would be some of those things that you're like? Students always say this. But I wish they knew this. Emily Stratton: Oh, yeah, I've got a couple of things here. So the first one that comes to mind, and one of the things that just makes my soul cry a little bit is every time I hear students say, Oh, I just wanna knock out my gen eds.,I'm just getting, just gonna get those knocked out. Because here's the deal. The reason why gen eds are a part of the IU curriculum is they're doing so many things for students that I don't think students recognize. Emily Stratton: I think we often think about courses in terms of their topics, and I can also put on my second hat. I also adjunct here at IU. So in addition to being an academic advisor, I teach gen ed courses in our African Studies program. And so a lot of students enter my courses and are like, Well, I don't ever need to know anything about Africa, and, like you probably won't ever have a career that deals with Africa. But here's the deal I'm teaching you media analysis skills. critical thinking skills Emily Stratton: and how to kind of deconstruct stereotypes, which guess what our transferable skill sets that you're going to use, no matter what career you go into, and in every dimension of your personal life. And that's what gen eds are designed to accomplish is to help you develop skill sets through a different topical medium. So you're learning about different topics again, in my class, Africa. But you're learning skills that aren't already a part of your major, and you're getting exposed to new worlds that you may or may not have even known existed. Emily Stratton: So, for example, when I started as undergraduate, I went into my major as a chemistry student, I was such a math and science person, and I went kicking and screening into some of my gen eds like, I didn't want to take humanities courses. I didn't wanna have to do reading and writing. It wasn't my jam. Emily Stratton: and then I took courses and they blew my mind. I never... I had really engaging instructors, and it helped me kind of learn to appreciate what I was studying. Emily Stratton: And then I started having different majors, or like I went for a double major, or I thought of a different minor that I wanted to pursue, and it was because I had that kind of exposure. So don't ever think about gen eds just like, oh, this thing I have to knock out. I'm gonna hate them, whatever. I'll just take this one because I have to. Talk with us as advisors that we can help you find ones that are going to be fun to you, and hopefully open up other kinds of conversation pieces for you that you might Emily Stratton: able to talk about with an employer down the road like, oh, you studied Bamana as a language. Wow! Talk with me about that right there. All sorts of things that are going to help make you stand out. And you won't, you won't get exposure to those if you're just treating your en eds something to "knock out." So that is 100% like the first myth that I would want to dispel. I have others I can talk about. But I kind of went on for a little while with that one. So I should end there. Business Pathways: we'll we'll try to circle back. And only that's wonderful. Maybe we need to do a whole separate webinar on myths right? That might be a way to do it. And I think your point about the gen eds is really well taken. You know any number of students looking for a role in business long term are gonna have some series like a career fair like you talked about Caitlyn or in an individual interview Business Pathways: networking event where they're they're simply meeting with alumni of school that have come back to talk to students. Or they are an alum of IU... Business Pathways: and if you've done all of the same things right? Business Pathways: It doesn't make it easy to stand out, you know. And so you really want to be able to craft those stories. I talk a lot with students about crafting their story. And what is their story going to tell about them? And I was just looking at the list of courses that are offered in the Collins Living Learning Center for this upcoming year. And I was writing to a student that I know who is going to be living there. And I said, Have you seen this class Business Pathways: that's about wild edible plants. I said, I cannot imagine a better course to take. So you can walk into these networking events, and the recruiter says, Hey, what's an interesting course that you've been taking? Well, everybody will have been taking a accounting class, or a public speaking class, or something along those lines. Business Pathways: but a very small number of people will have taken wild edible plants right? And so what a great way to set yourself apart from other folks right out of the gate, you know, as they go through that. Now, Caitlyn, one of the things that Emily referenced, I think, is sometimes a little bit hard to tease out right? We hear a lot about transferable skills. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Right? But what is that? What does that actually mean in the world of career development? Yeah. And I realized you, I should have quickly plugged Handshake as well. I just as Emily was talking in terms of students connecting with their career coaches, not even just our office. But in the long term, too, they should definitely get on Handshake. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): and and to make sure that they can make appointments with us. And then again, that's how we send emails and messaging. And I don't know why I've blanked on that. But if you go back to your point about transferable skills. That is the hardest thing. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): So I don't know how many times will. Students will come in and they'll say I don't have a resume. I don't have any experience. And I don't know. And I'm like, and then we start talking. And they're like, well, as a camp counselor. Does that count? And I was like, yeah, that's leadership. That's communication. That is organization, you know. And so what we do is we do kind of talk about like, how do you pull out from these courses? Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): And your experiences, those transferable skills. So our offices relies on the NACE competency competencies, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, and every couple of years they come out with their NACE competencies that universities and colleges ask employers when you hire our graduates, what skills are you looking for? And they're looking for leadership communication. Those like soft or Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): like, I know, we think of hard skills as like coding a second language. Things like that. But a lot of employers are looking for those soft skills. And so a lot of times, we help students identify what those are. And then a student might say, well, I don't have a lot of leadership experience. And then, like, Okay, let's look at BeInvolved, or what are clubs, organizations? Are you in where we could start looking at you getting those leadership offers. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): So it is I. It is hard sometimes to identify them, I think, having a conversation with your UD advisor or career coach is probably one of the best ways to start getting you thinking outside of that box is sometimes it's really hard to realize, like Emily's class, like, how much great stuff you're getting. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Yeah. Business Pathways: That's fantastic, Caitlyn, I think that's a really helpful piece, you know, and it's a bridge. And you know one of the pieces that I think is difficult, right, is, if you have this idea that you're gonna do college a certain way. And then you suddenly realize, for whatever reason, like, you're not interested in material anymore, or you're not performing well academically. And it or you don't think that it's actually gonna lead to the career that you want. Business Pathways: You have to make this pivot. And I like to talk about that pivot even with students as another story that you can tell. Like, listen, I thought I was doing this, but then I ended up doing this, and I've landed in a really wonderful place, because that resiliency, I think, is something that that employers want to see, too like, can we tell you that you're gonna be working out of the Chicago office for 6 weeks. But then come to you a week later and say, actually, we're gonna send you to New York Business Pathways: for 2 weeks. They want to be able to predict how you're gonna respond to something like that. As you're going through that, you know. So I think that part is really helpful. So let me pose perhaps a somewhat philosophical question right along the lines, what comes first? The career idea, or the major and Caitlyn l'll have you respond. And then, Emily, if you want to add anything in Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): II feel like it's kind of like the chicken in the egg type situation again. I think it goes back to something Emily and I touched on. It's that meeting the student where they are. Sometimes the student comes in based on like, maybe their family, like they might have family members who are in a field that they're interested in. They've been exposed to it. Maybe they did do an informational interview. They sometimes come in with all these ideas. We're gonna explore those with you Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): and obviously tried to like, encourage you to look at other things as well, if you think like. Oh, this major might interest you. And then again, sometimes we have the sooner like, I don't. I know the career I want, but I have no idea about a major I like. And so again, it just kind of goes back to those conversations with like, what are your values, your interest, your personality skills. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): And then let's like, try to look at a career or a major that might interest you. And so I don't necessarily...I don't know if Emily feels differently. I think it just depends on the student whether they come in with a major in mind or career in line. And I think sometimes that just depends on their experiences they've had prior to meeting. Emily Stratton: Yeah, I would follow up and say that I'm I'm on the same page there as well. It does not matter to me if students come into me like this is the career goal that I have in mind. Great, cool. Let's think about ways to work towards that or like: I have no idea what I want to do for work. But I'm really interested in this possible major, and here's why. Great. And I also love it when students come to me like I don't know. I don't like Emily Stratton: right you all. You're all very young. You don't have to have your entire life figured out. It's a process, and it's so common for students to come in and have one thing in mind, get going, get exposed to things they haven't even heard about and be like. Actually, I like this other thing way better. I'm gonna go towards that. And it's so normal, and it's so healthy to shift as well. Emily Stratton: So one of the conversations that I also enjoy having with students is, if they did come in here thinking that one track was what they wanted to do. And then they're like, actually, I took this other course, and I really like I love it. It's so great. And I kinda see myself going in that direction now, like great. That's not a failure. Right? If you change directions, you're not failing. That's a huge success from my perspective, because you're finding something Emily Stratton: that is going to be a better fit for you and for your long term goals, and you don't want to suffer through 4 more. Yeah, 4 years, of coursework that you don't enjoy. You can genuinely have a fantastic time in all of your courses when you find the kinds of things that really speak to your interests and your values. So a) whether you have a career in mind a major in mind, or somewhere in between, or if you change paths. Emily Stratton: all of that is great to me again, both Caitlyn and I, and whoever else you meet with in the CDC. Or University Division. We're going to meet you where you're at, and do our best to kind of have that sort of individualized approach to your to your path. Business Pathways: That's super. I really appreciate it. I'm gonna do a couple of rapid fire questions now for you all. And this first one is, gonna be a true/false question. Right? So Emily, we'll start with you, and then Caitlyn will go to you. So Emily, major equals career. FALSE! Sorry, I was so excited to answer. Business Pathways: What do you say? Caitlyn? Oh. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): FALSE. Really? Okay, why is that, though? Why major doesn't equal career? Yeah, yeah. So a lot of times, employers are looking for those skills based hiring process like there Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): again. And that goes back to us identifying those transferable skills. So a lot of times we work with students who are thinking like, well, I want to do English, but I don't know how that would transfer into a business. And I'm like. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): you're a great communicator. You can communicate like that's huge. Right? So we talked a lot about with students, how everything is a business, IU is a business. There are so many components to different industries. So you don't have, you can have certain transferable skills Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): from any major just like Emily highlighted very specific examples from her course that I was like. Yes, that like plays into it. So. Emily Stratton: Emily, what would you want to add? No, I was, gonna add and follow up as well. So in addition to kind of skills that our employees are looking for, if you enjoy your courses and are doing a major that is fun to you. You're going to do a better job at it, like when you want to go to class, and you're excited about the coursework that you're doing, you're actually developing stronger skill sets. But if you're doing the ones that you think are going to look good, but don't actually like them like. So it's a double investment to pick things that really speak to you. Business Pathways: So if we have unanimous agreement, then that major does not equal career, right or vice versa. Right? That doesn't have to come from a specific major. Business Pathways: You know, folks who are around in my generation right? And I'm of the age where I would have college-age students, you know. Business Pathways: It used to be pretty linear, right? Like you studied something. You got a career you stuck with that career. You went through the career you stayed in, that thing. The very largest shift you could make was maybe a change between companies. But you never changed industries right? That was the case. And so I still think there are probably some parents and family members out there like me Business Pathways: or like I remember my dad right like as I started to make shifts in my career that made him very, very, very nervous, right like, well, what are you doing right like, how are you going to get a job in this like, how do you know if this is a good thing next you know? So what I'm interested in hearing from you all is Business Pathways: what are some of the things that you think will really resonate for students? Because in some ways, I think our role is to help our students Business Pathways: figure out how to talk to their stakeholders Business Pathways: right how to talk to their family members about these changes that they're making. And it maybe, even if you have a couple of stories where you've helped work with a student to help them position those messages. How did you do it? And how did they do it? And, Caitlyn, I'm gonna start with you, and then Emily we'll go to you. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Yeah, I think I do talk of a lot of students who are trying to have these conversations with families. Especially,I feel like, right before the breaks like Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): those talks of like Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): I'm gonna change my major and I think it just goes back to like highlighting like the skill sets that you're developing, because one thing that I point out to students. A lot of times, too, is the workforce has changed. Technology is constantly changing. So going back to what you mentioned, Megan, is the resiliency piece. Are you able to pivot? And you're able to put it because you've developed these skills so you might start a job at a business that you think is it's going to be this way, and something like Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): AI comes out of nowhere and is going to change what you're doing. So you need to rely on those skills that you're developing in your classes in your you know, job part time, job or volunteer work to be able to pivot not to steal your word. But so a lot of times when I talk to students Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): I have that with a few who, you know, were not admitted into a program that they really wanted. And so we explored like, let's look at this major or this, and it's still gonna get you this skill set that you need for this area that you're looking for. A common one for businesses that I talk a lot about is beyond a lot of times. They don't realize that. Oh, I really love economics, and like Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): we haven't each one, major talk with your University Division advisor and make sure. But those are the same skills. And so I think it's identifying those skills. And then when you talk to your parents or stakeholders, you should say saying, like, you know, look, I've looked at the skills that are required for this job. I'm hitting them, and I just need to work on articulating them and building them these next couple of years. Business Pathways: It I really appreciate that, Caitlyn. I think that makes a lot of sense. And it, you know there's so many interesting programs that IU, too, you know, like you mentioned economics. But there's also an economics and quantitative analysis degree that I've been learning about. And I had a panel with a student recently who had done a double major in economics and political science. Business Pathways: And he's working as a financial analyst, you know. And so there's just so many different skill sets, you know, within that, within that process that you can really kind of roll back into. Emily, I'm gonna come back to you, though, and ask about messaging to families right? Like, what do you tell the stakeholders Emily Stratton: when you're doing something that maybe they weren't expecting. It's tough. And I think a lot of the students that I meet with are often really torn between what kinds of things they feel inclined to do, and what kinds of pressures they might feel from their family wanting to meet approval, or even parents who might be like, I'm paying for your degree. Therefore you do what I'm paying for you to do. And it's a really tough environment. And so those are also things I think about right. I'm not going to tell students like well, shirk what your parents have to say Emily Stratton: and do whatever speaks to you as tempting as that might be. We have to think about what are all the different things that you're facing, because those family relationships are part of your well-being, too. And that impacts the kind of life that you're living. So again, everything is holistic. But when it comes to messaging everything that Caitlyn was saying about the preparity of our chop landscapes these days like Emily Stratton: careers, shift constantly. Couple of years ago, UX research or user experience research was like having a moment. And there were all sorts of job openings. It's not having a moment anymore. And there are actually a lot of layoffs in that field right now. So things hit and miss all the time, and so that pivoting to go back to it is actually one of the best skill sets you can be developing right now is because the more that our technology keeps increasing Emily Stratton: it's very hard to foresee what our future is going to look like. We don't know what it's going to look like geopolitically. There are going to be new needs coming up constantly, and we'll have to be able to adapt to those. So having that sort of flexibility built in to your degree plan and into your learning experience here at IU is one of the best sorts of things that you can do to prepare yourself for futures. Emily Stratton: Yeah, Job, Job. Landscapes are not as stable as they were, say 30 years ago. And and that's something that I think us younger generations are starting to to be quite aware of as well. Business Pathways: Yeah, I think another piece, too, that students are really interested in figuring out is where they're going to end up, right, in this process? And so we have a such a great range of students from all over the world at Indiana University. Certainly more of our students would be categorized as domestic students. Right? But I'll meet with students, they'll say, well, I want to make sure they get back to the West coast or back to Business Pathways: to the East coast, or I want to go home to Texas, or I want to be in Florida. All of those things. Are there geographic locations, Caitlyn in the U.S., in the continental U.S., where we can't get students placed? Business Pathways: Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): That's a really good question. So a lot of times when I when I meet with students I ask them "Where's home for you?" And then I'll say, like, Do you want to go back home, or do you want to move?" And it is a little harder, I think. One of the great things about with the crew coaching and the crew centers for each school. You know they are working with worker partners, and who are in these bigger areas. But sometimes I have since you are in Indiana, and they say. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): why I don't want to leave, I want to be close to family. So a lot of the websites that we rely on are like O*NET, and from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And they have some of that geographical data. So not only can you look at? Are they hiring but salaries and that area? And sometimes that's a tough conversation. Because I say, Well, I think you may need, you know. Watch this salary over the next couple of years, because obviously a meeting with you in your first couple of years, we don't know will happen. But a conversation you might need to have with your family or yourself is Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): is the salary going to, is it? I talk about "salaries of value" because we all have things that we need to pay for. So my question is, are you okay taking a lower salary to be close to family? And I think it just goes back to those VIPS that we talk about. Like, what is your value? Is family more important than money? Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): And there's no wrong answer because it's you like I you know I don't. I don't mind you just tell me what you want, and we'll explore it so again. I know that doesn't quite give you a solid answer. But we do have resources and tools that we kind of help guide those conversations, knowing that Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): there could be some conflict with that going forward like about where you end up and might be because of different factors. Yeah, I'll I love the way you answer that, Caitlyn, because there's so much more nuance to it Business Pathways: than that right like, in terms of what kind of lifestyle do you want to live, and what kind of family pressures you might have. Or you know, do you have a younger sibling coming through? And so, you know, parents are gonna need some support in that regard to make sure that that person can get their education met all of those different kinds of things right? So I think that's pretty helpful. In terms of the outcomes for students, do we find that across the university, that there is a pretty wide spread or are there pockets where students are concentrating in terms of outcomes? [COPY] Business Pathways: than that right like, in terms of what kind of lifestyle do you want to live, and what kind of family pressures you might have. Or you know, do you have a younger sibling coming through? And so, you know, parents are gonna need some support in that regard to make sure that that person can get their education met all of those different kinds of things right? So I think that's pretty helpful. In terms of the outcomes for students, do we find that across the university, that there is a pretty wide spread or are there pockets in terms of Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): I hate to say it, but unfortunately, our office doesn't specifically work with the "first destination" outcomes unfortunately. But from what we've heard many of the students have been able to find work obviously Chicago is a huge pull, East Coast, West Coast. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her):The one thing that I tell students to do also is to connect with IU alumni, and they use Linkedin to do that, since you can go to IUB's LinkedIn profile and see not only what industry alumni are in, but their location and try to make connections. And unfortunately, I don't quite know that data. I'm sure the career centers with the different schools would have their first destination data. But again, I feel like I see a lot of students going into those bigger urban. You know, centers, those hubs, I guess, is how I think of them. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): But that doesn't mean that you can't find things elsewhere. I mean, we just learned today that Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): the state of Indiana is pushing those who are studying in public health fields to stay in Indiana, and they're paying for their education. So sometimes we find out about these things, because maybe a state's recognizing a deficit. And of course, like, you know, that just changes again with Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): technology and the state of the world kind of a thing. So again, I know that doesn't quite answer your question specifically. But no, I think it's helpful, and it's helpful to know that there's somebody who knows about programs like that, right where we could learn more about that as you're looking through it. So I think that's really helpful. So I have another rapid fire question for both of you. So and, Emily, I would, even though I may not, it'll seem a little counterintuitive. Take on it first, you know. And this is another true false. In order to get an excellent job Business Pathways: at the end of college, I have to do an internship, my freshman or sophomore summer. Business Pathways: Emily, go, and then Caitlyn. Emily Stratton: Big, fat, false. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): False! Business Pathways: Tell me more, Emily, why do you think that? Why are you so firm in that? Emily Stratton: Yeah? Well, I'm gonna tell you this back to Caitlyn's comment earlier about talking with students about transferable skills. Emily Stratton: A lot of students are doing very different things during the summers that are still investing in their professional skills sets. So when it comes to employers looking for skills, yeah, an internship is one way to develop skills. But there are so many other ways to develop skills as well. And so we wanna hear, like, what kinds of things are you doing? What are you experiencing? And we'll help you find the language to then recognize how that's a marketable trade. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Yeah, I mean, Emily nailed it. There are so many ways that you can gain experience. And something that we find is sometimes those internships are limited to juniors and seniors, because they want you to have some coursework already completed because of the nature of the job. So that is something that I do tell students. But we have Caitlyn Thompson (she/her)...IU done a fantastic job with trying to find opportunities. We have those partnerships with Forage and Parker Dewey. Our office constantly advertises those as a way for you to just get a taste, and you can add it to your resume. You can connect with the employer on LinkedIn. It's a great thing. There's study abroad. There's part-time work. Honestly, one of the ways that I learned communication and organization was my work-study through my financial aid office and my retail work Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): and retail quickly showed me what I didn't like to do. So I think sometimes, having these experiences like thinking outside the box. It not only tells you what you like to do, but what you don't want to do. And so let's like, have that conversation with you as a career coach or with your UD advisor about what are these different things that I can do besides the internship? And we will help you find those. Business Pathways: Caitlyn, you just used two terms I'm unfamiliar with, Forage and Parker Dewey. What are those things? Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): The Career Development Center has been working and I think it's been other career services on campus, I believe O'Neill as well. I believe I don't want to mispeak, but I do believe Parker Dewey was a Kelley alum who started it. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): I would have to fact check that. But it is an IU alum and these are micro internships. And the idea was to help first year and second year students get connected with different companies. So J.P. Morgan and Chase is on there, Deloitte, and what they are are, they are virtual opportunities. There may be a commitment of 5 to 10 hours. So not like a typical internship, but an opportunity for you to kind of get a taste of like. Well, Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): I think I want to do investment banking, and you can go and see if Forage or Parker do we have those options. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): And then you can actually connect with the employer. They can see your work, you can add it to your resume, and all of the things on Parker Dewey and Forage are Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): I don't want to use this word, but I will: "simple" enough tasks that if you haven't taken that coursework yet, that upper level, you can still do it just fine. So we talk to students about, you know, "hey, over winter break, is this something that you might want to try"? And then you could do another one, or you know, or over the summer as a backup. But yeah, Forage and Parker Dewey. I believe they are linked on our website. But some of the other career centers on campus also Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): have them linked. So Business Pathways: and that's open for any IU students to participate in that, regardless of the year! So I want to ask some success stories, right? Like places where you've seen students like either work their way through the first year, Emily, and then hone in Business Pathways: on that particular degree program that was really important to them, or something that's illustrative of a pivot, you know, since that seems to be our word of the day, and then, Caitlyn for you as well. What are some things that you think might be inspiring for the students and family members who might end up watching this? Emily Stratton: Yeah. So some of the fun things that I've had are when students have discovered majors that they didn't know existed before coming in, maybe took a course that they thought it was again a "gen ed", to quote unquote, knock out, and then loved it, and then took additional courses. And we're like this is, Emily Stratton: this is what's really going to be a good fit for me. And so it's really fun to kind of be a part of that experience, and hearing them reflect upon what kinds of things they're doing in their courses, figuring out what kinds of paths they can create with it, and then realizing that they can really enjoy their upcoming years. So Emily Stratton: I had a student who discovered international studies and then recognized because they wanted to have a career in international business were not quite sure what dimensions of it. And I was like, do the course with international studies, because these are all the opportunities you can go through. Like the student who really enjoys language learning. I was like this is built into the curriculum already. Emily Stratton: The student has a couple of different minors that they're interested in. So it's just really it's a major that makes it really really easy to kind of cobble together all of the interest that spoke really well to that student. And so it was so fun to kind of see that happen? And another student who Emily Stratton: wasn't really sure exactly what they were looking for in that first semester Emily Stratton: had some business interest, but also really liked biotechnology, really liked psychology as well. So we kind of dabbled around with some different options. But ended up going with a combination of economics and quantitative methods with a psychology double major. And so I worked with that student to kind of see how we can make these kinds of degrees work and piece them together, and it's sort of like an intellectual Jenga on my part as well Emily Stratton: as an instructor. I'm like, okay, as as an advisor like, here are the different courses. So this one's off. It's a major requirement for this one, but it's going to be a gen ed requirement for this one. And here, like we can kind of piece really kind of creative schedules together. And it's really fun. So it's always a huge joy when I see students who recognize that as well. But really, anytime that a student figures out a major path that Emily Stratton: really suits them well it's a super exciting experience. Or one other student who knew that they like psychology and had come in wanting to do a career path as a therapist and realize they don't really want that, it's a lot of emotional work to have one-on-one sessions with people. Emily Stratton: and they had kind of like a Type A sort of like organizational skills. And I was like, you know, we do have business and organizational psychology as a degree as well. And they're currently doing graduate work and doing like consultation on the side with companies to help them figure out how to create better business environments that are not only efficient for the company, but healthy for all of the employers. So she's able to kind of use Emily Stratton: those those things about psychology and the ways that people's minds work, but not in a therapeutic setting. And so it's really fun to be able to help students kind of recognize Emily Stratton: where their interests are, how they can be applied in different ways. And so, yeah, my successes are when students figure out majors that are really exciting to them and suit their interests well. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): yeah, sorry I was going to say, Emily, the organizational and business psychology program, like I've had so many business students I know...I did work with a student who originally thought they wanted to be in Kelly and then ended up thinking, I think, that they were going more of marketing, but then stumbled upon the organization psychology, and they are thriving in it, and they are so happy. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Iin it. I think that one is one that I feel like we need to promote more. I don't know, like I personally get so excited when students find it or we we talk about it. Another example I have is, we have a dear friend who honestly, it's been a long time. But he did not get into Kelly. He applied and didn't make it, he ended up going into O'Neill and doing one of their management programs and has Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): run a political campaign. He's worked on different things, but he mostly he works at a local business in town, and he just loves it. And I think for him he realized it was a better fit and so I think Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): it. It is hard like when I you know, when I meet with students who maybe their program didn't specifically work out right away. I like to always acknowledge that and say, like, I'm sorry, because that's probably really hard, right like acknowledging that you worked really hard towards something, and it didn't work out. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): But that's gonna happen a lot in life, unfortunately, probably. And so I want to address that. This is maybe the first time this has happened, and so let's talk about what would make you happy, and what would help you thrive here? And are you going back to it? Emily saying, is finding that fit for you. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Another example that I heard, which I know sounds kind of wild, but I was in a training, career coaching training, and one of the presenters worked in. He was a trader on Wall Street for 20 years, and he mentioned on his team he was only one of 2 finance majors. The others were English majors. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): because they could communicate really well, and his boss would hire English majors because they were able to deal. Now, again, I feel like that might be a specific personality. That's an intense environment again. That Type A maybe played a part in it. But I had just never...it didn't occur to me that there would be English majors trading on Wall Street. But of course once you talked about those transferrable skills and things it clicked. As a career coach I should have thought of that! Business Pathways: What I love uncovering are some of these experiences like the history and international studies major who's working in marketing for Goldman Sachs. Or the history major who is now a consultant at McKinsey. There are so many different Business Pathways: kinds of programs. And I think one of the things that I mean. I really do feel like that whole... Business Pathways: you know, the major doesn't equal the career right, and a career doesn't come from a certain major, you know it really is just the accumulation of the experiences that you have while you're at IU you know...as you're going through that process. So I want to thank you both so much for your time. Today, I have really enjoyed this. And II think there's a lot of really great nuggets in here for folks who are trying to figure this next part. If you had some closing words of advice Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): for students who are trying to plan their next move. I what would that be? And, Caitlyn, I'll I'll start with you so, and then go to Emily. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): Yeah, I mean, if they haven't for their next move if they haven't done it already is just reflect. One of the things that I talk to students about is that constant reflection. Because, again, going to that pivoting standpoint of we know jobs will be changing faster. Caitlyn Thompson (she/her): The more you can reflect on your experience that's just gonna help you know more about yourself and your values and your skills and your interests. And so once you know more about yourself that makes these decisions easier. And that just takes some time. So you know, if you haven't reflected on what went wrong or what went right like, try to do that piece, and then, you know. Tell us about it. Tell your career coach, tell your advisor about "Well, I thought about it, and I think this is, you know what I've learned from that experience. Emily Stratton: Yeah, that reflection piece is key. It's so helpful. And it's something that even I, in my adult life, I'm constantly tapping in and doing a check in with, where are my values? I have a big decision coming up. What is most important to me. It's such an important life skill, not only for finding majors and jobs, but just things that are going to carry you through all the different things that are going to come up as like in life as an adult. Emily Stratton: But yeah, one of the other things that I would think, and I'm thinking particularly of Megan's last comments about the history major, who's working in finance field. Right? Emily Stratton: I like to think of the different kinds of majors that we have here, not necessarily as topics of study. Being a history major doesn't mean oh, now I'm going to know this happened then. This happened then this happened, and I'm going to be an encyclopedia of factual knowledge of the past. It's a mode of inquiry. You're learning how to test information. Where does our knowledge come from? And are there problems with how that knowledge came about? How can I solve that? And those kinds of problem solving skills and inquiry skills: Emily Stratton: really important skills to have for careers in business cause. You're gonna be probably encountering problems and trying to figure out how to solve them in any sort of business related career. So think about the majors, not necessarily as a topic. But what kinds of skills are helping you develop? What kind of ways of thinking, what tools are they going to help you come across with? Because if you find something that's fun Emily Stratton: well, I like this. It's fun. I like the topic. But what am I gonna do with it like I will tell you what you can do with it. These are what these courses are actually helping you do along the way, here's how you can turn it into something that's super marketable. Business Pathways: Well, I appreciate both of your time so much in this process, and I know that folks watching this will have a few more ideas and a few more paths to walk down as they consider their next move, so my eternal gratitude to both of you. I really appreciate it, and I hopefully will see you across campus soon and to our viewing audience. Don't hesitate Business Pathways: great to reach out. These are just 2 of the many, many, many, many resources that we have at IU to help students with their next move. So take that step, go online to Handshake, go online to the University Division website, set up that appointment today. So the only thing that will keep you from meeting the goals that you have and achieving that success that you're looking for is lack of action Business Pathways: and action is what's gonna really, really make a difference here. So good luck, let us know if there's any way that we can help. Thanks so much, and thank you two, as well. Bye, bye.
The Business Options episode features career development experts from Career Exploration & Student Employment sharing ideas to consider when life redirects you to a new path. The episode also offers a few useful tips to keep you pointed toward your business career goals.
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