Hello all and good day! This is the first blog I have ever had the opportunity to contribute toward and I'm not exactly sure what to include. However, in my non-blog interactions, I typically have no trouble finding items and situations to rant, rave, complain, and offer insight towards which makes this situation all the stranger as I haven't created a post since becoming a BizBlogger late last fall.

For this inaugural posting (which has not been quite as timely as I had hoped) I have a few things to address which have been puzzling to me as of late. I may not cover each of these topics to their fullest extent in this initial posting but I hope to stimulate interest and additional conversation going forward throughout the semester. With that, I suppose I should lay out those 'issues' that have been going through my mind the past several weeks.
The beginning of the spring semester Job searches, careers, majors, and interests 'Time Management' (can you really manage time?) And a little something I'd like to call the 'fun factor' Ah, and one additional thing I'd like to throw out there in order to get some expectations in alignment, is that these may not be covered conclusively or in any real sequential order. My hope is to cover these in some fashion so that they are interesting and thought provoking to some extent. That said, I may jump around a bit as I tend to be a little spacey (sp?) and have the tendency to ramble, digress, and generally get a little (or a lot) off track of whatever it was that I was talking about. And as I've just looked up and noticed that I have three paragraphs and a list of bullet points written already, all without any real content created, you've probably already noticed that my attention has the tendency to jump around a bit. Anyways, here goes... 

A New Semester!

Well it is the beginning of the spring semester, and it's a whopping 4 degrees (Fahrenheit, although if it were measured in Celsius we'd all be a little warmer to say the least. Check out www.worldclimate.com for all sorts of weather-related fun). But for lack of better nomenclature, the semester that occurs between January and May gets the spring name. Probably better than 'Winter/Spring/but mostly cold semester' although we students in Indiana wouldn't be fooled by the name. At any rate, the semester is a few weeks in and we are rolling into classes. Hooray! Hopefully they are worthwhile, interesting, and will offer the utmost in learning for us all (what else could once expect out of the Kelley curriculum?)

This semester is shaping up to be a good one. For me, it's the my second to last and I'm enrolled in many courses that contribute quite a bit to my intended interests and what I'd like to do for a living (although I haven't quite figured that one out yet). But yes, spring typically brings feelings of joy because after 16 or so weeks, the majority of us are rewarded with a little something nice. That something nice is warm weather, and glorious glorious summertime. However, summer isn't all that it used to be back in the day where one could kick it next to the pool, listening to tunes, and soaking up some rays. For many college students (particularly those enrolled in Kelley) summer is more about taking some extra classes, working to pay for the fall semester (for the sake of this post I will avoid another weather/nomenclature tangent), or taking on that coveted summer internship to advance in the field we hope to pursue as a career rather than relaxing and basking in all of summer's glory.

But for some others, summer won't be much more than some warmer weather. Each May (as well as June & August) many Kelley students take the next major step in their lives and get ready to toss their goofy graduation cap high into the air. With diploma in hand (hopefully signed, that is) they walk across the stage and get ready to embark upon the next great journey in life...the 'real' world. 

Jobs, Careers, & 'Real World': Are they all they're cracked up to be?

A good friend of mine recently graduated with a degree from Kelley with a concentration in Finance. This particular individual was an excellent student, with high GPA, solid campus involvement, and a level of intellect that cannot be expressed by standard grading metrics. In addition to all of these academic standards, this guy has great personal character, responsibility, and a good head on his shoulders. That said, it's no surprise he landed a job prior to graduation.

While he indeed did find a job, and one somewhat related to his major to boot, he is not happy working there and feels that his talents, skills, and abilities are not being even close to properly utilized. He is involved in a strong company in a stable yet growing industry and yet his satisfaction - or dissatisfaction - in work right now is having a negative effect on his life in general. He is determined, however, to take the measures necessary to find a function in work that is fulfilling and where he can achieve personal and professional growth and contribute positively to the company in which he is employed.

But why should we as Kelley graduates have to settle for this after the fact? It seems that in many cases, business students limit ourselves to whichever function is most related to our majors. That is, students majoring in finance look for jobs in finance, students in marketing look for marketing positions, HR majors look for a profession in which they can practice HR. But what do these majors do for us if we end up doing something we don't like, even if it is what we 'majored in' during our tenure at Kelley? Positions, job descriptions, and the nature of one's work are almost solely determined by one's employer. That is, the employer is the one who crafts these items and designates the function in which one will contribute. It seems as if the only true applicable major in which one can truly exercise what he or she has learned in college is that of accounting as it is a practice based on principles and is more or less non-subjective. But what about the students that major in these other areas with less boundaries and gray areas? What is it that we are supposed to do following graduation? Kelley students have, or will at some point, take X320 (Career Planning and Placement). This class is intended to help students identify where they can best apply themselves after college and during their career. Probably the best message conveyed in this course is demonstrated through the exercise on the first day of class. For those of you who have taken this it, you know what I'm talking about. That's right...the 'skills & interests' inventory packet.

This is intended to help students identify what they are interested in, what they're good at, and where they have room to grow and develop. However, even after identifying these items, we continue to limit ourselves to our chosen major. That is, we narrow our focus to only the functional areas in which we can 'apply' the knowledge amassed in our core concentration classes. Wow, it seems that I have gone on a little rant about this topic and have somewhat digressed. But to sum up my point (at least for this post)...
Don't limit your scope to your major. Take a look at yourself from all facets and identify what really hits home with you...The things that drive you to be successful, that empower you to do your best work, and the tasks and situations that you find enjoyment in doing.

As the example of the recent grad at the beginning of this section illustrates, you can find something to do in your major but you may not enjoy doing it. Look at how your skills, interests, and abilities play into other fields and functions and get creative. Look for a position or industry where you can truly leverage your assets to accelerate yourself and achieve. These are things that will really differentiate you from everyone else. It's not only your GPA, your involvement, your work experience...it's you, your personality, your skills, and interests that can really set you apart from the crowd and put you on the track for success. 

Err, for lack of a better section heading, this is the Conclusion

While I don't have a substantial amount of empirical evidence to prove any of this, I'm sure we all know someone - either ourselves or someone else - in a similar situation or who may be in one at some point soon. I encourage that we all take a look at what's going on around us and take a good look at where we want to be and figure out how we can best get there using what we have and what we can take on. More to come on these types of things in posts down the road, so stay
tuned...

O, and I almost forgot!

Stay tuned some goodies in upcoming posts in respect to the other two points that were bulleted in the opening section and which are also reiterated below:

    •    Time management (or the lack thereof)
    •    The fun factor/Rule #3

It's rather interesting that I ran out of time to talk about time management...and that many of you are probably thinking that rule #3 had something to do with it. Perhaps. Perhaps not. I suppose we'll find out soon.

And with that, so long!

All right, Cincinnati, it is time for this town to get down! You've got Johnny... Doctor Johnny Fever, and I am burnin' up in here! We all in critical condition, babies, but you can tell me where it hurts, 'cause I got the healing prescription here from the big 'KRP musical medicine cabinet. Now I am talking about your 50,000 watt intensive care unit, babies! So just sit right down, relax, open your ears real wide and say, "Give it to me straight, Doctor, I can take it!"