Dear reader,
Let’s take a quick poll, shall we? Think back to when you were graduating high school. What did you want to be when you grew up? For my part, I was certain I wanted to be a neurosurgeon. How about you? (I’d actually love to hear your response btw if you want to shoot me back an email :))
And what is it that do you do now?
9 times out of 10, when we ask this question, the answers are understandably completely different. The point is, we rarely know who we’re going to be and how we want to show up in the world in some pre-ordained way, before having the experiences we have.
Thankfully, after spending weeks shadowing neurosurgeons in the UPMC operating room, that desire of mine was laid to rest. But that only came from immersion. And that’s what today’s newsletter edition is all about!
At Hopkins, we teach life design; not dissimilar to product or UI/UX design, it is a philosophy that came out of Stanford and was influenced by the Silicon Valley ideals of creating MVPs, iterating, and building solutions to tackle pain points. I’m excited for you to learn more about how we bring this design thinking approach to our students, and what that means for you!
Warmly,
Alia Poonawala
Executive Director @ Hire Hopkins
Connect with me on LinkedIn | hirehopkins@jhu.edu
Emma O’Rourke Powell
Associate Director @ Hire Hopkins
Connected with me on LinkedIn | hirehopkins@jhu.edu
Correction from last month’s newsletter: our featured alumni is Sue Anne Tay, not Sue Ann Tay. We apologize for this error.
You may have heard us throw around the terminology “life design” a bunch. But apart from a fun-sounding practice, what does it entail? When Farouk Dey, our Vice Provost of Integrative Learning and Life Design arrived at JHU in 2018, he dramatically transformed the way our career centers approach career planning and brought in this philosophy.
What life design isn’t:
Let’s start with the traditional career planning model: students decide what they want to do their first year and then focus on that for the entire duration of their time in university, hoping that they will continue to like it during their first job.
So then, what is life design?
Life design is an approach that favors students proactively exploring threads of what interests them through mentorship and immersive experiences early on in their careers and iterating to get to a clearer vision over time. Life design is a proactive approach.
Why life design?
Students who engage in life design understand “the importance of taking risks, of persistence, of pursuing curiosity, and of being prepared for chance events that…bring opportunities.” (1) Trying new experiences, like internships and other experiential learning opportunities, is at the center of a life design approach. This ultimately leads to young adults who know themselves and their interests, and therefore are better prepared for their careers.
How does a life-design prepared student help employers?
Individuals with a life design approach are more likely to bring these critical skills to their workplace. (2)
- Complex problem solving
- Critical thinking
- Creativity
- People management
- Coordinating with others
- Emotional intelligence
- Judgement and decision making
- Service orientation
- Negotiation
- Cognitive flexibility
(1) https://hub.jhu.edu/2018/10/19/farouk-dey-success-skills/
(2) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/five-future-directions-university-career-services-farouk-dey/
“I’ve been interviewing candidates for over 20 years and I can say with the confidence that this was the most talented group of students I’ve ever seen.
Please save us a slot for next year’s grads!”
-N.Y., Managing Partner, Consulting
When it comes to life design, Dave Evans is the person to speak with. Evans is a co-founder of the Stanford life design lab and author of the books: Designing Your Life, and Designing Your Work Life. Evans sat with our Vice Provost, Dr. Farouk Dey to discuss the future of work and how people can design their work and their life journeys in this “new” world.
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