Capital

I think I lack career capital.  Now, I’m not sure if that’s an actual term but it’s one I’ve coined to explain my predicament.  So, what do I mean?

Have you ever heard the term cultural capital?  I don’t remember where I learned it, but I’ve interpreted it as knowledge of how the system works.  So, if you have cultural capital, then you can use your knowledge of the system to your advantage.  I always heard it in the context of students—kids with cultural capital did relatively well in school.  They knew how to study, how to manage their time, which classes to take, how to take tests.  They did all the right things.  They look good on paper. 

I think I probably have cultural capital.  I graduated fourth in my class from high school (out of over 800 kids), I got over 1500 on my SATs, I went to an Ivy League college, I was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and I went to a top business school.  All the right things.

So, why am I where I am?  If you look at my educational record you might conclude that I’m fairly bright (does that sound egotistical?), organised, motivated—a high achiever.  So, why haven’t I achieved anything in my working life?

This is where career capital comes in.  Just as how I knew how to navigate the educational system, I have no idea how to navigate employment. 

I think most of my current problems could have been avoided if I understood the mechanics of the employment market when I was looking for my first job.  If I could go back and talk to my 20-year-old self, these are the things I’d impart. 

·         Don’t study Art History unless you really want to be an art historian!  Suck it up and study Engineering, Econonimcs or Business or something.

·         Work for a company with good name recognition; it doesn’t matter what you do as long as the name is prestigious.  That will open a lot of doors.

·         Join a graduate program.  This will get you a lot of exposure and help you find where your interest lies. 

I think that these points sound cynical.  And it’s not as much fun as what I did.  But I’m pretty sure that if I’d followed this path I’d be in a different place career-wise than I am today.  I am surprised my dad didn’t tell me these things when I was looking for a job.  Perhaps he was thrown off by my Art History degree (he studied Econ in university). 

He also always said it didn’t matter so much what you studied in college; that I could always go back for a master’s.  That’s probably mostly true.  In a way I had the rich-kid blessing/curse.  My parents could afford to send me to college without a scholarship and I didn’t need to study something pre-professional to enter the business world and pay back loans.  So I studied what I love (art and culture) even though I learned early on that I didn’t have the appetite for the amount of schooling it would require to have a career I didn’t want in those fields (I determined early on that I wasn’t going to like being an Art Historian or Anthropologist/Archaeologist).  I was a bit lost when I left college, as I couldn’t see how my studies would translate into gainful employment.  I ended up at a boutique consultancy, which as a crash-course in the business world.  And, like my dad said, I eventually went back for a Master’s to round out my business acumen and boost my resume. 

But the b-school experience has done little to help me build a new career.  Reading between the lines of job postings, interviews, acceptances, and rejections I’ve come to the conclusion that those first few years of employment count for almost everything.  They shape the opportunities that you can have and what you can’t.  It’s all superficial.  While I could do most of the jobs I’ve applied for, I haven’t gotten them because I didn’t have the “right” industry experience, the “right” work experience, the “right” company names on my CV, etc.  Post-college, I haven’t done any of it “right.”

Now, some of it is the career capital problem.  But I do share the blame.  Another part of my problem is that I don’t have a clear direction.  I’m interested in so many things that I find it hard to choose.  And I’m a commitment-phobe—I don’t want to go whole-hog into one career because I fear that I’ll hate it or tire of it and be unable to transition to another field.  So, I walk the tightrope.  I dabble in this and that, gain a smattering of experience, but nothing really builds. 

And then there’s the whole networking thing.  I hate it.  I feel really awkward asking people for help in finding jobs.  I’m not good at selling myself.  My lack of self-confidence really shows through.  The self-confidence I don’t have because I know I haven’t done it all “right.”