What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a common question students face when they’re first starting school, but it can be limiting for adult job seekers.
At The University of Baltimore’s Career and Internship Center, advisers are encouraging students to think more broadly: What do they want to do?
It’s a subtle change that center director Lakeisha Mathews said can help students focus on the impact they want to have in their future roles, not only the title they want.
“Basically, what is the ‘why’ behind choosing this occupational path?” she said. “Understanding this do/be intersection helps students make stronger career decisions and helps them run effective job searches in a highly competitive labor market.”
UBalt President Kurt L. Schmoke learned the value of reimagining his job outlook perspective early in his career—and never forgot it.
One summer during his studies at Harvard Law School, Schmoke was working as a law clerk when a senior partner asked him what he wanted to do with his law degree.
Schmoke proudly said he wanted to be mayor of Baltimore.
‘He paused, and he said, ‘I didn’t ask you what you wanted to be; I asked you what you want to do,’” Schmoke recalled. “And at that moment, it really struck me that if somebody had made me mayor of Baltimore, I really didn’t have a plan.”
Thinking more about why he wanted to be mayor, Schmoke discovered the actual answer to the partner’s question. He wanted to improve the quality of life of people in the city.
That singular lesson helped guide his way forward. Schmoke did serve as mayor of Baltimore, from 1987-99, but he made an impact on the city in other ways, too, including as Baltimore City State’s Attorney and eventually as UBalt’s president.
He encourages today’s students to reframe their thinking, too, and unlock their limitless potential.
Ahead of the fall semester at UBalt, Mathews and her career team hosted a new event for incoming students to help them think about where their passions and potential jobs interest so they had it in mind through their academic career.
David Marshall, a new Doctor of Public Administration student, came to the event with some ideas of what he wants to do next: rise to the role of executive director for a nonprofit or continue in higher education in an executive leadership position. He left with a stronger perspective on why those options felt appealing.
“I love creating partnerships, bringing people together and being a positive force for change,” he said. “I want to make universities better. I want to create spaces for lifelong learning and however I can do that: raising money, raising awareness, advocating for legislation. These are things that are important to me and to make higher education better.”
Garriana Phillips, a B.S. in Forensic Studies student, wants to change careers to work in the forensics field, but realized through the event, her basic goals are consistent.
“I want to help people on an everyday basis,” she said, “but I also want to make the streets safe for kids because growing up, most of us didn't have the safest streets, so, that's been a passion of mine—to create safer streets for the next generation.”
Phillips is looking forward to working through the career center to find internships and other opportunities as she reimagines her future career.
Mathews welcomes students to the career center early in their academic career. They can schedule a coaching session with their career coach to have their own do/be conversation, plus learn about work opportunities, update their resumes and find other support.
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