quo.ti.di.an
history and science
I am a recent graduate from Wesleyan University, now living in Brooklyn. For better or for worse, I double majored in History—with an intense concentration in Intellectual History—and Molecular Biology & Biochemistry. Yes, those two majors are intrinsically related despite what people may think. As intellectual historian Peter Watson contends in The Modern Mind, his polemical survey of twentieth-century intellectual history:
It seems obvious to me that, once we get away from the terrible calamities that have afflicted our century, once we lift our eyes from the horrors of the past decades, the dominant intellectual trend, the most interesting, enduring, and profound development, is very clear. Our century has been dominated intellectually by a coming to terms with science. The trend has been profound because the contribution of science has involved not just the invention of new products, the extraordinary, range of which has transformed all our lives. In addition to changing what we thing about, science has changed how we think.
After graduation, and the accumulation of this historical and scientific knowledge, I opted to find employment. As a result, I’ve become acquainted with the world of headhunters and human resources pprofessionals, neither of which I understand. When I go into an interview, undoubtedly, the first thing said is “Wow! What an interesting combination of majors!” I’ve tried to create a user-friendly way to correct those people, but I haven’t found it yet. The second question is “What can you bring to this job?” I have one major problem with this question: I can’t bring anything to these jobs. I am applying to entry-level legal assistant, or other similar jobs, and because it entails a lot of office/mundane work, I can’t imagine myself bringing anything spectacular to the job. Yes, I perform my tasks efficiently while also being cordial to the bosses. However, I don’t imagine myself effecting much change in a well-established, multi-million dollar law firm.
Legal headhunters are of a very special breed because oftentimes they have been to law school, but their present career centers around getting people like me employed in positions lasting only two years. When the interview turns to, “do you have any questions?” I always have one question that I’m too afraid to ask: “Why are you doing this?” Why are you sitting here, when you could be practicing law, pre-screeing candidates to become office boys? I’m curious as to what qualifies someone to do that. Headhunting is such a business, and I assume it comes down to making the clients, or huge law firms, happy. I doubt, however, that anyone would be happy to know that in the middle of my “interview,” the headhunter signed on to facebook and responded to a message.
