Career Center Peer Advice

July 10, 2008

The Job and the Offer

I really should have been writing all summer, but things have been so busy ever since I hit the ground over at UM's Business Engagement Center, that I have barely had time to breathe.

But, things have slowed down a little (I'm waiting on some go-aheads before I can actually go ahead), so I figured I should jump on the Peer Blog.

The job has been great. I have been able to have a real impact and take ownership over some major projects that are impacting the University's new Business Engagement Center. A cool thing that I am working on right now is finding a solution to our client management problem, because our officers need a tool that allows them to keep track of relationships and interactions with or corporate clients.

What kind of things are you doing in your internship? anything really cool? unexpected?

Also, last week I received a job offer to stay on in the fall, so that has led to a whole bunch of dilemmas. It is quite a nice problem to have, but has forced me to really weigh the experience that is available at the BEC and the Career Center.

And for those of you who are in the same boat, or maybe thinking about staying on and skipping the fall semester, the Career Center is a great place to get some advice. However, in case you aren't quite close to the SAB, the best advice I can give you is to keep these things in mind:

1) Opportunity for Growth: What kind of promotional possibilities are there? Is the business gonna be around for as long as you want to be there? Is it a job that can sustain you after you graduate?

2) Impact: What is your role? Are you going to be a glorified coffee-maker, or are you going to have a real impact on the operation? Are you going to be at the table for the big-decisions, or just the lowest rung on the ladder?

3) Enjoyable: Is it a position that you enjoy and you really want to dedicate your time to? Maybe (as in my case) you enjoy them both, which keeps it complicated.

4) The cost of rejecting/accepting the offer: Is this a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity, or might it be a door that is open at anytime? Maybe this offer is great, but not quite right for you right now - is it possible that the relationship will still be there later, and you can come back to the table in the future?

5) (of course) Money: which pays more? Is the salary worth the cost of lost opportunities? Does it make up for not liking your job quite as much?

Weighing all of these different metrics is tough, but these are all things to keep in mind (which I will be) when you are deciding whether to stay on or keep looking.

Wish me luck!
-Nick

Posted by glauchni at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2008

It Feels like DC (Part III)

This week’s reflection is about the organizational background of the Partnership for Public Service. There are some interesting questions this week, I think, it’s more of the heady, theoretic stuff that I really enjoy. Here’s the prompt:

• Who are the clients of the Partnership for Public Service (PPS)?
• What products or services does PPS offer? How does your field of study contribute to the products/services of PPS/your team?
• Describe the relationship between PPS and the surrounding community? How do they interact?

This is an interesting question to ask, because I was thinking the other day, we don’t make anything here. There are no widgets produced in our office and our deliverables are knowledge, advice or influence. Crudely put, we’re information holders and information brokers at the Partnership. I think its an interesting problem to have—for most non-profits and government agencies—to produce knowledge or provide services because the results are difficult to track and measure. Sure, we see some movement in pieces of legislation that the Parternship supports and it’s easy to track attendees at the various events that the Partnership hosts. However, I can’t think of any direct measures of success that show whether the Partnership’s work is successful. If people keep coming back, we’re probably doing something right.

Then the thought of clients. Who are the clients here? Is it the public? The “average” federal employee or agency officials? Is it all of the above, can it be? I’d say the client is probably Federal Agency leaders and members of the workforce, in general. Though, the partnership forays into the public as a client and congress as a client, I think. The funny thing about the Partnership is that it caters to many clients, but doesn’t act bluntly. The approach to clients is comprehensive, but still scrupulous.

So, this reflection seems to be an exercise in fitting into an organizational background. I fit into the products and services of the partnership—as a student of Political Science and Organizational Studies—by being able to relate directly to the cause of the organization, instead of the functional areas of the organization. I think my field of study helps me see the major players in the macro-organizational structure of Federal Human Capital issues (because of political science) and then be able to look at structures that dictate the organizational behavior of the major players. It’s a nice combination, I think, because even though I don’t really have a functional specialty, I think I can be a bridge between various departments of the organization as a generalist. In the long run, I wonder what liberal-arts graduates (like most of us) will do. Will we quickly find functional specialties, or will be float along and be the “glue” of people who have functional specialties?

I’m really curious about where the Partnership is headed. They are in a stage of growth, so its interaction with bodies external to the organization are in a state of development and flux. Sustained management success and a balancing of short-term and long term are in order, I’m sure.

What does this all mean though, why is this talk of organizational background important? I think of it kind of like a puzzle box. With an awareness of the box, the puzzle pieces fit together more quickly, accurately and easily. I hope you're having a great time this summer!

Go Blue,
nt

Posted by ntambe at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2008

It feels like D.C. - Part II

It is now the end of week 2 of my fellowship at the Partnership for Public Service (already? Wow!). I have been spending time researching new topics for potential research projects and arranging interviews for other research projects. In our deliberately reflective fellowship program, the topic to ruminate about this week is “values of the organization”. This topic for this week of the internship is appropriate, I think. To understand how an individual’s work is valuable it needs to be viewed in the larger context of an organization and its culture.

Specifically, I have also been reading about human capital frameworks in the federal government and that one of the key strategic goals in federal human capital management is to tie individuals’ goals/performance to agency goals/performance/values. In turn, getting the employer and employee’s values in alignment provides utility for both. So, what are the values of the Partnership?

It seems that the values of the organization are also distinguished by internal values (how the organization runs itself) and external values (why the organization exists). Overall the organization seems the value authenticity. For example, my colleagues really seem to have a genuine passion for improving the federal workforce and also want to “practice what they preach” by having a really dynamic, model environment in our own office.

The organization also values what I conceptualize as “rational impact”. At the core of this concept is making waves in federal human capital management. But also, the Partnership seems to value doing things the “right way” and having its work based on evidence, hard work and thoughtfulness. In other words the Partnership doesn’t want to make waves just for the sake of making waves, but rather exists because making the right waves in the right places improves the work of the federal government and is in the public interest.

The Partnership reflects this in many ways ranging from the way our office is designed—lots of collaborative spaces—to the branding of all our materials (check out the logo), to having snacks every Friday (this week is cake, yum!). Everyone here tries to help each other and advance the work of the organization as a whole. Take the “nook” for example. I sit near two other fellows in the office, Andrew and Sarah. We collaborate, advise each other on challenges, support each other and have a good time doing it. This sort of environment is symbolic of the Partnership’s mission—creating an outstanding federal workforce. I hope public servants can have a workplace that’s as energetic, engaging and purposeful as ours.

I’m realizing that an employee understanding the values of the organization they work for is critical. If I didn’t feel like I was doing something that I really care about, I would hate working here, or anywhere. To do that, I must continue to analyze my own values and the values of the Partnership for Public service throughout the summer. Thank goodness my value for fairness, ethics and persistence really jive with the mission of the Partnership

I hope you are having an awesome time this summer. Go blue!

-nt
ntambe@umich.edu

Posted by ntambe at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)