Knowledge Is Power- Implementing Social Skills in Your Hi- tech Job
Starting a new job can be an overwhelming experience — a new role, new responsibilities, a lot of unfamiliar faces, a new organizational culture, and more. But starting a new job at a Hi-tech company can be an even more overwhelming experience when you are a new Bachelor of the Arts graduate. During your studies, you acquired a lot of knowledge. Now is the time to put all that knowledge into practice.
This is my story of bringing my BA studies into the high-tech surroundings.
Are You Missing Anything?
Every great startup starts with responding to a problem, a pain or a need. I noticed that I was missing the social aspect in my workplace and obviously this was a real problem for me. Incorporating entrepreneurial skills that I learned in my studies led me to take charge of the social function in my office. I initiated parties, gatherings, holiday celebrations and more. As a BA graduate, I feel that we, graduates tend to connect better with the social aspects of human nature. I’m not saying that if you aren’t a BA graduate you can’t understand or connect to these aspects. I’m saying that as BA graduates it’s easier to lead these kinds of initiatives. Maybe it’s not the degree we studied for but our character that led us to study this discipline in the first place.
When you are doing something that you feel passionate about even if it’s the smallest thing, you will do a great job and recruit people along the way that will help you with what you want to achieve. Find your problem but don’t focus on it too much. Try to find a creative solution that will work for you and if it works for you it will work for others as well.
Open Your Textbooks
Yes, we learned a lot of theories during our studies. Some will argue that none of them are practical. I’m sure that at least one of the theories you’ve learned can help you with your job today. On more than one occasion, I have opened my Strategic Course summary notes or my Creative Marketing notes to find an interesting idea, theory or even a practical model to use in my current job, and guess what? It worked!
Psychology and organizational behavior theories helped me understand the great meaning of motivation. Also, when it comes to emotional intelligence, communication skills or different kinds of soft skills, we have a tremendous advantage over others because we know the science behind it.
This is our time to shine and bring our understanding of human behavior into the workplace like no one else, so bring it on!
Did You Measure This?
Social science teaches us how to conduct research, from the stage of finding your research question to defining your variables and conducting experiments. In the Hi-tech field, there is a high value attached to measuring and quantifying your actions in order to improve them later. After every social event I produced in my office, I would publish a survey for the employees to take in order to check if our initial goal was reached. The understanding of this measurement and its implications is completely credited to my studies.
As for myself, having a major in the Humanities, allows me to observe my work surroundings in a different way than my technological co-workers. Working as a new BA graduate in the Hi-tech world has offered me a wonderful opportunity to contribute to my company. By stepping out of the day to day technical assignments, I’m able to look at the organization from a broader perspective — which takes into consideration the people who are a part of it.
As for yourself, use your background in your favor, be creative, use what you learned in your BA degree and bring it with you into the hi-tech world. Use the knowledge you acquired and become a unicorn!
