3 answers
dashaila
Student
Youngstown, Ohio
1
Question
Asked
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what do you like most and least about your job
im dashaila want a better #job-search understanding of the different fields
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3 answers
Mitch Scott
Customer Success Manager
2
Answers
Tillson, New York
Updated
Mitch’s Answer
Dashaila,
I may be interpreting your question a little differently, but let's talk about filtering and other strategies on job boards.
If you are unsure about a particular position within a field, a good place to start might be to search by companies and to see what's available. For example, I work in EdTech but have a diverse background. When I do a job search, rather than searching by title, I search for the big names in my field such as Pearson, Renaissance, and NWEA. This way, I know that most positions are related to my interest and experience, even if I'm not sure of the best fit in terms of job description.
Alternatively, you could just see what's available at a company or organization that you love. When I was a high school teacher, a nonprofit organized a career-based field trip for students and the group I chaperoned went to Yankee Stadium. It was great for students to see that if you thought it would be cool to work for a professional sports team, there is need for marketing, finance, public relations, food service, physical therapy, etc.
When searching by title, I would recommend starting broad and then looking for specific titles if they pique your interest. In my experience, I usually start with a keyword like Education that will yield positions spanning from Teacher to Customer Success Manager. As I browse job descriptions, I open a new tab and start a search using that specific title.
Finally, I would be honest about your self-value when using salary filters. If a job is interesting and the pay is right, apply. There is no harm in putting out a line. Conversely, if a job pays less than you expect to make, don't feel like it's your only option.
I may be interpreting your question a little differently, but let's talk about filtering and other strategies on job boards.
If you are unsure about a particular position within a field, a good place to start might be to search by companies and to see what's available. For example, I work in EdTech but have a diverse background. When I do a job search, rather than searching by title, I search for the big names in my field such as Pearson, Renaissance, and NWEA. This way, I know that most positions are related to my interest and experience, even if I'm not sure of the best fit in terms of job description.
Alternatively, you could just see what's available at a company or organization that you love. When I was a high school teacher, a nonprofit organized a career-based field trip for students and the group I chaperoned went to Yankee Stadium. It was great for students to see that if you thought it would be cool to work for a professional sports team, there is need for marketing, finance, public relations, food service, physical therapy, etc.
When searching by title, I would recommend starting broad and then looking for specific titles if they pique your interest. In my experience, I usually start with a keyword like Education that will yield positions spanning from Teacher to Customer Success Manager. As I browse job descriptions, I open a new tab and start a search using that specific title.
Finally, I would be honest about your self-value when using salary filters. If a job is interesting and the pay is right, apply. There is no harm in putting out a line. Conversely, if a job pays less than you expect to make, don't feel like it's your only option.
RAVI REDDY
Product Marketing Manager
100
Answers
Middletown, New Jersey
Updated
RAVI’s Answer
I am not sure if I should take your question literally about my job or try to read between the lines as to your intention to understand my field and decide on it or against it.
Let me tackle it the first way and then tackle it on potentially intended way.
I had a long career - all in telecommunications - initially as a programmer, then a system architect and Product Marketing manager, although in about half a dozen companies. My longest career has been with my current employer as a Product Marketing Manager for telecommunication services. I define a business service to support large multi-national customers to connect all their users and applications from all locations to work seamlessly as if they are all working at the same location. It is generally called as "Local Area Network service" helping connect computers, mobile devices, anything and everything that can connect to WIFI network that the end user/customer can use effortlessly.
Now that you understand what the job is like, let me tell you what I like most about it in descending order:
1. Location - love NJ.
2. Pay - it is not the best, but decent. Pretty good.
3. Job - love the creativity I need to understand all the technical advancements and knit them all into a service that we can sell and generate money for my employer.
What I do not like about my job:
1. A very large company. Comes with a lot of bureaucracy, slow progress, difficult to move faster and adapt to change.
2. Too much work - one is expected to carry the load for all the non-performing folks.
3. Very little people interaction and social structure - because of work, work and work.
With that said, let me tackle your "potentially intended question".
Every job that you work in you will always find many things you like and many things you do not like. It is like a family - extended family may be. There are always things you like in the family and things you do not like. But you cannot have one without the other. I do not think there is every a perfect job for everyone. After all we are all working or running a business or doing something to make a living and live happily.
At every step of the way it is all about balancing and prioritizing to see what is important to you. See if the pros outweigh the cons. See if that helps you live your life the way you want to live. If it does not suit, you can always change. But try it with a open mind and heart. Like trying a new recipe, new restaurant, new place. You may like it or you may not like it. Even if you like it, you may grow out of it after a while.
Try out yourself. Do not take other's opinions for it. Your own experiences and learnings will guide you through.
Wish you the very best.
Let me tackle it the first way and then tackle it on potentially intended way.
I had a long career - all in telecommunications - initially as a programmer, then a system architect and Product Marketing manager, although in about half a dozen companies. My longest career has been with my current employer as a Product Marketing Manager for telecommunication services. I define a business service to support large multi-national customers to connect all their users and applications from all locations to work seamlessly as if they are all working at the same location. It is generally called as "Local Area Network service" helping connect computers, mobile devices, anything and everything that can connect to WIFI network that the end user/customer can use effortlessly.
Now that you understand what the job is like, let me tell you what I like most about it in descending order:
1. Location - love NJ.
2. Pay - it is not the best, but decent. Pretty good.
3. Job - love the creativity I need to understand all the technical advancements and knit them all into a service that we can sell and generate money for my employer.
What I do not like about my job:
1. A very large company. Comes with a lot of bureaucracy, slow progress, difficult to move faster and adapt to change.
2. Too much work - one is expected to carry the load for all the non-performing folks.
3. Very little people interaction and social structure - because of work, work and work.
With that said, let me tackle your "potentially intended question".
Every job that you work in you will always find many things you like and many things you do not like. It is like a family - extended family may be. There are always things you like in the family and things you do not like. But you cannot have one without the other. I do not think there is every a perfect job for everyone. After all we are all working or running a business or doing something to make a living and live happily.
At every step of the way it is all about balancing and prioritizing to see what is important to you. See if the pros outweigh the cons. See if that helps you live your life the way you want to live. If it does not suit, you can always change. But try it with a open mind and heart. Like trying a new recipe, new restaurant, new place. You may like it or you may not like it. Even if you like it, you may grow out of it after a while.
Try out yourself. Do not take other's opinions for it. Your own experiences and learnings will guide you through.
Wish you the very best.
Michael Manthey
Managing Director of Medicare Growth and Operations
6
Answers
Commerce Charter Township, Michigan
Updated
Michael’s Answer
Hi Dashaila. I've worked in a few different fields so I'll share my perspective on these fields specifically. However, I would strongly encourage you to discuss careers with family and friends. Ask them this same question you pose above. If you learn about professions that are of interest, find someone to job shadow and see for yourself!
Below are the industries I've worked in and my brief perspective:
- Manufacturing Engineering: these types of jobs are great if you can work in a production facility. I enjoyed the 'hands-on' experience of being able to walk the shop floor, seeing product get made and optimizing physical processes. At every manufacturing site, there is a mix of engineers and production staff - I enjoyed working with both groups. The pros are an engaging environment and diverse culture (blue and white collar) but the con is the negative energy. Many manufacturing facilities are under a lot of margin pressure and employees are not as positively engaged.
- Business Consulting: many college graduates are now targeting an initial job in business consulting. These roles are hard to get, but give you great experience and pay well. You can focus on being a subject matter expert across industries or focus on all facets of a particular industry. Most firms are "up or out" meaning you either get promoted or are let go/encouraged to leave. The pay is high but there is a lot of travel. Many people (myself included) use a consulting role to learn and grow quickly and then land in a mid-management position in the industry of their focus or at a client they've worked with. The nice thing about consulting is that you get an inside view of many different companies and industries, but the downside is the long hours and travel time.
- Biotechnology: this is a fascinating industry. I only worked in this field very briefly, but was overwhelmed with the science. It definitely helps to have a lot of education in a particular field to be successful, but there is also room for people who may not get the science but are creative about ways that technology and science can be applied in real life. This is a very academic field but is growing like crazy and wont be stopping soon. The pros is that the environment is very collegial and positive (lot of thinkers/brainstormers) but the subject matter is very complex.
- Health Insurance: I've spent a majority of my career in this field. Health Insurance is essentially a financial services-like industry and the environment is somewhat boring, i.e. office building. But I love this industry because the objective of trying to finance healthcare and make it both affordable and accessible is a steep challenge. There are so many facets to this business : 1) font end product, sales and marketing, customer service, etc.; 2) back office work like finance, IT, HR, etc 3) clinical work with providers like contracting, care management and wellness, and 4) corporate services like government relations, PR/Communication, strategy, etc. There are many government regulations in this field which can make jobs more difficult than they need to be, but there is a ton of room for innovation and improvement.
Job shadow someone
Below are the industries I've worked in and my brief perspective:
- Manufacturing Engineering: these types of jobs are great if you can work in a production facility. I enjoyed the 'hands-on' experience of being able to walk the shop floor, seeing product get made and optimizing physical processes. At every manufacturing site, there is a mix of engineers and production staff - I enjoyed working with both groups. The pros are an engaging environment and diverse culture (blue and white collar) but the con is the negative energy. Many manufacturing facilities are under a lot of margin pressure and employees are not as positively engaged.
- Business Consulting: many college graduates are now targeting an initial job in business consulting. These roles are hard to get, but give you great experience and pay well. You can focus on being a subject matter expert across industries or focus on all facets of a particular industry. Most firms are "up or out" meaning you either get promoted or are let go/encouraged to leave. The pay is high but there is a lot of travel. Many people (myself included) use a consulting role to learn and grow quickly and then land in a mid-management position in the industry of their focus or at a client they've worked with. The nice thing about consulting is that you get an inside view of many different companies and industries, but the downside is the long hours and travel time.
- Biotechnology: this is a fascinating industry. I only worked in this field very briefly, but was overwhelmed with the science. It definitely helps to have a lot of education in a particular field to be successful, but there is also room for people who may not get the science but are creative about ways that technology and science can be applied in real life. This is a very academic field but is growing like crazy and wont be stopping soon. The pros is that the environment is very collegial and positive (lot of thinkers/brainstormers) but the subject matter is very complex.
- Health Insurance: I've spent a majority of my career in this field. Health Insurance is essentially a financial services-like industry and the environment is somewhat boring, i.e. office building. But I love this industry because the objective of trying to finance healthcare and make it both affordable and accessible is a steep challenge. There are so many facets to this business : 1) font end product, sales and marketing, customer service, etc.; 2) back office work like finance, IT, HR, etc 3) clinical work with providers like contracting, care management and wellness, and 4) corporate services like government relations, PR/Communication, strategy, etc. There are many government regulations in this field which can make jobs more difficult than they need to be, but there is a ton of room for innovation and improvement.
Michael recommends the following next steps: