{"id":96844,"date":"2015-09-17T11:50:18","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T15:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=96844"},"modified":"2024-07-01T15:59:58","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T19:59:58","slug":"tips-advice-purposeful-work-unplugged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2015\/09\/17\/tips-advice-purposeful-work-unplugged\/","title":{"rendered":"A dozen tips about work, jobs, and careers from the Purposeful Work Unplugged speaker series"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With September considered an opportune time to consider a career or job change, and with the 2015\u201316 edition of the college&#8217;s Purposeful Work Unplugged speaker series kicking off on Oct. 7, here are a dozen Unplugged pearls of job and career wisdom from last year&#8217;s speakers.\u00a0(More clips are on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/purposeful-work\/purposeful-work-unplugged-videos\/\">Purposeful Work Unplugged<\/a> site.)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/purposeful-work\/\">Purposeful Work<\/a> is a college-wide initiative that helps students identify and cultivate their interests\u00a0and strengths and acquire the knowledge, experiences and relationships necessary to pursue their aspirations with imagination and integrity.<\/p>\n<h3>1. &#8220;Don&#8217;t work with [fill in the blank]&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>Great advice and and even better wit in this exchange between JP Maheu, Twitter&#8217;s head of global branding and agency strategy, and George Gallate, CEO of RKG, on Jan. 29, 2015.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: Twitter&#039;s JP Maheu - Work with people who fit your outlook\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120075831?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>2. Careers only look linear in retrospect<\/h3>\n<p>President Spencer states a key premise of Purposeful Work, that our career paths are haphazard in reality yet appear sensible and linear in retrospect. The liberal arts education gives students the tools and mindset to make the most of the zig-zag nature of careers.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: President Clayton Spencer - Live and careers only look linear in retrospect\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/118508305?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>3. Lighten up on yourself<\/h3>\n<p>Jean Thompson \u201982, CEO of Seattle Chocolates, interviewed on Nov. 10 by Steve Fuller \u201982, chief marketing officer for L.L.Bean, on Nov. 10, says that if she could go back in time she would &#8220;lightened up&#8221; on her younger self.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: L.L.Bean&#039;s Steve Fuller &#039;82 and Seattle Chocolate&#039;s Jean Thompson &#039;82 - Lighten up on yourself\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120076310?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4>4. Leave doors open<\/h4>\n<p>Recalling a decision not to pursue medical school, Carol Gaffney &#8217;67, a consulting psychologist who provides professional coaching, tells students not to be dissuaded by how long something might take.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: Carol Gaffney &#039;67 - Leave that door open\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/139401056?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>5. Use social media to advance your brand<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cSocial and digital allows you to create an awesome network,\u201d says George Gallate of RKG.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: RKG CEO George Gallate - Use social media to advance your personal brand\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120075836?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>6. No experience is wasted<\/h3>\n<p>Spencer says that her prior job experiences, like litigating cases as a federal prosecutor, aren&#8217;t directly applicable to running a college but they certainly inform her work today.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: President Clayton Spencer - No experience is wasted\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120082250?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>7. Ask questions<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIf you do not understand something, just ask. I tell that to everybody,\u201d says Maheu.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: Twitter&#039;s JP Maheu - If you don&#039;t understand, speak up\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120075938?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>8. Add value by adding your perspective<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIf you <em>don\u2019t <\/em>know that it\u2019s always been done one way, you can come up with a better idea,&#8221; says Thompson.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: L.L.Bean&#039;s Steve Fuller &#039;82 and Seattle Chocolate&#039;s Jean Thompson &#039;82 - Value of a fresh perspective\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120075944?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>9. Have the humility to get better<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThey were always looking to improve,\u201d says Gaffney \u201967, describing what it was like to see world-class orthopedic surgeons rigorously question each other on their techniques and decisions.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: Carol Gaffney &#039;67 - Humility to let go\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/139401057?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>10. Seek out truth-tellers<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cYou need to find people in your network that will tell you the truth, even if it hurts,\u201d says Maheu.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: Twitter&#039;s JP Maheu - Find truth-tellers\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120075833?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>11. Have a plan to evaluate opportunity<\/h3>\n<p>Because the pace of change is dizzying, students should &#8220;have a personal plan&#8221; against which to measure their opportunities, says Gallate.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: RKG CEO George Gallate - Have a personal plan\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120079342?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>12. Accentuate the difference<\/h3>\n<p>Asked if she had advice for women who might be in a male-dominated environment, Thompson advises students to &#8220;sing the praises of being a little bit different. Different is what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Purposeful Work Unplugged: L.L.Bean&#039;s Steve Fuller &#039;82 and Seattle Chocolate&#039;s Jean Thompson &#039;82 - Advice for women\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/120075942?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A dozen pearls of job and career wisdom from the 2014-15 Purposeful Work Unplugged speaker series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":85903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[11009],"tags":[10665,12356,10935,10664],"class_list":["post-96844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-college","tag-carol-gaffney","tag-center-for-purposeful-work","tag-clayton-spencer","tag-purposeful-work-unplugged"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96844"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96890,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96844\/revisions\/96890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}