Being a combined business administration and communications studies major, I see firsthand the impact of corporate America. People are impressed with the business side of my degree and its respected real world application. As for the liberal arts half, I am quickly dismissed with a polite head nod. I’ve learned that a lot of people don’t even know what communications is. In a world where communication is inevitable and irreversible, why is it that if my dreams do not align with a specified corporate title, I am deemed less than? It is as if professional success does not and cannot exist for those outside of “hard” majors.
The more generous of conversation partners like to inquire regarding my future implementation of this major. To that, I do not necessarily have an answer, though it begs an even more interesting question in my head: when did college become a means to employment rather than the pursuit of higher education? Perhaps I missed a memo; maybe college is no longer “the best four years of your life” and is now a prolonged networking event.
Though it may be because I attend a highly competitive university, I have seen this focus on future employability get out of hand. I have been to numerous parties in which after talking with a stranger for a bit, I have been asked for my LinkedIn handle. Whatever happened to normal social media? Snapchat? Instagram? Even a phone number is less exposing than a LinkedIn with a complete history of my work experience, high school GPA, and list of skills easily monetized. Immediately I regret every ounce of self-disclosure I have engaged in with said stranger. I'm not in my button down shirt! I didn't mention my volunteer experience with underprivileged kids! I'm holding a plastic red solo cup! I wasn't ready! Restart!!
When did kids stop being kids and become applicants on the hunt for their next networking contact? Just like that, a keg party has become an interview.
Yes, capitalistic greed fostered within the United States is longstanding and probably not going anywhere in my lifetime, but seeing young adults play so heavily into its hand is frankly demoralizing. It is near impossible to avoid social comparison in an environment where everyone is putting their best face forward. It is even more humiliating knowing that I don't measure up to most of my peers. Since when did having 500+ connections become the mark of a future making six figures post-grad? Am I already doomed to live the script of a starving artist? I never thought of that as such a horrible crime, though my peers act as if it is a fate worse than death. If the proverb rings true and money really can’t buy happiness, then why do we devote four plus years of a life in which tomorrow isn’t promised in hopes of a leg up on the ladder?
I have spent the past few months searching for and applying for internships. Throughout this process I have determined one thing: I am destined to be a personality hire.
I don’t mean this to be self deprecating in the slightest, in fact I would be completely content in the knowledge that I was hired to be a beam of energy, positivity, and humor in the typically mundane corporate landscape. This fact, however, is more of a curse that I anticipated, and I’ll tell you why. It is simply impossible to reflect one’s personality in any aspect of a job application without getting to the interview portion of the process. On paper, I blend in. On paper, I get passed over. On paper, I never even reach the interview I know would get me hired.
I know how to talk. I know how to connect. I know how to carry a conversation beyond initial courtesies. Should those traits not be weighted the same as monotonous balance sheets and advanced experience with Microsoft Excel?
So if the world we live in now treats keg parties as professional networking events and job interviews as personality compatibility tests, how are we to navigate? Is it better to take advantage of the pathways in place and be led by the guise of success or to rebel against their blatant corruption? All I know is the next time someone asks for my LinkedIn, I'm saying no.
