Life Experience Can Land the Job
Do you ever find yourself exhilarated and exhausted by turns? Or maybe delving into seemingly unrelated areas of interest? Those are signs of your creative mind at work! And you may be surprised to learn of the benefits of your unorthodox approach to learning and career.
Today, you’ll be hearing from a Hall of Fame member. The International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame (located at University of Oklahoma) inducted professor Kathy King in two thousand eleven. Professor of Adult and Higher Education at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Kathy is an award winning author who has published 30 books. Recent ones include Empowering Women through Literacy and The Professor's Guide to Taming Technology, others focus on workplace training and online learning. She is known for her conference sessions and innovative topics and is a popular international keynote and conference speaker, mentor, and professor.
Kathy's areas of research include instructional technology, faculty development, and mentoring. I met Professor King at the Text and Academic Authors Assoc. conference recently. While listening to her presentation there, I realized it was filled with ideas valuable for you, regardless of occupation.The core of Dr. King’s presentation was developing tools to help us meet our goals, whatever they might be. But in terms of setting those goals she emphasized the need to “be who you are as a result of your whole life experience.” That is especially important in the 21st century when the career a young person prepares for through training or higher education may not even exist four years later! What is essential in candidates for any position in any field is flexibility.
It is hard to get rid of the notion that ideally, one finds her niche early, sticks with it, and becomes a recognized expert, if not guru, of the field. I noticed from Dr. King’s CV that her Bachelor’s degree from Brown University was in Biochemistry, followed by a Master’s in theology and missions, a Master’s in adult education, and a doctorate in higher education from Widener University. So she has a number of strands in her life journey, even just looking at her education. Professor King gave us some examples of how earlier interests have been useful, maybe even essential, to later career opportunities.
She applied her early training in biochemistry to mastering technological tools. This is the type of cross-training that must be spelled out in cover letters and given top-billing in résumés or CVs. After researching the organization you will be interviewing with, you can customize your documents to emphasize the life experience that qualifies you for the position.
Like many of us, Dr. King has a lot of different balls in the air. She described some of the tricks and tools she uses to keep them from falling to the floor and rolling off into oblivion. Google calendar can be useful as it can be customized and used across all your devices. Although project management software might be worth the time to master, she enjoys having Excel serve the same purpose. In the interview Dr. King describes how to set up Excel to keep track of a number of simultaneous projects as you move through the steps to accomplishment.
Getting to know and accept your own individual process of writing, or whatever activity your field involves, will help you be the “master of your own universe.” If the timeline you set out proves unrealistic, you simply revise it. When your life consists of many different strands—interest in a wide range of ideas, projects, and so forth—lists and charts help to avoid feeling overwhelmed and helpless in face of the project viewed as a whole.
Dr. Kathleen King of University of Central Florida concludes with inspiring thoughts about attaining a balance in life between accomplishment, health, and activities that nurture your spirit.
Kathleen P. King, Ed.D. is a Professor of Adult and Higher Education at the University of Central Florida. She earned her doctorate in higher education from Widener University, Chester, Pennsylvania. She also has a masters in education in adult education from Widener, a masters of arts in theology and missions from Columbia International, Columbia, SC, and a bachelors of arts in Biochemistry from Brown University, Providence, RI.
International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame (located at University of Oklahoma) recognizes Dr. King's contributions to the fields of adult and higher education with her induction in April 2011. Because of her compelling presentations and insights on the topics of faculty development, distance learning, transformative learning, diversity, 21st century learning needs, and instructional technology, Dr. King is widely sought after as a keynote speaker nationally and internationally. She presents refereed research and presentations at educational and interdisciplinary academic conferences nationally and internationally.
Research and Publications Dr. King is the author of 20 books and over 175 published articles and research papers. Many of these are written across her major areas of expertise and research: distance learning, digital media, transformative learning, professional development, and instructional technology. Dr. King’s books and web-based audio materials are used as course materials in universities around the world and have a large following. She has led the development of numerous local and global innovative educational projects, reaching over 7.0 million learners through technology; most of these efforts have been underwritten by corporate, federal and state grants.
Awards, Recognitions and Service In addition to receiving numerous academic and professional awards in the field of higher education and adult learning, her co-edited book about distance education, Harnessing Innovations Technologies in Higher Education, received both the AERA Outstanding Book Award in 2009 and the Frandson Book Award from the University Continuing Education Association in 2007. Dr. King received the NYACCE Service Award for her Empowering Women through Literacy co-edited book and journal editorship in 2009, and the Lawrence Levin Award from NYACCE in 2006.
Currently, Dr. King is co-editor, Dr. Gabrielle Stroschen of DePaul University, of the refereed journal International Forum on Teaching and Studies as well as serving on several editorial boards of several other premiere journals. In addition, Dr. King is editor-in-chief for three Information Age Publishing book series: Higher Education, Adult Education and Emerging Technologies. She is also a member of the executive committee of the Commission of Professors of Adult Education (CPAE) (2002-2004, 2009-2010).
You can check out Dr. Kings books on Amazon and connect with her on LinkedIn.