Whither Linguistics? Oh The Places You’ll

Go

Anna Marie TresterDepartment of LinguisticsGeorgetown University

Texts that comprise the job search

ResumeWritten “spiels”:

Cover LetterLinkedIn profile

Oral “Spiels”:Elevator pitch

“Pocket example” narratives

TMAY

1) Deixis: the need for enacting a shift in perspective

from that of student to professional, from focusing on why you want/need a particular job to thinking about why THEY want/need you.

2) Framing: the need to deconstruct some of the unproductive metaphors and framing which shape our thinking about the job hunt, and the notion of a perfect job and instead think in terms of tasks, responsibilities and duties; skills, interests and values.

3) Narrative: adopting a narrative approach helps the jobseeker better listen for and tell stories that resonate.

Three core linguistic ideas here

“Oh the Places You’ll Go!” (where people work with degrees in linguistics)

How Linguistics Can Take you there

A chance to practice(Tell Me About Yourself activity)

Plan for today

Introductions

SkillInterest

Dream Job

Oh The Places You’ll Go

Where do people get jobs with a degree in Linguistics anyways?

Management Consulting

Marni MyersStrategic Communications

Phan ConnollyHuman Capital Consulting

Ryan ConnollyAssociate, InternationalProgram Management

Sonia ChecchiaLearning & Development Curriculum Manager

Center for Applied Linguistics

Language Advocacy

Smithsonian Institution

Research

Frameworks Institute

Fors Marsh

American Institute of Physics

AAPOR

SEIU

Verilogue

Social Media strategy

Education

20

How can I integrate my knowledge regarding the importance of phonemic awareness to reading development into a career?

21

Traditional Teacher EducationMoats (1994: 82): “The findings of reading researchers, however, are likely to have little impact on practice unless practitioners can interpret and apply them. Consequently, the preparedness of teachers who must carry out linguistically informed, code-emphasis reading instruction is an increasingly important issue.”

Lead program specialist

“These are professional positions serving as the lead technical specialists for compliance monitoring, curriculum development, consultation and advice in Pre-K through High School education initiatives related to various Race-To-The-Top program areas to promote Maryland’s vision of school reform.”

22

Non-Profit Organizations Need Help TooJumpstart for Young Children

Reading is Fundamental

826DC

Literacy Council of Montgomery County

International Reading Association

ZERO TO THREE

Pre-K Now

NAEYC

23

Don’t Forget the People with the Money! Grant-MakersPNC Grow Up Great!

The McKnight Foundation

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

Foundation for Child Development

Annie E. Casey Foundation

24

Government

Depts of Education

Government

FBI

Census Bureau

General way-coolness

“business”

PR (Political messaging)

Translation

Time Warner

Corporate Executive Board (CEB)

“entrepreneurship”

“You Say Tomato”

Communication in the workplace or other institutional setting plays a crucial part in how that organisation functions, and when things go wrong, they can go wrong in a big way. Planes can crash, patients can die, suspects can escape because of miscommunication. I want to help you eliminate these potentials for error. As a trained linguist and anthropologist, I can look at the way your organisation works, and offer suggestions and advice for improvements and alterations, to help you work better.

Questions for you:

How do I influence

what the world knows about my skills & interests? • How do I apply my

training in Sociolinguistics to my work?

Shifting Your Deictic Center

Why?

Because THEY

need YOU!

“pointing elements” in language which reveal

contextual information about speaker/hearer and their relationship

For example: Adverbs about time and place: here/there; then/now; up/down; Verbs and tenses that give info about the vantage point of the speaker: go/come; went/came; Pronouns that indicate inclusivity vs. exclusivity or “otherness” I, we, they, them

Deixis

Some contexts to think about

S Support. Have I supported every claim to

experience with an illustration of what that experience looked like in that context?

O Outcomes. Who benefitted from my work? Did I improve communication? Productivity? Efficiency? Morale? Systems? Effectiveness? Profits?

Q Quantification. Wheneevr possible, provide quantitative evidence, for example, if you are talking about teaching, how many students did you work with, how often? If you created a newsletter, for what size community from how many members did you collect updates? With what frequency? How many people read?

Resume SOQs

From

“I want this job”

to“This is why you need me”

Cover Letters

Shift from thinking about getting out there to being found

Search for yourself What keywords would people use to find you? Who does LinkedIn think is “like you”?

LinkedIn / Academia.edu profile

Find a way to SHOW yourself doing what you

TELL you are capable of doing (imagery) When possible, share the voice of others in

describing you, your accomplishments (Constructed Dialogue)

In pocket examples

Look at the major turning points in your narrative

Find a way to present agency, that positive outcomes were the result of your: Decision Knowledge, Skills, or Abilities Strength of character Steadfast intention

NOT Luck Accident Someone else’s help (at least not wholly)

In your narratives

Deploying your stories

Informational

Interviews

Elevators

External EventsJOB FAIRS!

Job InterviewsYOUR

STORIES

Informational

Interviews

Elevators

External EventsJOB FAIRS!

Job Interview

s!!!!YOUR STORIES

Job interviews

“Tell Me About Yourself”

Some practice