Melissa
My mother says I synthesize material very well. How can I benefit from this awkward positivity?
I think the question says it all. I can take a number of random things and start interconnecting them to one another and adding additional information because its just how my mind works. There are so many ways to about solving a problem. #research #reading #recruitment #enrichment
4 answers
Debra Dukes
Debra’s Answer
The ability to synthesize information - lots of different information -and make heads or tails of it, is a great skills to have! Many of my grad students WISH they had that skill. This skill can be utilized in almost any occupation or setting. It's certainly a transferable skill. A few come to mind... teaching - any level, writing - communications, journalism, the law, finances - think financial planning or investing, researcher, philosophy, counseling.... imagine being able to help others see "the other side" and how they feel! etc. Mold that skill into what YOU want to do with it.. the possibilities are endless!
Kate Wallace
Kate’s Answer
Hi Melissa,
You can do lots of things with that! From my own experience, I can say that synthesizing information is extremely important to me as a grant writer. I research potential funders (foundations and corporations) for my nonprofit's programs, understand their priorities and specific guidelines, and then review lots of information on the programs that need funding. After I review all this information carefully, I synthesize it into a formal grant proposal that matches with the funder. This could be a good area for you to try if you enjoy writing and helping support nonprofit programs.
Good luck!
Kate
Daniela Silva
Daniela’s Answer
Hi Melissa,
Quiz: Should You Be a Writer?
https://www.thebalance.com/take-this-quiz-to-see-if-you-should-be-a-writer-4100311
Best!
Hmmmm... Thought about it, but thought it would fail because I might be a bit confusing at parts. Its important for the reader to understand the flow, yet everyone's flow is different from Kerouac to Proust. Oh god that sounds so elitist, I did love Deborah Harkness. I don't know if I have a full story in me, I have tried children's books privately, but they were to childish and complicated all at the same time. I talked about a turtle making it to the mailbox and back, but it proved to be long, is that actually possible! LOL. Thank you for making me think about writing again.
Melissa
Andrew Forsman
Andrew’s Answer
Melissa,
This "awkward positivity", as you put it, is actually one of most important skills someone can possess for jobs in the knowledge economy--regardless of the specific field they go into. People who are skilled at determining what information is credible and how it can be combined and used with other information can help leaders in any field make better informed decisions with their limited time and attention. They are also able to catch problems (or invent solutions!) that other people probably never would have thought of.
Kate spoke about her experience as a grant writer-- my job is on the other end of that nonprofit/grant recipient equation. I help nonprofits and governments collect and analyze data to evaluate how effective their social programs are and how they can improve them. There are also evaluators that help grant-giving organizations evaluate how much (or little) change that their investments are making toward the issues they care about.
Recently I was tasked with researching how many states have (or have had) policies that incentivize early childhood educators to gain more education and stay in their jobs longer by increasing their pay when they do those things. Our state is considering passing a similar policy, but lawmakers and advocates for the pay increase needed to know how other states actually paid for those policies and what effect (if any) it had on the overall quality of teachers in the field over time. That project was 100% research and synthesizing information.
Don't doubt yourself, it's a blessing!
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