Ten years ago if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would have said a zoologist. Five years ago I would have said a dolphin behavior and cognition specialist. The latter always got a couple laughs at Thanksgiving dinner. I didn’t realize why until the day the question stopped being “what do you want to be when you grow up” and started being “what do you want to major in at college?” Oh, this is serious. This is now. This has to be realistic. I came into my first year at OSU as an undecided student in the University Exploration program, but I have recently decided that I want to declare a major in Communications with a specialization in Strategic Communications and a minor in Business. After graduating with the Bachelor of Arts in Communications, I would like to be a Public Relations Manager for a big corporation, team, or person. This is very different than what my younger self wanted to be, but I think that this is a more realistic choice. I would really enjoy a job like this as it incorporates my skills and characteristics. A Public Relations manager works with advertising, keeping the public happy, working with the media, leading campaigns, writing news releases, giving speeches, controlling the social media accounts, managing internal communication, and much more. All of these responsibilities sound like something I would enjoy and do well. I like that I can write, speak, lead, and be creative in this job field. My Holland Code is EAI- enterprising, investigative, and artistic. People who receive an E for enterprising are the “persuaders,” they enjoy leading, speaking, seeing projects through, achievement, having an influence, and social success. The “I” stands for investigative, these are the “thinkers,” they like to observe, learn, investigate, evaluate, and solve problems. The “A” stands for Artistic, the “creators,” this includes people who are innovating and like to work in unstructured situations using their imagination and creativity. The Conventional and Realistic types are my lowest scores, which makes sense because I do not like math or working with numbers and data. I also would prefer to work with people, which is why I do fit pretty well in the Social category- I love helping people. My score was pretty accurate for me, but Enterprising definitely stands out most when it comes to my career path. One of the biggest factors in deciding what I wanted to do was separating my hobbies from my work. I believe it is not just about what we want to be, but about who we want to be. I am investigative, artistic, social and a little bit of all of the types, but none of these are what I want to do as my career. But, I can still use my investigative characteristics in the workplace, my artistic side as a director of my church plays, and the social aspects by continuing to go on mission trips. I also want to have a family and be able to travel. I want to have lots of pets and a sunflower garden. I want to coach my children’s sports teams when they are young. But, my highest type-enterprising- is the perfect match for my career goals. Communications and public relations directly involve aspects from all of these types, but specifically enterprising. Two of the careers that O*NET suggested for me based on my code were a sustainability specialist and a lawyer. I am not surprised about these considering I am in the Environment and Natural Resources Scholars so sustainability is clearly an interest of mine, and my mother is an attorney and I participated in mock trial in high school. I am keeping the option open of going to law school after I get my undergraduate degree in communications. Although neither of these two careers are directly what I am planning for career-wise, I do believe that communications and public relations fall under my Holland code as well. In fact, Public Relations is labeled under my code on other websites. As a Public Relations manager I would initiate projects, public speak, lead groups, and meet lots of people. I could use my energetic, adventurous, extroverted, and optimistic characteristics in this career field, as well. These are all aspects of the Enterprising type. Now that I have decided on something that I would enjoy and be good at, my next step is to schedule the classes I will need to take in order to declare my major in Communications. I also need to begin taking classes that work toward my Business minor, which I think will really help make me more marketable. I also would like to start looking at potential internships in Public Relations. There are also student organizations that are related to Communications that I’d like to join, as well as ones that will keep me involved in my other interests.
