On January 11, Dr. Jenny Rankin came to Laguna Beach High School to give a career talk during tutorial. A Laguna Beach High School alumna, Dr. Rankin has been featured in many newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and now, Brush & Palette! Dr. Rankin shared valuable information during her talk for high school students eager to prepare for their future careers.
Dr. Rankin began her career as a junior high school teacher, experimenting and growing a passion for data. She soon realized there were ways to present data more comprehensively. To share these new techniques, Dr. Rankin has authored 14 books, lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, and Columbia, given a TED Talk, and now works as a Fulbright Specialist for the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Rankin accredited these fantastic opportunities to hard work and emphasized taking risks. Drawing from her advantageous career moves, Dr. Rankin gave students great advice on successful careers.
If you never ask, the answer is always no.
Dr. Rankin has accomplished so much from Oxford to Comic-Con to writing for Psychology Today because she was qualified and asked. One of the reasons people need help to advance their careers is because they hesitate to take action. The majority of the time, the worst thing that can happen by asking is a negative response; however, if you never try, you will never know. Dr. Rankin anecdotally spoke about a time when she went up to an organizer of an education conference and asked to be a speaker. Despite not knowing the organizer beforehand, she was granted permission to become a keynote speaker at the event.
Reaching out to event coordinators, journalists, or even your boss can propel you in your career. It will not only immediately benefit you, but the more you include these experiences in your resume, the more seasoned and vetted you will appear to any employer, making them more likely to say yes to you, too.
There are “Gatekeepers” in every profession.
While discussing how to utilize social media, Dr. Rankin pointed out that when you’re applying for a new job or want to move up in your career, there is always a “gatekeeper” – someone higher up than you who you must impress to land the position. These gatekeepers are usually older rarely using TikTok or Snapchat. Dr. Rankin suggests using the “Big Four” to your advantage: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Although you may still be in high school and have yet to have a LinkedIn profile, Dr. Rankin encourages continuity throughout each social media page. If you give someone your Facebook profile, they should be able to quickly look you up on LinkedIn under an identical or similar username. To ensure that you aren’t forced to make your username Name1234567, you should create all your accounts now and save them for later.
However, when you do start using your account, make sure to post on each app consistently. Dr. Rankin uses a social media management app that allows her to schedule posts to be released so she remains active on all her accounts; what you post only matters if you try to add value with each addition. Dr. Rankin’s example was reposting an article and providing new insight into the topic. Whenever possible, try to tailor each post specifically to the platform. Search each app for specific trending hashtags, and you can even get technical to examine the analytics and performance of each post.
As high school students learn more about their interests and take steps toward their future, it is vital to be proactive like Dr. Rankin and strategically utilize resources like social media. Thank you so much, Dr. Rankin, for speaking at our career talk.
