The Transition of the Highly Educated & Sparsely

Trained Graduate Student

From Health System Leadership Training to Clinical Trials

Kristina Figueroa, MSPH

April 2014

As a recent graduate, I've been fortunate to grab hold of many professional nuances that are not

always apparent at the undergraduate, graduate, doctoral or even post-doc levels of education. Many

of these nuances are related to securing a job (within the industry we were educated to pursue our

careers in). A job that harnesses our skills, gives us the sense of living a purpose driven life, offers

opportunities for growth and also opportunities to stage OUR unique skills to better the company.

These days, with employment being a privilege to all of us, the struggle to secure a job, post-

graduation, is a tough battle to win. There are many miscommunications and social injustices that

contribute to this seemingly losing battle, some of which are:

1. The Societal Pressure to Earn High-Level Degrees

2. The Sense of Entitlement, Often Associated with a High-

Level Degree

3. The Lack of Uniformity in Substituting Work Experience

for Education, and Vice Versa

A dear friend and mentor of mine in the American College of Healthcare Executives allowed for

me to showcase some of my skills by providing opportunities for me to help her with various

projects and trainings. This was a fantastic learning experience, much like an internship, practicum

or fellowship. Fortunately for me, these real world opportunities were not all that she shared with

me. She shared insight into the healthcare industry (particularly, because this industry is one I

intended to pursue) and made it very clear that it is not what we know, nor the degree we've

earned... the job we get is largely dependent on WHO we know.

I know that this isn't anything you haven't heard before…

A nuance of the real world,

that highly educated graduate students are typically unaware of,

is that we may very well know tons and tons of people in the industry, we may have spent several

weeks shadowing, or several years working to build relationships with them...but has WHAT we've

done impressed them enough to make us the person to pop into their mind for the next job opening?

Have we made it an effort to ask their opinion on their own position, and listened to what they've

done to get there? Have we completed the work they've seen, and lived in a manner by which they

would be obliged to recommend us? Do we make the effort to stay in touch with them, even after

they helped get us a new job, or gave us that letter of recommendation?

April 2014

Believe it or not,

initial AND continued interactions with these people have the potential to increase our visibility

within the industry, and ultimately get us that job. Think about it... small talk and word of mouth

goes a long way!

Oftentimes the connections students make is only within one small circle, because it seems

unnecessary, and even sometimes disadvantageous, to step out of those bounds. Whether it is the

group of interns (who are also on the hunt for jobs), or the group of people within the work team,

many young professionals find themselves hopeful of utilizing these relationships for "climbing

the ladder"...

Thing is, the real world is GLOBAL. The industry, whatever it may be, is

likely transnational at the very least, so it is important to

step out of the comfort zone.

Speaking of comfort zones...

1. Education has been one of those places of comfort for many of us, as

professionals.

We were enrolled in structured learning at the age of four or five, started taking standardized

tests at 8, and entered high school to begin counseling on what college courses to go ahead and

get out of the way, in preparation for excellence! Education is all we knew until we were forced

out on our own. The problem with this is, nowadays, there is societal pressure to fit a standard; or

exceed it.

We were told, not necessarily what to be when we grow up, but that we must go to college to be

it.

OK. Fine. We can do it.

But then there were the college classes that are available in high school, which left us un-settled if

we opted out of exceeding the expectation of regular high school classes.

OK. Fine. We can do it.

By the time we graduated high school, we had half of a bachelor's degree under our belts, and

part-time experience working at a food joint. We attended our selected University’s orientation

session, looking forward to guidance on ‘what to do next.’ The question we were all forced to

answer in a matter of minutes, however, was what did we want to be when we got done (in 2-3

years)?

April 2014

…So all those years (all 16, 17, 18 and 19 of

them) leading up to that moment, we should've been

preparing to make a decision that prompted the

beginnings of the rest of our lives.

Instead, because of the pressures placed on us to speed

up our education, and further it, we had 5 minutes to

decide.

OK. Fine. We can do it. We'll be doctors, lawyers,

researchers and CEOs.

We chose these titles because they all sounded

prestigious, which encompassed everything we’d ever

been taught. These types of professionals, perceivably,

made a pretty good salary, and their lives seemed to be

in order, from what we'd all seen and heard over the

years… Unfortunately, what we didn’t know was that,

the likelihood of getting through undergrad and

graduate school, securing a paid position in that exact

field, without industry experience, and strait out of

school, is slim-to-none.

The orientation counselor told us to maintain at least a

3.7 GPA throughout our college careers, earn our

Bachelors in Biology, Criminal Justice, Chemistry or

Business, and begin preparing to take the appropriate

grad school entry exam ASAP.

We were 18 and thought that we knew what we

wanted. We took the GRE, MCAT, LSAT or GMAT

when we were 19 to get it.

April 2014

OK. Fine. We can do it. Pedal to the metal. School ‘til we’re 30; but the minute we’re done-

we’re set!

The problem with this perception is that, even if we made it through our planned education

without a hitch, we would still be lost on what to do next… which leads me into my next point.

2 & 3. Besides the “book talk” about what we’d been studying for

the past 11 years, what did we expect from the prestigious job title

that was surely making its way towards our CV?

The books, professors, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and society all told us to expect an intermediate

position of power, loaded salary, great benefits and plenty of vacation time.

So it is no wonder why we highly educated & sparsely trained graduate students had an

unreasonable expectation for a nice salary upon finishing the professional program that we chose to

pursue when we were 18. We were raised with the mentality that more was always better, thus,

because we put MORE effort in (than the high school graduate, and even baccalaureate), we should

be entitled to more. Right? Even as a highly educated candidate, we quickly realized that the

industry experienced, lesser formally-educated candidate had a leg up on us. We were novices in the

realm of applicable solutions- in whatever the field may’ve been.

This is what we were naïve of; the degree was earned, but the experience was not.

So now, even after 11 years of specialized education to place us in a highly sought after position of

power, the knowledge of how to do it BEST, and the ideas to apply that knowledge, we are still not

the candidate selected. In fact, we were weeded out on round one of application review because we

didn’t have direct experience in the field.

It is a humbling realization, yes; the job title didn’t come with the degree. The good

news is that a foundation is only as strong as its weakest brick.

OK. Fine. We will start at an entry level position.

We will learn it from the inside out.

We will make the ‘weak’ brick something that will be patented for strength and resilience against

destruction; patented for innovation that, when applied, works ten times better than bricks made

from the previous foundation.

Transform and apply the things we’ve spent years learning, to a role that we feel overqualified for.

Moral of this metaphor and nuance breakdown is:

No matter how educated or credentialed we are, hard work, applied challenges and experience

cannot be substituted out.

No matter how much we feel overqualified and underappreciated, we aren’t.

The sooner we acknowledge that we aren’t the only ones who didn’t know this going in,

get over the grudge we hold against blue-collar turned white-collar colleagues

& start loving life as the firmest brick in the building, the happier and

more desired we’ll be!

OK. Fine. We will own it.