Is all the education worth itI am on this constant search for a position that will provide me with the opportunity to utilize my education. I have a bachelors in psychology and a masters in Industrial/Organizational psychology (business, hr, training, selection, etc). I had two internships during my graduate course work but it does not seem to be enough experience for a lot of the jobs that I find. I am willing to start at the bottom and move my way up but I can' t even get me foot in the door. I don' t know if I should go back to school for something else (more debt) or keep toughing it out looking? I am really interested in starting with a consulting company as an assistant or something and in the area of human resource, organizational development, or employee assessment. If anyone has any advice please let me know. I currently live in the chicagoland area but I am looking to move to the southern states (memphis - atlanta- birmingham - jackson). If you don' t actually have any experience working for a company then you need to set your sights a bit lower to start out. Admin in a consulting company, Admin in any kind of professional company such that might be the customer of a consulting company, entry-level manager in a company, things like that... Essentially, you want to be a consultant (if I read you correctly). That means that you' re going to have to tell someone who has been in business more than 20 years something that they don' t already know. Right now, you' re really in no position to do that, Masters or no. You' ve got to build some credibility and you do that by building experience. Well on the flip side of what you have already heard the big guys, or as we in the business refer to them, the Final Three, hire fresh outs all the time. Then they send you to brainwashing school to learn to consult their way. You really will start at the bottom when you come out working as a peon writing the notes from workshops conducted by more experienced consultants, doing the editing on work products and deliverables, running errands and essentially being a non-billable body while you learn your craft. The Final Three are -
There are of course some others who are good and some who specialize in organizational change management, even some who specialize in Human Resource Management, some who specialize in Government Change Management, and even some who specialize in Industrial Organizational Change Management. Do some research and you will find a plethora of consulting organizations. Get a portfolio together of everything you did during college. Find someone you know on LinkedIn (great networking site). Start hitting the Consulting organizations that interest you hard, research who is who and try to bypass the HR hiring process by finding the actual practice manager. Join special interest groups in your area, there are plenty of them in Chicago, you are in prime real estate for the consulting companies all the big ones have offices there. | |
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