Galatasaray!

Career Portfolio

            “A sociology major…really?” This is the reaction that I might illicit when I tell somebody my major. Often times I tell them I am doing “pre-law” and then say “sociology” under my breath. Why does sociology get no respect? Even political science and psychology are looked upon with more “prestige”. The worst response comes from other South Asian students who are ALL supposedly going to medical school; though I don’t like to generalize. Is sociology useful? Does it provide for society? I was once indoctrinated to believe that I shouldn’t choose a major in the liberal arts; especially sociology. But like many converts to sociology, I just felt my first major of choice was not really working out for me (pre-health). I chose this major because I figured why not at “preview”. However, in a very short time frame I realized that I hated the major; despite my good grades. I didn’t like blowing 20-60 dollars every month at Tutoring Zone (a private tutoring service for UF students) either. I realized I had to change my major. I was in an intro level sociology class, and I absolutely loved what I was learning. Why not make this my major?

           The fact of the matter is that most degrees are just certificates of trainability. Even advanced degrees such as chemical engineering are just certificates of trainability in a certain field (like chemical engineering). I want to pursue a career in law which is something that I feel sociology is preparing me for. I had the chance to interview my friend Nusrat M. who is currently a lawyer at an immigration firm in Houston, Texas. I chose to list her e-mail interview first because I plan to follow in the same career path.

1.        What made you decide to become a sociology major when you were in college?

-          I was originally a psychology major, but I wasn’t satisfied with it. I decided to change my major sophomore year to sociology because I was taking a sociology class and I realized that I could better use what I was learning in sociology for my career in law.

 2.        What did you think you were going to do with that degree and how different is it from what you are doing today?

-          During my freshman year, I just chose psychology as my major, with medical school after that. However, sophomore year I changed my major to sociology. The nature of the material in my sociology classes helped me commit myself to a future in a legal career.

3.        Can you describe your job for me? What is the best and worst part?

-          Well, I’m a new lawyer, so I still haven’t gotten over the fact that I’m actually doing what I set out to do. There are many negative aspects about my job like the merging of my free time and work time. However, at the immigration firm in particular, the worst part is not being able to find any legal remedies for a client.     

4.         What are your responsibilities/job description?

- I haven’t been to court yet, but when I do, ill tell you what it is like. Most of my work is just “grunt work”; legal research, talking to potential clients and whatever else gets handed down to me. However, research is my main responsibility; something that my studies in sociology has helped me with.

 5.    How did you become interested in the legal system?

- My interest in law was almost a direct result of my undergraduate work in sociology. However, after I changed my major to sociology, I still had an internship for the summer before my junior year. I worked for a forensic psychologist in Palm Beach County. My work consisted mostly of making copies and just routine office work. However, I had the opportunity to work with prisoners. I realized I was more interested in studying what social conditions lead to incarceration, rather than the mental issues of the incarcerated.

             Honestly, I want to pursue a career in law because it is lucrative. However this is not the main reason for wanting to have a legal career. I see undergraduates on campus, many of whom may be sociology majors protesting for one reason or another. For me, this kind of activism is pointless. If I were to pursue any type of activism (which I plan to), I would feel that having a strong understanding of the legal system and using that system to your advantage would lead to success in an endeavor.

            The law isn’t the only field in which a sociology degree would be useful. I have had the privilege to take a “Sociology of Women” class with Meggan Jordan who is a graduate student at UF. Meggan also works at the office of Veterans Affairs (VA). I asked Meggan similar questions to those listed above.

1.   What made you decide to become a sociology major when you were in college?

From a very young age I was sensitive to inequality, although I couldn’t articulate exactly what bothered me about being poor or seeing others poorer than my family. By the time college came around I was a huge radical leftist. The reason for this was because I loved anything that challenged authority and the status-quo (call it my teen angst phase). I wanted to take classes titled Worker’s Rights and Marxism or Socialist Feminism. Sociology seemed to be the most radical out of all the social sciences - and I was pretty damn radical - so it was a good fit.

 

2. what did you think you were going to do with that degree and how different is it from what you are doing today?

When I first started out, I thought “well maybe sociology would give me more practical skills than if I were to go into something like art.” At the end of my education, I can see that it was a wise decision. Sociology has taught me relevant skills for today’s job market. The only thing I regret is getting all three degrees (B.A., M.A., PhD) in sociology. If I could do it all over again, I would do it like this: B.A. – fine arts or creative writing, M.A. – anthropology, Phd – sociology, with two graduate certificates in women’s studies and public health.

 

     3.         Can you describe your job(s) for me (at the VA and teaching)? What is the best and worst part of each job?

The VA has their own research division, populated by M.D’s, social scientists, and therapists. At the VA I am a project coordinator. What this means is I manage the day-to-day affairs of certain research projects at the VA. I report directly to the study’s PI (principle investigator, the person who gets the grant $). My duties range from conducting interviews to ensuring the study gets through IRB.  I work 20 hours a week at the VA and can thankfully make my own schedule around teaching…

 

When I first started out in teaching, I spent a lot of time planning my syllabus, reading articles, and making lecture notes. Now, I spend less time doing those things and more time facilitating classroom discussions and thinking of interesting questions to ask the class. I spend about 10 hours a week grading and updating the class website. I love teaching because it keeps me grounded. After working in a cubicle all day at the VA, I’m ready to go talk with students and get into a lively debate. I also enjoy watching students’ minds change throughout the semester (doesn’t always happen, though)

 

      4. what are responsibilities/job description?

 I think I just answered this in #3.

      5. What interested you about the military which led to your job at the VA.?

I think the correct phrasing of this question should read “what interested you about health…” because the VA is separate from the Department of Defense, which deals more with the military side of things. So, I’m interested in helping veterans become healthy and have happy lives at home; I am not interested in helping them become better soldiers or enforcing policies I disagree with. The VA is a hospital, yet so much more. It’s a life care system, where the doctors actually want to treat you before you become sick. If you’re going to be cared for from 18 to death, wouldn’t the system be heavily invested in preventative care? As someone interested in health care reform, this perspective intrigued me. I don’t think I could work for DoD or a defense contractor, but I do feel good about improving veterans’ health. Even if a president declares a war of choice, the soldiers still do everything that is asked of them. At least that is how I justify it to myself.

 

6.     Do you have any advice for people that want to be involved with Veterans Affairs?

               If you want to work for the VA, you will work in an environment that will give you great benefits and an ability to transfer to any VA hospital in the U.S. or overseas. It’s always a good thing to work in government – it gives you professional experience without having to worry about food prep, advertising, or product sales. You will still feel pressure to make “the customer” happy, but you’ll be providing care, not trying to sell them a car. But you’ll also feel pretty damn good about your job, especially when a veteran shakes your hand, looks you in the eye, and thanks you.

              However, there are some difficult things you have to deal with – the inability of the VA to make fast-paced changes, the feeling that the entire philosophy of the hospital is still stuck in the 1950’s, the fact that it is not a very “hip” place to work (almost no people under 30 work there), and the fact that their computer systems are atrociously out of date (no flash drives allowed at work; only browser is I.E. 6!). If you work in the research division, you’ll rely on soft money for your salary (meaning grant money that runs out every 1-5 years).

             If this sounds like the job for you, then I would recommend you market yourself as a researcher with an array of social science training (play up your statistics and software programs). Many people in the health-related fields get jobs there, but social scientists can get their foot in the door if they know the right person. Or, you could email your resume to any of the PIs at the research divisions – they’re always looking for help. To do this, you will need a PI that is getting a study funded. A good way to figure out who is working on what is to go to the VA’s website where they list recently funded grants (called HSR&D or RR&D offices). Any grant is a potential job. Usually these are openings that they do not post on websites because they either recruit their own students or hire from within. But oftentimes not – I just wrote a grant that needs a project coordinator and two transcriptionists at the moment. Of course, if you want to be the PI yourself one day, you have to have a Phd.

Another, less lucrative but very important field that a sociology degree prepares a person for is that of social work. In my opinion social work is probably THE ideal career path for sociologists (other than academia). In its early days, social work was seen as “women’s work” and was shunned by academic sociologists. I personally do not see myself doing social work; the job description sounds great, but the salary is less than enticing. According to Payscale.com. a social worker who has been on the job less than a year has a median income of 30,000 dollars a year. Not so bad right? This seems like a great entry level position. However the median income of a social worker who has been working over twenty years is 41,000 dollars. The importance of the job is clearly not reflected in its salary. My aunt Neliza A. used to be a social worker before she got married. She told me that it was a job for a person with rich parents. Her parents supported her throughout college (where she double majored in Sociology and Women’s studies), and through her years as a social worker. My aunt’s job consisted of dealing particularly with the elderly (this was Palm Beach County of course, and not all old people there are rich). She would drive to their homes, help them fill out paper work, make case reports. These cases were of particular importance during the weeks and months after a hurricane; she would go investigate claims and look at damages. She has an extensive knowledge of local government procedures, and necessary steps to take after events such as a death in the family, a hurricane, or loss of employment. Her responsibilities would often include counseling and even crisis prevention. It is very unfortunate that social work is reduced to such unimportance. The conservative view is that social works “takes” money and doesn’t “make” money. However if we help people become effective, producing individuals, they will benefit society.

            Right now, I have my mind set on getting into law school and eventually practicing law for a living. I do not know what area of the law I want to specialize in. If I were to work for the government, I would be a prosecutor, and carry out my activism through this. However, I realize that law school is not for everybody. After taking the capstone course, I realize that I have more options than I once realized. Some of these options are better paying than others. However, in this economy having a job is probably filled with at least a little prestige; compared to not having one.