Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

jobs

Seeking the Perfect Job?

perfect job photo
Photo by qimono.

Recently, I was speaking to undergrad students about careers when someone asked, “Were you able to find a position that matched your area of special interest?” I shared that I am, in fact, blessed to be able to do important and interesting work that I enjoy. But I also wanted students to know that there are some job-related responsibilities that I don’t necessarily enjoy, but that I have to do anyway. Some bright, eager students I’ve known over the years have had the impression that there was a dream job—one that they would love and get paid to do—waiting for them after graduation. I’ve tried to encourage them to find a job that they liked and that was a good fit, but at the same time to be realistic about their prospects and not romanticize potential careers. [Read more…] about Seeking the Perfect Job?

The Job Search, Post 4: Decision

decision photo
Photo by marfis75

Post 4 of Matt Boedy’s The Job Search Series in ESN’s Navigating Career Stages collection. Read Post 1, Post 2, and Post 3.

One of the scholars I study in my field began his career in literature studies, especially drama. He wrote this:

Currently there is a lot of talk of ‘decision-making.’ Often the decisions are conceived after the analogy of voting, or purchasing, or giving answers to questionnaires, or the taking of risks calculated on the basis of probability. Or there are these tense moments of decision in formal drama, when the protagonist debates whether to make a certain move, and finally makes the choice that shapes his destiny, though he still has to discover what that destiny is. [Kenneth Burke, The Rhetoric of Religion, pg. 101]

[Read more…] about The Job Search, Post 4: Decision

The Job Search, Part 2: The Interview Process

job interview photo
Photo by amdayton

Post 2 of Matt Boedy’s The Job Search Series in ESN’s Navigating Career Stages collection. Find Post 1 here. 

As a reminder, my defining thesis for these posts is: we need to make the job process into the ‘will of God.’ Or in other words, we need to discover how God can work in us and among us during the search process. [Read more…] about The Job Search, Part 2: The Interview Process