I’ve always been extremely fascinated with artistic and technical aspects of cars, love discussing and learning about economics, and enjoy studying languages. For years, I wondered if it would ever be possible to mix these interests in the job world. Hearing Professor Conway’s lecture helped me understand the challenges one faces when trying to cohesively bring together more than one job field.
I first hoped to solely design cars, but soon realized that I was far behind in the process designers go through. One must begin early in high school, have a solid plan for the future, submit portfolios to local and nationwide exhibitions (for an extra leg up), and then attend a highly-regarded design school. Even then, the chance that you’ll stand out to a big-name company is very slim. What I didn’t realize is that most designers eventually end up at a good company, yet they design something so insubstantial compared to the final product. Theoretically, a designer could spend half of his or her career designing the left rear exhaust pipe on a Honda Civic and never see their idea come to fruition. Going through all of this specialized work with a small chance of designing something of note didn’t sound too appealing to me. Working for a bank also seemed very dull, as did being a hired translator. None of these jobs alone had any depth, so I wondered, why not try to create a unique field by bringing together each line of work?
I then turned to the idea of working for an automotive company in the financial field. While being able to work along side engineers and designers, I’d be able to incorporate my love of economics into my profession. Working in China and its booming car market would also bring languages into play. Combining these very different worlds will certainly be extraordinarily difficult, however, if worked out just right, it could lead to greater purpose and fulfillment than only being involved in one of these professional groups.