Talk:Gary's Address

This is where work-like practice becomes crucial - it bridges the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

I'd like to support this point with a personal story. Early in my time as an immigrant, I applied for a job at a publishing company. Despite my degree in mechanical engineering, I was offered the position because of my hands-on experience running my own desktop publishing business. The hiring manager told me, "Your degree shows you can learn, but your experience proves you can do." This experience-over-degree preference is precisely why we're developing programs like Educaship and WiseNxt - to give people the chance to gain valuable experience early in their career journey.

For example, when I was transitioning into IT training, I maintained my "bread" job as a business professor while volunteering to organize IT workshops. This volunteer work became my "butter" job, allowing me to gain experience in a new field without risking financial stability. Eventually, this "butter" job led to new career opportunities in IT training. This approach of combining stability with passion-driven experience is something we're incorporating into our WiseNxt program. We want to give young people the opportunity to explore different roles and find their "butter" while still preparing for a stable "bread" job.

In fact, at CNMCyber, we've seen numerous cases where individuals with non-traditional backgrounds but relevant experience outperformed those with traditional degrees. This observation has reinforced our belief in the power of work-like practice and has shaped the development of our Educaship program.

Degrees open doors, but it's experience that helps you walk through them confidently. That's why our career revolution focuses on providing opportunities for real-world experience alongside traditional education. By doing so, we're not just preparing people for jobs - we're preparing them for successful, fulfilling careers.

Reflection Five: Search for Insightful Mentors

Claude

In the early 2010s, I unexpectedly secured a position with the US Marine Corps. I say 'unexpectedly' because I had no apparent qualifications for the role at the outset. My previous experience, however, may have contributed to landing this job.

I led the Russian component of a cultural program, given considerable freedom to innovate. The project had substantial resources but minimal oversight and bureaucracy. We extensively utilized technology and various methodologies.

Russian language proficiency was a key objective. Initially, we used standard textbooks and conversational resources. However, when the first cohort took the Defense Language Proficiency Test, they were surprised by its practical nature, being tested on real-world scenarios rather than textbook greetings.

For the second iteration, I collaborated with Professor Soboleva from the Defense Language Institute to develop a new curriculum, which we rapidly implemented and tested.

As a result, my students matched the listening skills of their peers at the Defense Language Institute. I believe continued curriculum development would have led to even better outcomes. While I consider my role successful, the project ended after a year due to budget constraints.

Afterwards, I stood at a crossroads between continuing as a language instructor or transitioning to information technology. Based on past experiences, I sought advice from industry insiders.

On the linguistic side, I consulted a high-ranking recruiter from a top cultural training provider. They explained the difficulties of finding innovative roles in the field due to fierce competition and limited opportunities. They candidly admitted that despite my results, hiring me would be challenging due to bureaucratic constraints and potential backlash from more credentialed competitors.

On the IT side, finding quality consultants proved more difficult. Some had narrow expertise or conflicting objectives. However, IT was evolving rapidly and offered more diverse roles than language training at the time. IT recruiters seemed more prone to burnout than their counterparts in more stable fields.

It's worth noting that finding my linguistic consultant was largely luck. While there's no shortage of advisers offering ideas without accountability, finding an honest, caring industry insider is rare but invaluable.

Meta

An Unexpected Career Turn

In the early 2010s, I landed a position with the US Marine Corps, despite having no apparent qualifications. My previous experience leading a Russian cultural program, which involved developing innovative solutions with extensive resources and minimal supervision, may have contributed to this opportunity.

A Successful Project

In this role, I aimed to improve Russian language proficiency among students. Initially, we used standard textbooks, but they didn't meet our needs. After a disappointing first attempt, I collaborated with Professor Soboleva from the Defense Language Institute to develop a new curriculum. Our students eventually matched the listening skills of their peers at the Institute.

A Crossroads

After the project ended due to budget constraints, I considered continuing as a language instructor or transitioning to information technology. Seeking advice from insightful insiders, I met with a high-ranking head of recruiting from a top cultural training provider. They warned me about fierce competition and limited opportunities in the linguistic field.

Challenges in Finding Honest Consultants

While I found a valuable consultant on the linguistic side, I struggled to find equivalent experts in information technology. Some had narrow expertise, while others had their own agendas. I realized that finding honest and caring consultants who can provide actionable advice is challenging.

A Lesson Learned

My experience taught me the importance of seeking advice from industry-based consultants who are both knowledgeable and honest. While there are many sounding-board advisers who can offer ideas, finding a consultant who truly cares and is accountable for their guidance is rare and valuable.

OpenAI

In the early 2010s, I unexpectedly secured a position with the US Marine Corps. I say "unexpectedly" because, in my view, I had zero credentials for this job on day one. I lacked both the necessary education and work experience. Perhaps my previous activities contributed to landing this job.

I led the Russian segment of a cultural program, developing it in highly innovative ways. This work involved extensive resources and minimal supervision, with virtually no bureaucratic roadblocks. We made extensive use of technology and various methodologies.

Achieving some level of Russian language proficiency was one of our objectives. For the first iteration, we used standard textbooks and conversational language resources. However, they didn't meet our needs. When the first cohort took the Defense Language Proficiency Test, they were surprised that no one greeted them with "Hello" in Russian, expecting a standard response. Instead, they were given a snippet from Moscow radio and asked to interpret what happened in the story.

For the second iteration, I reached out to Professor Soboleva from the Defense Language Institute and inspired her to develop a new curriculum. I built it after one workday to test it the next day.

As a result, my students matched the listening skills of their peers at the Defense Language Institute. I believe that if we had continued developing a new curriculum, new participants would have outperformed their peers. I consider my role successful; however, the project ended after a year due to budget constraints.

After that experience, I found myself at a crossroads, deciding whether to continue as a language instructor or transition to information technology.

Given my previous experience with social workers, this time I decided to seek advice from insightful insiders.

On the linguistic side, I connected with a high-ranking head of the recruiting department at a top cultural training provider. I met this person in an unofficial setting. After discussing my situation, they explained that finding a job in that field would be difficult due to fierce competition and limited opportunities, especially in innovative roles.

This knowledgeable insider said, "You have many competitors with better educational and experience credentials. Even if you achieved great results in your first experience, I cannot imagine hiring you. As a bureaucrat, I want to keep my role and avoid blame if anything goes wrong, including complaints from your competitors."

On the information technology side, I couldn't find consultants of the same quality. Some had narrow scopes of expertise and couldn't see the bigger picture. Others had their own objectives. It is worth mentioning that information technology was changing more rapidly and offered more roles than language training at that time. Technology recruiters seemed more prone to burnout and exhaustion compared to their stable-field linguistic peers.

I was fortunate to find a great consultant on the linguistic side. Based on my research, there is no shortage of sounding-board advisers who can provide numerous ideas without being accountable for them. Industry-based consultants are vital, but finding one who is both honest and genuinely cares is difficult.