Sometimes I get a comment that some of the career strategies I describe in this blog are too oriented to the business world, and are far from reality of the academic world (and other paths like the NGO, sports, etc.). I decided to take a closer look at what the differences and similitude’s are.
It is true that I use most of my examples from the Business world, it is maybe the most common scenario and easy to grasp for everyone, but the intent of the Career Blueprints blog is to help all young adults to start or boost their careers, including careers outside the business world.
I started my career in the academic world early on, during high school I participated in the International Mathematics Olympiads (I know, quite nerdy… ) I trained for 2 years to represent my country in the WW contest, and from there my path was clear, I studied Math in the National University in my home country, Mexico (UNAM) and since the first month I was doing some research, attending congresses and taking the most advances courses, I was in an “all in” mode. I developed a close relationship with many scientists doing research I got to understand pretty well that world. Also my father has been involved in research and teaching forever (like 40 years or something) and I have meet many many PHDs both new and old. In the NGO and not for profit world I also have experience, much less than in the Academic world, but I participated in an NGO for a couple of years, since inception until it was fully operational and I have had close contact with many “nature/ecology” organizations for many years.
After a few years in the Math world I decided to make the switch to the business world (money and fame are the reasons J), first building my own company and now in a big corporation. Let me tell you that even some pieces are different, the tools and strategies are the same. What you do to be successful is really similar and most of what I cover in this blog, applies to the academic path, the NGO path and the business path. You will need to fill a certain set of specifics that your path requires, no doubt about it, I may not be the right person to help you with that, but I am sure, that many of the tools covered here will work.
First let’s start with what is different.
In the Academic world, the weight of the “intellectual power” is slightly higher, publishing is a measure of success, advanced studies (like master or PhD) are a must, jobs are a little bit more “secure” and rotation of jobs is smaller.
In the NGO and not for profit world its basically the same than the business world but the objective of the organization, so passion for the cause is more important and in many cases, they are slightly more tolerant to personal mistakes.
Besides a couple of things I am sure I forgot, the three worlds are very similar in many aspects, all paths give a great deal of importance to reputation, past achievements, relationships and networks. You get a compensation (I don’t mean money exclusively) and you add value to the organization, either in the form of a marketing plan, a group of students trained in calculus or raising 100,000USD in donations in an event, you get something and you give something. You want to get more (again, can be money, can be recognition, can be saving the rainforest) in that deal, and you know you have to give more to get it (more can mean more time, but can also mean other things, like less time doing more impactful things). You want to raise the ranks and fulfill your dreams. These are universal structures of human nature, as always with any generalization, there are exceptions and deviations, but for most of us, they are true at least.
That is why many resources to be successful in business are in reality general, they apply to the academic and NGO worlds (and sports, and others). The reason they look very businesslike is money. There is a hungry audience willing to pay. But that doesn’t mean an academic can follow tips to build a resume, define a personal brand, have a successful interview or any other tip in the blog, it only means, they have to add a tailoring to it to fit the protocols and expectations of that mini universe.
I think that under this perspective, the importance is in the individual awareness, development and knowledge of your own objectives, strengths, weaknesses and others related things, instead of the specific path he or she is following. That is the last mile of customatization, and that, that is up to you to add.
