The third chapter of the FGLI Career Development Series was the “Getting a Job No Matter Your Major” session. I was particularly interested in this one because it focused on the practical aspects of finding a job after graduation, regardless of what you studied.
Just like in the first session, Aaron started by having us practice our elevator pitches with each other. He emphasized again how important it is to be able to tell your story effectively. There were a lot of new faces this time, so it was great to practice again and see different perspectives. This exercise reminded me that no matter how good I think my elevator pitch is, there’s always room for improvement.
After we paired up for the elevator pitch practice, we did a group activity. Aaron asked for a volunteer to share their pitch, and then we all gave feedback. One big takeaway was to avoid including too much unnecessary information. Our peer’s pitch had a lot of detail, which gave great depth to her story, but it also made her seem a bit unorganized. We agreed that the best elevator pitches strike a balance between providing enough detail to shape your story without overwhelming the listener.
Aaron then shared some crucial advice from his own career journey. He talked about leveraging our liberal arts education from Wesleyan. He pointed out that, in many career paths, we’ll likely be part of a small group of applicants from liberal arts schools rather than technical schools. He suggested we use this to our advantage by highlighting the skills we’ve gained, like critical thinking, problem-solving, and socio-cultural awareness, to make our applications stand out. This made me think about how I could connect my Economics and College of East Asian Studies majors to shape my own story.
Aaron also emphasized the importance of networking, especially with Wesleyan alumni. He advised us not to feel locked into a certain career just because of our major. He shared his own experience of how his major and first job were in completely different fields, but he was able to get that job through networking with a Wesleyan alum. This was a good reminder that there are many career paths out there that I might not have considered. It gave me some reassurance as I will embark on my own job search in the next academic year.
Overall, the FGLI Career Development Series was very helpful, and hearing Aaron’s advice during every session was particularly enlightening. It reinforced the need to keep refining how we present ourselves and highlighted the unique strengths of a liberal arts education. Aaron’s insights on networking and being flexible with career choices were especially reassuring and gave me more confidence about the future. I’m glad I was able to be a part of this series and I hope that the career center has more events tailored to FGLI students in the future.
