Business Analyst

Tina P. "Business Analyst is a relatively new career path, and the scope of the job varies widely across different industries. As a Business Analyst in the technology sector, I help our tech team (developers and test analysts) build the right product. I'm essentially the 'middle man' between the tech team and the rest of the business. I often consult our product manager, sales team, and other business stakeholders to gather requirements, and then share them with the tech team. If any technical issues come up, I translate that to the business stakeholders in a way that they can easily understand."

Education

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Required License(s) None

Required Degree(s) None, but it would significantly help if you had a university degree (e.g., Bachelor of Arts) related to IT, business, or finance.

Importance of GPA somewhat important

Tina's Highest Degree: Bachelor's Degree (Bachelor of Arts)
Tina's College Major: Psychology and Criminology.
Tina's College GPA: We don't have GPA in New Zealand.

Salary

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NZD $50,000 - $100,000+ (about $36,000 - $73,000+).
Salary varies depending on your experience and which sector you're working in.

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

After graduating from university, I started my career as a Data Analyst. I didn't realize that a job like Business Analyst actually existed until I started full-time working and was researching for career development options. In my second job as a data/reporting analyst, I asked my manager for more work experience related to business analysis and was fortunate that he was supportive of this. I also started getting mentored by a Senior Business Analyst in our company. All that experience helped me land my first official role as a Business Analyst.

How important was networking to landing your position?

I didn't need any external network to land my first Business Analyst job. But I definitely couldn't have received the work experience I needed without my manager and mentor's support. If you're interested in working as a Business Analyst, I highly recommend that you approach your manager to ask for more work experience related to business analysis. Business Analyst skills are transferable, and you could gain experiences in so many different ways. If this isn't possible, then at least seek out an experienced Business Analyst, either within your company or outside, and ask them if they could mentor you. Many Business Analysts would be more than happy to help!

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

The beauty of working as Business Analyst is that your work varies a lot so you'll hardly ever be bored! A typical day for me is to start the day with a 'stand-up' meeting where each person from the tech team quickly shares what they've achieved yesterday, what they plan to work on today, and any impediment that's blocking their work. After then, my tasks vary. I might: Follow up with my product manager to clarify some requirements, Hassle our web designer for design mock-ups we need for upcoming work, Brainstorm with the tech team for solutions, Help the UX team to test our latest designs with external users, Tidy up business documentations, Facilitate a workshop to kick-off a new project, and the list goes on!

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

It's relatively close. You'll find that most Business Analyst job descriptions ask for you to elicit, analyze, and document requirements. And this is exactly what you do. But, HOW you do that can differ greatly between industries and companies.

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

Aside from the usual gender inequality that happens everywhere else, being a woman hasn't affected me much as a Business Analyst. There's usually a good mixture of women and men among the Business Analysts, and I've always found great support from all my Business Analyst peers. The only thing I'd note is that as a Business Analyst, I'm often in meetings full of men and no other women. This could be because of the industries I've been in (i.e., technology, banking, energy), and the fact that I'm often in meetings with the management team that's usually dominated by males. In situations like that, I'm assertive and try to contribute as much as I can. I often forget about the gender ratio when I'm just being myself and my coworkers react to my personality and not my gender.

What is the best thing about your job?

Being able to connect and establish relationships with lots of different people across the business. And not having to do the same type of work every day.

What is the worst thing about your job?

My workload as a Business Analyst is usually not consistent. It's dependent on how many projects I'm involved in, and which stage the projects are at. Some days I have a million different tasks to do and close to having a meltdown. Other days I'm going insane with boredom and begging my manager for more work.

How demanding is your job?

The job can be mentally draining when I'm receiving conflicting requirements from different people; I try to manage relationships to keep everyone happy but nail down the final decision without wasting too much time. Fortunately, these don't happen too often!

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

Yes, since being a Business Analyst gives you so many transferable skills, there are so many career opportunities from here. But that's a problem in itself; there are too many options and many Business Analysts are not sure what they should move onto. The most common progression I've seen in Business Analysts I know are to either: Stay as a Business Analyst, and lead and mentor other Business Analysts, Become a project/product/delivery manager, or Become a Scrum Master or Agile coach. Those are only some examples of what a Business Analyst could move onto. For me, I flipped between wanting to move into project manager or business consultant roles. But now, I'm looking into product manager roles. I'd like to get involved in more strategic work. Outside of work, I love to blog and am planning to start my own business in web content consultancy soon.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

The most important thing you need as a successful Business Analyst is good communication skills. Once, I heard in a Business Analysts seminar that 80% of failed projects are due to misunderstood or missed requirements. Without good communication skills, it's impossible to nail down requirements effectively.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

Try to gain any work experience in: Interviewing stakeholders (i.e., anyone who cares about or will use the final product/solution) and eliciting requirements from them; Documenting and managing the requirements; Using the documents to either build the product/solution yourself, or share it with someone else who will build it (preferable); and Facilitating meetings and workshops. All of the above tasks will provide you with work experience for your future Business Analyst job. It'll also serve as a taster to see whether you'd even want to get into a Business Analyst career.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

Yes, definitely! I love my job as a Business Analyst, and I wouldn't change anything.

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Tina's site here. Want to read later? Pin me -->

How to Handle Work Stress Like a Boss

I'm getting married in less than three weeks.

I'm not saying this because I plan on acting like a nutcase for the foreseeable future. (Although last weekend, I did have an emotional meltdown over table numbers. So there's that.)

No, I'm saying this so you know I'm not lying when I also say I'm at a busy point in my life. It turns out that wedding planning quickly can turn into a full-time job if you're not careful, and that two full-time jobs can quickly turn into a frenzied panic over table numbers.

(I've also learned that high-pressure crafts are best left to, you know, crafty people.)

That being said, I've had to pull out all the stops lately when it comes to managing my actual career. (You know, the one that pays me instead of the other way around.)

Luckily, I've done this before—not getting married, of course, but navigating my career during particularly busy times. (When you work in law, these things are par for the course, after all.)

So today, I'm going to share the top three things I've learned about managing your career (and yourself) during particularly stressful times of your life. (And as a spoiler: Martha Stewart-ing reception table decorations isn't one of them.)

1. Microsoft Excel is your to-do list's new best friend.

Like I mentioned in this post about productivity, my biggest weapon against worktime stress is my Outlook calendar; I create new "events" for each task's due date a week ahead of time so I know exactly what I need to accomplish every day.

But when I get really busy, even the act of deciding where on my calendar each task fits is a struggle. So this is where prioritization comes in—I keep a running list (in my case, using Microsoft Excel) of, literally, every single thing I need to do. And I'm talking everything, even things like "check in with Judy about project X" and "email Donna about project Y." (Because when you have a lot going on, it's usually the small things that end up slipping through the cracks.)

I like using Excel for this list because it's easy to move things around, which is helpful for keeping the list ordered based on importance. In other words, if an urgent project comes in, I can easily move my 20-item long list around so "Urgent Project Z" is right up top.

While there are other more sophisticated apps and programs for this out there, I like using Excel because it's so simple. It's pretty much the same as a hand-written list on my desk—but with much better handwriting.

2. Give yourself permission to not be perfect in other areas of your life.

The most important thing I've ever done for my sanity when it comes to hectic times is giving myself permission to let other parts of my life take a back seat.

For example, maybe this is a "me" problem, but I used to feel like keeping my apartment clean and tidy was a reflection of my worthiness as an adult. So when work got busy (and I was trying to fit longer hours in with exercise and a social life), I'd take a look around my unswept floors and dirty laundry in a panic and think, "Oh no. I'm failing adulthood."

In other words, I'd expect myself to be able to add in extra hours at work while still keeping up with every other area in my life. And when I couldn't (i.e., when I was a human), I would get even more stressed out.

But I finally realized that a lot of the pressure I was feeling was totally self-inflicted—and totally unnecessary. My unswept floors were not an indicator of, well, anything, and the only thing that prioritizing work and my health over housework meant was that I'd have to sweep next weekend instead.

It sounds like such a simple revelation, but it is one that made such a difference.

3. Raise the white flag if you need to.

Obviously, this point won't apply to everyone, but it also might apply to more people than you'd think.

The thing is, most employers are human and don't want their employees to drown in overtime and anxiety. So if you're feeling in over your head, sometimes it's best to just let your employer know what's going on.

Of course, you don't want to be the one who never takes on an extra project or who only does the bare minimum. But if your workload is leaving you panicked and burnt out for long periods of time, it might be time to have an honest discussion with your employer. Chances are, your employer doesn't even realize that you are feeling overwhelmed.

This kind of conversation can be difficult and may take a reasonable amount of finesse (this is a great post about how to approach it), but it can also be a game-changer when it comes to keeping your sanity.

How do you handle stressful and/or hectic times in life? What would you add to this list?

Middle School Counselor

Kylie L. "A middle school counselor is someone who has completely lost their mind and chosen to spend their days in the company of 1000 teenagers. (Just kidding.) But in all honesty, I do a little of everything. My previous co-counselor and I used to joke that people thought all we did was make macaroni necklaces with sad kids,but it's so much more."

Education

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Required License(s) For my position, I need an Educators Certificate in Guidance and Counseling K-12. I am also a Registered Mental Health Intern, working my way towards taking the state board exam.

Required Degree(s) Master's degree (generally in school counseling), but some states allow other counseling related majors if your internship fits the right requirements.

Importance of GPA not very important

What do you need to do to maintain your license(s)?

The school district requires professional development often. Once I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I will have to participate in continuing education as well to maintain my license.

Kylie's Highest Degree: Bachelor's degree (Bachelor of Arts) and Master's degree
Kylie's College Major: Bachelor's in Psychology and Criminal Justice; Master's in Mental Health Counseling
Kylie's College GPA Range: 3.6 for Bachelor's; 4.0 for Master's

Salary

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Counselor salaries vary in every state.
(But I will tell you that we do not get paid enough.)

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

I have a mental health background, as well as experience providing therapy and other services in schools.

How important was networking to landing your position?

Not at all. I randomly applied from out of state.

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

There are no typical days in a middle school counselor's life.

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

... And even if I did have a typical day or week, it wouldn't match up to any job description.

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

Actually, no. I'm pretty fortunate in that my administration supports me above and beyond.

What is the best thing about your job?

Getting to hang out with kids all day. It's never dull. Every single day something happens that makes me laugh. I work with some amazing people. My kids need me.

What is the worst thing about your job?

Sometimes it's heavy (if that makes sense). I see and hear a lot.

How demanding is your job?

Very. I work over my contracted hours often. I definitely earn my summer vacation for all of the hours I put in and don't get paid for. Physical toughness isn't necessarily required, but mentally, you better be a ninja.

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

Once I become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, there will be a lot of opportunities to grow. Not so much as a middle school counselor, but I truly love my position regardless.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

Being able to connect with kids, truly hearing them, taking the time to build relationships, compassion, and patience.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

It is one of the most worthwhile careers there is.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

I do love being a counselor, but my bank account would want me to pursue another career.

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Kylie's site here. Want to read later? Pin me -->

Four Unexpected Things You Can Do to Instantly Increase Your Productivity

I've got the most distracting co-worker who's always trying to bring me down. His name is Netflix, and he sits right across the hall.

You see, I work from home—from my bedroom, specifically—which not only means that I have distractions galore, but also no one around to witness if I cave. There are no co-workers or supervisors who would notice if I took a three hour lunch break, and there's no one to glare at me if I watch three episodes of Friends at my desk.

Basically, it's up to me to make sure that I have a plan to stay productive, and that I stick to it.

At first, I thought my productivity would be nosediving at home. But since I've left the office for my bedroom, I've actually become the most focused I've ever been. I've learned a lot about productivity since setting my own hours, most of which wasn't obvious to me before I acquired such aggravatingly amusing co-workers.

Below are a few of the things I've learned—unexpected tricks I've accumulated that help me keep Netflix in his place during the day.

1. Don't work Monday morning.

The first thing I do every Monday morning is go through all of the deadlines I have coming up in the next two weeks. For me, this means going through my docket and checking the status of every case with an upcoming due date. As I go through my docket, I put notes on my calendar so that when I'm finished, I can visualize (literally, on my calendar) exactly what I need to get finished that week.

It takes about an hour for me to do this every week, but it's definitely not an hour wasted; once I can see everything that needs to happen, it's a lot easier to prioritize. I can set goals for each day so that I don't have to think about it again during the week, saving me time, headaches, and panic in the long run.

2. Schedule a time to worry.

My boss actually taught me this when I first started working in a law firm, when I was thoroughly overwhelmed with the idea of a docket. He told me what he does to manage the stress of his (even larger) docket: he makes a list of daily tasks (like I mentioned above) and then doesn't think about those tasks until they're scheduled. By scheduling a time to think about each task, he is able to keep today from being overwhelming.

Because today is the day he worries about Tuesday's worries, not the day he looks ahead to the ever-growing mountain of things he has to get finished this week. He's scheduled time to worry about that, so he's able to keep cool now.

3. When you get an email, ignore it.

When I first started working, I treated every email I received like a ticking time bomb—if I didn't stop, read, and reply that second, it would blow me up to unresponsive smithereens. And so every time I received an email, I stopped what I was doing so I could send a reply.

And you know what? I would waste half my day re-starting projects where I had lost my focus. But in reality, instead of losing my steam with whatever I was doing, I could have easily responded to the email after I was finished—turns out, none of them were actually going to explode.

Now, when I get an email, I briefly skim it to see if it's critical. And if it's not, I make a note to myself to reply later, and then I ignore it. It's amazing how much more quickly I can finish something when it's not punctured with less-than-urgent interruptions, and much to my relief, I've yet to encounter an explosive email.

4. Don't work too hard.

Forget everything I just said about interruptions—sort of.

You see, while I've found that a report is ten times harder to write when you're answering Linda from down the hall every ten minutes, it can be just as hard to write if you stare at your screen for hours at a time. After about an hour and a half, my mind starts to wander, and I realize I've been reading the same line three times while thinking about what I'm having for lunch.

One of the biggest things that helps me stay productive is hourly (at least every two hours) breaks to take a walk, get a drink, or sometimes even jump rope in my living room. The breaks aren't long (maybe five or ten minutes), but they're enough to give my brain a second to cool off and start fresh.

Plus, my hourly movement is like quitting smoking—talk about a win-win.

tl;dr - How I Increased My Productivity Every Monday, I put that week's deadlines on a calendar so I can visualize how my week needs to go. I schedule a time to worry about something, and then forget about it. I don't interrupt what I'm doing to respond to non-urgent emails. I take a physical and mental break every hour or two.

What's your biggest weapon for staying productive?

How to Apply for a Job Without Work Experience

I know you've been there: that moment you get to the end of the perfect job listing, the listing for your dream job, only to find you don't have all of the required qualifications—you're missing that infuriatingly elusive "2-5 years of work experience" that every employer seems to need.

So what do you do? You slam your head into your keyboard knowing that you're not qualified, so you will never get this dream opportunity. The experience is required, after all.

Now, what if I told you that all the head slamming wasn't necessary?

It's true—having the "right" qualifications, particularly work experience, is important (and will likely make your job hunt a lot easier).

But experience isn't everything. It is possible to get a job without it.

I feel confident saying this because I've seen it myself: I've landed at least two jobs where my experience didn't quite match up with the job listing. (And in one case, I had no relevant work experience whatsoever.)

In other words, don't be one of the women who will only apply for a job if she meets 100% of the "required" qualifications. Seriously, ladies, back your forehead away from the keyboard. Instead, here are three things you can do.

But first...

Do a quick reality check.

This blog is all about confidence, but there's a thin line between confidence and naiveté that's easy to cross.

So before you do anything, do a quick reality check: are you a seasoned floral designer hoping to land a job as a spaceship technician? If so, you might want to take your dream job's requirements a little more seriously.

Basically, while the "required qualifications" can usually be thought of as an employer's "wish list" rather than actual requirements, be reasonable. If you're applying for an extremely specific or technical job and your qualifications aren't even in the same ballpark, it may be wise to gain at least some qualifications—a certification, internship experience, etc.—before you start sending out your resume.

Now, once you've passed your reality check, it's time to get to work. 

1. List the experience you do have.

The first step for getting a job without the "right" experience is to make a list of all the experience you do have. While this experience may not be what is "required" by the job listing, you will be able to use your unique experience to prove you are a qualified applicant.

Now, when I talk about your experience, I'm not only talking about conventional "9-5 with benefits" experience. For example, did you help organize a charity 5K in your neighborhood? Were you chapter president for your sorority? Do you have a blog? In addition to your "conventional" work experience, you should also add these to your list. (They'll be useful, I promise!)

2. Lay out your skill set.

One you've listed the experiences you've had, it's time to figure out how these experiences translate into your specific skill set.

For example, if you helped organize a charity run in your neighborhood, you might have experience managing a large group of people to meet hard deadlines. If you have a blog, you might have experience using and managing multiple social media platforms.

Your goal is to add to your list three or four skills that each experience helped you learn or develop. When you're finished, you will have a list that's extremely valuable: not only does it contain your unique skill set, but also concrete examples of how you put each of those skills to work.

3. Look for overlapping skills.

This should hopefully be the easy part: using the list you created, look for any skills that overlap with your dream job listing.

For example, if you're applying for a social media coordinator position, the job listing may require you to "manage digital advertising campaigns on a number of different social platforms" and "collaborates with the creative team."

While you don't technically have any experience as a social media coordinator, you do have experience managing a large group of people, and using and managing multiple social media platforms. And not only that—you have specific examples to back your skill set up.

tl;dr - How to apply for a job without the "right" work experience Make sure your dream job is somewhat realistic Make a list of all your experience, even if it isn't "conventional" work experience Determine what skills you learned or developed from your unique experience Compare those skills with the skills "required" for your new job

Of course, these steps are just the first three steps for applying for your dream job; you still have to write your cover letter and nail the interview. But these first three steps will be the foundation for everything that comes next. By focusing on your skill set and how these skills are what your employer needs, you've transformed yourself from some rando with a resume to an A+ applicant.

And best of all, there's no keyboard forehead slamming required.

PS - I found this topic so dang interesting that I talked about it on Laura Yamin's NSFW Podcast. Check it out, and let me know if you love the show as much as I do!

Licensed Acupuncturist

Norah M. "In the state of California, a Licensed Acupuncturist actually does more than just acupuncture. I am a practitioner of Chinese medicine, which means I use acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutrition, tai chi and other types of meditation, and bodywork to help people heal from a variety of health challenges and conditions."

Education

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Required License(s) I am licensed by both California and the national organization (NCCAOM).

Required Degree(s) Master's degree

Importance of GPA somewhat important

What do you need to do to maintain your license(s)?

A certain number of hours are required in continuing education, and you have to pay a fee every two years for renewal.

Norah's Highest Degree: Master's degree
Norah's College Major: Master of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine
Norah's College GPA: 3.6-3.9

Salary

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$30,000-$150,000
(Depends on the setting and your business)

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

I am in private practice, i.e., self-employed. Before having this office, I trained with more experienced practitioners for about 9 years in a clinic where I worked with others.

How important was networking to landing your position?

Hugely important

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

It is a mix of working with patients, paperwork, correspondence, writing (blogs, articles) and networking.  There is quite of bit of business work in addition to seeing patients.

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

Fairly closely

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

I'm not sure. Women are well represented statistically in the acupuncture field.

What is the best thing about your job?

Getting to help people with natural, safe methods and watching people discover resources they did not realize they had.

What is the worst thing about your job?

It can be difficult and demanding to be in business for yourself.

How demanding is your job?

Practicing East Asian medicine is a lifetime study. You have to combine this with the tenacity required to succeed as a small business. You have to be committed.

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

One can always pursue additional training. This is an ongoing process, and can open opportunities to teach or practice in a different settings and with different patient populations.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

Sincerity, perseverance, and commitment.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

Study how to be effective in business and marketing, as well as the medicine.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

Yes!

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Norah's site here. Want to read later? Pin me -->

Read This Before You Decide to Work at Home

From what I can tell, there seems to be two things people today want: freedom from the 9-5 lifestyle, and for Netflix to stop asking us if we’re still watching. (We get it, Netflix, we’ve been here a while.)

About a year ago, I (somewhat accidentally) achieved the former—becoming “self-employed” and officially my own boss.

I say “somewhat accidentally" because self-employment wasn’t necessarily my goal. I actually enjoyed my former position as a law firm employee in Washington, DC, and didn’t mind reporting to a higher-up.

However, moving to Florida last summer to be with my fiancé (Derrick) didn’t come with the option of staying an employee. So about a year ago, I replaced the associate whose office was across from mine with my new coworker, my hedgehog Penelope.

Although the work I do from home as a consultant is essentially the same as the work I did as an employee, my new job title did come with a lot of changes: I’m no longer salaried (instead, I submit an invoice every two weeks and get paid per hour I bill), I don’t receive any sort of benefits, I set my own hours, and can work from wherever and as much as I choose.

And while some of these perks are definitely all they’re cracked up to be, my year of self-employment has opened my eyes to some of the drawbacks to self-employment and working from home—drawbacks I honestly hadn’t even considered before I packed up my DC office.

So if you’re thinking of ditching your 9-5 to become your own boss, take it from me: there are some major advantages of the 9-5 life that you don’t realize you loved until they’re gone.

And to prove my point, here are my top four.

The freedom of 9-5

One thing hopeful entrepreneurs think they’ll gain from being their own boss is freedom. After all, without a boss, there’s no one telling you that you can’t take your work to the beaches of Jamaica.

But with self-employment, your income is generally a direct result of how much you work. So when you choose to skip work to get your tan on, you’re also choosing to skip getting paid for that day.

For some, this isn’t a problem—they’ve budgeted their money so that a day or two (or ten) with little or no income won’t do much damage. But a lot of people overlook the kind of freedom 9-5 careers provide, like the freedom to spend two weeks of paid vacation at the beach and still come back with a new paycheck in the bank.

The HR presentation on health insurance and retirement plans

Remember that hour long HR presentation you slept through, waking up just in time to tell Wanda from HR which health insurance plan you’d like? Or the 401(k) packet you received, along with the details on your employer’s investment matching policy?

Well, leaving behind your 9-5 employer also means leaving Wanda behind.

Don’t get me wrong: It’s entirely possible to understand and choose health insurance and retirement plans on your own. But if you’re anything like me, trying to decode retirement account and insurance policy jargon is a lot like trying to talk to anyone under 18. (I can’t be the only one who just figured out what "TFW" means, right? RIGHT!?)

In other words, being your own boss often also means being your own HR representative, a job for which not all of us are prepared.

My morning commute

I miss taking the DC metro to work—I must be nuts, right? But hear me out:

When I had a morning commute, it meant my office was at least four metro stops away from my home. Yes, it meant I had to put on pants to get there, but it also meant that if a client in Japan emailed me at 8PM, I probably wouldn't get it until the next morning.

When you work at home, however, your work is... well, it's at your home. And when your work is at home, it's incredibly easy to say, "Oh, I'll just answer this one email," before disappearing into your office for half the night.

In other words, my morning commute made it easier to separate my work and my home, which made the line between work and life a lot more clear. When you're self-employed and work at home, however, that line becomes a lot more blurry.

And a blurry line can easily throw off your work/life balance if you're not careful.

Human interaction

This is, perhaps, the biggest drawback of working at home: unless you've made some extremely unconventional lifestyle choices, you likely don't share your home with a diverse community of people.

I'm an introvert and I like my personal space, but even I have to admit that the energy and collaboration that comes with working around other people is a major asset. (Seriously! It's science.)

And I'm not only talking about benefits for your career (such as more opportunities to network); working alone all day, every day can become incredibly isolating, which can take a toll on your happiness. Of course, it's completely possible to surround yourself with people outside of work, but the hard truth is that sometimes, you really can use that 30 minute lunchtime chat with your coworker (even if the lunchroom does sort of smell like tuna).

tl;dr - The drawbacks of self-employment and working from home You only get paid when you work. (No paid vacations!) There's no employer to offer you benefits. Work/life balance can be a much harder challenge. Working alone can be isolating.

Like any situation, there are both pros and cons to self-employment and working from home. It's important to remember that while I've listed (what I consider) the biggest drawbacks here, my situation also comes with many perks that balance things out.

In other words, don't read this list and decide working from home is the route to isolated misery. It's not. Instead, keep these things in mind when comparing the pros and cons of your unique situation. You're the one who knows your life best, after all.

Do you work at home? What are the pros and/or cons of your situation?

Transfer Evaluation Coordinator (Student Affairs Professional)

Kayla W. "As a student affairs professional, I help students be successful and to ultimately obtain a degree. My goal is to help students at my university to have a well-rounded college experience and to leave the university with a degree and the knowledge and experiences they need to be successful human beings. More specifically, as a Transfer Evaluation Coordinator, I work with students who have earned college coursework and credit to determine which course credit equivalents that they will receive credit for at my specific university."

Education

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Required License(s) None

Required Degree(s) Bachelor's degree (in any field) is required for my specific position, but other positions in Student Affairs may only require a high school diploma.

Importance of GPA somewhat important

Kayla's Highest Degree: Bachelor's degree (Bachelor of Science)
Kayla's College Major: Mass Communications with a focus on Public Relations, and a minor in Marketing.
Kayla's College GPA Range: 3.1-3.5

Salary

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$30,000-$50,000
can vary depending on location or institution

Getting the Job

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How did you get your job?

As a student, I worked as an orientation leader (orienting incoming freshman to campus and the world of college, etc.), as well as an ambassador for the Admissions department. I gained experience by volunteering as an undergraduate.

How important was networking to landing your position?

Networking is huge in the world of higher education. I didn't specifically know anyone in the department I now work in, but I went to the institution as an undergraduate student and I think that helped.

Life on the Job

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What is a typical day (or week) for you like?

Typically, I work Monday through Friday 8-5, but have to work about 3 Saturdays and 3 Sundays each year for special events (e.g., graduations, preview days, orientations). In my specific position, I sit at a desk most of the day doing evaluation of transcripts/data entry, answering emails. I see students from time-to-time. Working in this position is very behind the scenes in the world of higher ed.

How closely does your typical day (or week) match up to the general "job description" for your position?

I would say that my position matches up about 99% with the job description that was posted when I was hired.

Does being a woman affect any aspect of your career?

Honestly, there are more women in the field of Student Affairs than there are men. If anything, I believe it may help to be a woman in Student Affairs. However, diversity is a huge part of the higher education world and people of all ethnicities, races, genders, etc. are accepted!

What is the best thing about your job?

I get to help students to find, understand, and develop their dreams. Working in higher education is rewarding and something I am incredibly passionate about.

What is the worst thing about your job?

There are a ton of policies that sometimes upset the student and their families. These policies are not meant to hinder, but it sometimes feels like they do.

How demanding is your job?

The institution that I work at is growing very rapidly, which means that more and more students are attending, but we still have the same amount of people in our office. It can be a large workload that seems to never end, and it can also be very tedious work. However, thinking about how much it helps the student to become who they want and need to be makes it all worth it.

Do you have any advancement opportunities?

YES! I work in the Registrar's Office, but this position can be housed in Admissions at other institutions. I could move up from my position to my supervisor's position, which is the head of the Transfer area. Above the Transfer area manager is the Registrar. Also, working in Student Affairs, it is often that people may move from area to area on a campus, this includes stepping up into higher roles, such as Area Directors or VP or AVPs of divisions. I plan on staying in the field of Student Affairs for the rest of my life, and would love to become an Area Director at some point.

Advice for You

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What are the skills, characteristics, or talents that are most important to be effective in your position?

It is very important to have a passion for the student. Fun, bubbly personalities and being a people person is important. Anyone looking to work in higher education should be able to follow policies and procedures, be a hard-worker, optimistic, and have a great eye for detail and accuracy.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about pursuing a career like yours?

BE YOURSELF! As mentioned before, diversity is something that every institution is looking for. Don't try to fit into some kind of peg.

If you could do it over again, would you still pursue the same career?

ABSOLUTELY! I'm actually going back to school to earn my Master's in the field.

Follow Up

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Want to learn more? Check out Kayla's sites here. Want to read later? Pin me -->