Each month, 30+ fresh graduates and professionals from various academic backgrounds are walking through our office doors across Montreal, Vancouver, New York, London and Athens. If you ever pay us a visit, you will be surprised to find out that a mix of social sciences, engineers, business, art and music graduates have joined our international Client Service team. From our very own experience we can tell you one thing: that a university degree can lead you to thousands of different career journeys and professions that you never even knew existed before.
Meet Client Service Associate, Chelsea Emode
Speaking of a mix of self-driven individuals with various interests, today we are glad to introduce you to Chelsea Emode, one of our newest joiners in the Montreal office. Chelsea graduated with a major in Journalism and a minor in Spanish from Carleton University. Following her passions and aspirations she has now become a Dialectican, joining a company and an industry outside her field of expertise. In her role as a Client Service Associate, she helps our clients, from consulting companies to investment companies and large corporations to make smart business decisions by giving them access to untapped knowledge.
‘’Hello everyone! My name is Chelsea and I graduated from Carleton University in 2020, just right at the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak, so deciding which pathway I wanted to follow was pretty challenging. However, I always thought that there were so many alternative positions in the job market which could provide you with more transferable skills than you could ever imagine. Thus, I navigated the job market with an open mind and landed at Dialectica!
Today, I am glad to share with you 5 tips on how to expand your career horizons and follow an alternative career pathway that will suit your wants and needs, based on my personal experience and learnings!
1. Realize your passions
When it comes to my passion from a professional perspective the answer is simple: research and learning. The Client Service Associate role at Dialectica perfectly combines these two elements and this is why I feel that this position was made for me! Whether you make a list of things you love to do, determine your values or acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses, these actions will help you realize your true passions and interests and even discover that they may lie in a field you have never thought or knew about before.
2. Connect the dots
My main responsibilities as a student and a journalist were research, interviewing and cold calling. When conducting research I was trying to map out effective methodologies, source helpful resources and find the right experts with knowledge about a specific topic. That part of the work was so exciting, especially when I was writing about something I have never heard of before. On the other hand, cold calling people to collect relevant information, explain what I’m writing about, who I’m writing for and eventually creating strong relationships with them was one of my favorite things to do. Thus, when I saw Dialectica’s Client Service Associate job ad, the phrases “conduct high level industry and company research to identify the most relevant experts’’ and “connect with experts’’ immediately caught my attention. So if you feel stuck in a cycle, ask yourself: “What were my previous roles and how did I feel about them’?”, “What did I enjoy doing during my studies’?”, “What job elements make me excited’?” In my personal opinion, acknowledging the dots of your life is not enough when searching for an ideal career pathway, you really need to know how to connect them.
3. Look out for growth opportunities
In my journey at Dialectica, I have enhanced many transferable skills, such as organization, problem solving skills, interviewing and high quality research among others. However, my main aspiration was always to be like a sponge and soak up as many new skills as I can. Here, I get the opportunity to grow every day a little bit more by developing new business and soft skills. How? By connecting with people from so many different industries, attending in-house training and participating in manager coachings and mentorships. My tip is: make sure to choose an employer that enables you to grow as a person, become your best self and helps you to smoothly transition into new environments.
4. Create strong connections
The key takeaway I had from my first steps into the job-hunting journey, is that it is a lot more challenging than it seems. From my perspective, networking is the solution to it. No matter how many job postings you respond to, the networking always gives you the extra boost and higher chances of getting exposure to more job openings. So either by visiting a sponsored event, participating in your university’s career fair, leveraging your LinkedIn presence or even reach out to people you already know, you will develop precious connections across industries.
5. Open your mind and experiment
My academic and work experience has shown me that the whole point of career experimentation is to discover your true self. Take myself for example: I found this opportunity because I was willing to search out of my province for a job that aligns with my values, includes my favorite tasks and gives me the ability to grow both personally and professionally. Experimenting with your career is a lot easier due the major increase in hybrid and remote work opportunities that came out of the pandemic, which has created new and emerging job opportunities. Take advantage of this!. Do this favor to yourself: do not be stuck with traditional ways of thinking- stay open to any opportunities that come your way!
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Are you a university graduate on a job search journey? Our Client Service team is hiring for 40+ entry level jobs per month!
If you are an English speaker and you looking for more career opportunities in Athens, full time jobs in Montreal and Vancouver or you are a job seeker in London, explore all Dialectica job openings here.
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