Mercedes Muñoz
Boston University
Boston (42.3° N, 71.0° W)
featuring Jenna Alton, Lab Manager,Boston University, Boston (42.3° N, 71.0° W)
I had the pleasure of personally interviewing Jenna Alton over the summer of 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. As we started our conversation, I quickly realized that Alton’s insights regarding the post-undergrad job application processes, as well as her resilience and positive attitude, make her a wonderful source of information for anyone looking for employment after graduation.
Jenna Alton is a lab manager at Boston University’s Social Learning Lab where she works with applied human development and developmental psychology researchers studying the social and cognitive abilities of children. As a lab manager, Alton directs the Lab on an organizational level and also leads research projects of her own. Her current project, Career Essentialism, looks at how and why children associate certain careers with specific genders and races. Alton calls herself a “jack of all trades” and uses the skills she developed as an undergraduate to excel at her job.
Although Alton has been settled into a job she loves for over a year now, her road to Boston was not necessarily a straight path. As an undergraduate, she attended a small liberal arts college that was not necessarily “career oriented,” so she had to go the extra mile to search for the research opportunities she craved within her school. She participated in a program where students could build their own internships while receiving funding for a summer of work and ended up working at a neuroscience/psychology lab at the University of Chicago. Undergraduate internships similar to this one allowed Alton to develop her interest in research and helped her realize that research could be something she really enjoys.
After earning her bachelor’s degree, she began applying to graduate schools to continue her education in social psychology but unfortunately was not accepted to any programs. This is when Alton recognized she needed more experience in the field and began applying to lab manager positions. She says she “applied to thirty or forty jobs, and I think I went through about seven drafts of my cover letter and four or five of my CV.” This massive job application process took place within the span of about a year and a half. Because of the difficulty of finding opportunities in social psychology, Alton began to be more open about applying to jobs outside of what she thought her original interests were and expanded her search by applying for positions in developmental psychology labs as well. Alton says that her decision to be open-minded in the job application process helped her find a subfield of study that excites her even more than her original field did. Her current field aligns with her interests in ways she couldn’t see before. By broadening her horizons, she was able to increase her chances of employment and ultimately land a job she now really enjoys.
Jenna Alton’s story is a prime example of how bumps in the road prepare you for success in the future. Whether it was applying to thirty to forty jobs or packing up and moving to Boston with a week’s notice when an opportunity presented itself, she truly demonstrates the benefit of embracing the bumpy path to post-graduation employment. There is a saying in Spanish that says, “todo lo que se siembra se cosecha” which translates to “everything you plant will be harvested.” I believe this powerful saying applies to Alton, but it can also apply to any one of us. Jenna Alton worked hard to plant her seeds, and although it may have taken her longer to enjoy the fruits of her labor, she has been able to harvest rewarding experiences and growth in her field.
A lot of us (myself included) have this plan, this idea, of what we think we know we want, and we have a strictly plotted outline of how we are going to get there. This may lead us to forget about the inevitable bumps in the road instead of preparing for them. With the search for jobs becoming increasingly more competitive every year, it can be challenging to maintain a positive attitude. However, if we can all practice the self-reflection and determination of Jenna Alton, we can all choose to plant our seeds with the expectation that we may not be able to control every aspect of the growth of our crop. Eventually, though, we will be able to harvest the fruits of our labor. The path to a successful career is rarely straight, but it is always fruitful.