A Degree Doesn't Guarantee
Janel Taylor, SHRM-CP, CDR
Talent & Organizational Development, Employee Experience, Wellness, DEI & Belonging, Onboarding, Program Management, Human Resources, Culture & Engagement
You never know who’s watching. You never know who you inspire. You never know what a simple hello can lead to. I met Quianna when I was working at David’s Bridal, btw I was working 2 retail jobs at the time (no days off!). She was a student at my alma mater GMU and I helped her, gave her my blog/contact information, and told her she could reach out to me if she ever needed any advice. I didn’t think much of it but what I didn’t know is that she continued to follow me & my blog from that day. Fast forward 3 years later and she emails me saying the she wants to interview me for the WGMU podcast. When she invited me to interview I took it as confirmation that I should keep doing what I’m doing through the blog. Of course I was excited because I’m a huge podcast listener and I was like WOW I’m going to be on my very first podcast. Here we go!
FIRST PODCAST INTERVIEW
In the 20 minute interview we start off discussing my experience at GMU (if you want to skip that, start at 6:00 min marker). We go on to discuss my career journey, advice to current college students and recent graduates, my blog, future plans, and life gems throughout. Toward the end I discuss how apprehensive I was about my acceptance into graduate school and I said I was just going to stop all the second guessing and pursue my Masters….. BUT I did not.
A DEGREE DOES NOT GUARANTEE
I realized that things were not adding up and the timing was just not right. Nothing about starting the Masters program was aligning with my life, work schedule, etc. Also to be honest I was just doing it to say I was doing something more. BUT I’m so glad that I made an adult decision for my life. I did not want to invest so much money into something that I was not 100% sure about. Also I’d love for my future job to pay (Hello!). I’m not saying I won’t go back to school soon but right now is not the right time. I rather focus on building my skills and experiences in HR so that I get my foot in the door and to see if I even find fulfillment in that field.
It’s okay to change your mind
It’s okay to not accept an offer or an open door
It’s okay to check something out and walk away
It’s okay if your not using your degree (but try to not do it twice)
It’s okay to not have a defined purpose or direction but be learning & getting closer to it everyday
It’s okay.
Special Thanks to Quianna for inviting me on the show. She’s amazing on the mic and behind the scenes. She just graduated from GMU with a passion for communications, PR, production/entertainment. To network & connect with her Email: [email protected]