Dear Friends with a Non-Traditional Degree…
If you’re pursuing a degree that’s considered non-traditional to the industry you hope to work in, then you’ve probably faced feelings of hopelessness before. You may have also had sleepless nights while endlessly scrolling through Linkedin job listings, only to find positions you’re “not” qualified for, then proceeding to judge your past choices of pursuing the said degree. “Is it too late to transfer?”, “What am I doing?” or “I have no useful skills” are all feelings I’ve had to deal with. I hope to share my two-cents in this letter for anyone who may be feeling this way right now. I don’t intend for this to be a “10 things you must do to get a job”, but rather guidance on what you can do to stop feeling that pit in your stomach, start embracing the choices you’ve made and become more confident version of yourself.
My name is Victoria, and you may know me as the Content Writer for nwPlus this year. I’m in my 4th year at UBC pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Commerce. After my second year, I did my first internship focused on technical writing for the Global Technology Legal Compliance team at SAP. Currently, I’m doing another internship as a Communications Specialist, this time for SAP Canada’s Managing Director’s office. But remember, these are my milestones -stones that mark the distances between destinations; they’re not indicative of the actual steps that lead to these distances.
1) Leveraging your Differences
As an Arts student wanting to pursue a career in tech, I’ve faced my fair share of feeling shameful and insecure. Early on in my degree, I kept believing the world telling me that I’m not studying anything useful. This sound familiar? If so, I’m here to say to you, EFF that! I don’t care what you learn at university -and frankly, neither does the rest of the world- as long as your specialization is not all you know, you’re all set. Since I have a tough time explaining it, this is how I like to think of it:
If you want an average successful life, it doesn’t take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:
1. Become the best at one specific thing.
2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.
— Scott Adams, Dilbert blog
To put it into our context, we have the power to turn the contrast between what we study at school and what we want to do for work to our advantage. Studying Sociology but interested in Marketing? Brilliant. You now have contextual knowledge behind the job you hope to do versus those who only have the skills. Feeling like your degree is a hindrance to your career can lead you to feel shame, but realizing that it is advantageous will lead to empowerment.
2) Finding your Support System
Staying within the same bubble of friends you take classes with can sometimes lead to feeling alone when you hope to diverge from your field of study for work. You may feel as though everyone around you is studying chemistry, and they all want to work at labs when you want to start your own business. Or maybe you study psychology but want to pursue design. And the list goes on.
This may sound a bit biased, but the most significant way I met people with the same interests as I was through clubs. More specifically, nwPlus. I joined nwPlus in my second year in hopes of meeting people passionate about technology.
At first, I was afraid I wouldn’t fit in. I was ready to be that representative “non-cs degree hire” who would clearly be an outcast. But with the diverse set of roles nwPlus offers (we’re a team of almost 50!) I got to meet students from a wide range of faculties. Everyone in the club quickly became my family, and the only thing that mattered was our shared curiosity for technology and love for this community.
Being in this club for the past two years, I honestly cannot imagine where I would be without the people I’ve met and the broader connections I’ve made. As a sponsorship coordinator, I had the opportunity to work with dozens of tech recruiters and develop relationships. This year as the content writer, I connected with students in our community and told their stories at Hackathons.
If you are struggling to find people you click with, I highly suggest joining a club or finding a community — and if the community you’re trying to find is related to technology, guess what! We’re hiring (what a coincidence…). But seriously, apply now and tell us you came from this medium article for brownie points.
All in all, friend, I hope there was something of use in this letter. Whatever step you are on in your path, no matter how much it feels as though you are going the wrong way, know that you will get to that milestone eventually. As our paths are ever-changing, so are our destinations -just because we once deemed the peak of the mountain to be our goal does not mean we’ve failed if we meet a valley of water instead. Okay, enough with the cliche geographical metaphors. You’ve got this.
Sincerely,
Victoria
ps. Feel free to reach out if you ever want to chat!
LINKEDIN | EMAIL (Victoriakim048@gmail.com)
