Thread:

Doing Interdisciplinary Studies

Post:
Doing Interdisciplinary Studies
Author:

Linda Logan
Posted Date:
February 26, 2015 10:20 PM
Status:
Published

How do I plan on bringing an Interdisciplinary approach to my professional job setting?

Well first off, I am not sure that an interdisciplinary approach is something that I do; I view
it more so as a characteristic of who I am naturally. Before pursuing my degree in INT
Studies, I had no knowledge of myself as an interdisciplinary, however, when I decided to
come back to NSU to complete my degree in Sociology online, I was told that there was no
offering and that I should consider completing it in Interdisciplinary studies. Mrs. Haynes
in the registrar's office was the first to mention the degree and thought that it would be a
good fit since I had already completed all of my course concentrations and only needed INT
core classes. As soon as she said this, I knew instinctively that this was the way to go,
because finally I understood that after all this time that this was exactly who I was
professionally as well as personally.
For the purpose of this discussion, I would like to show my interdisciplinarity in my
professional life as well as my personal life. Up until very recently, I was project managing
for the City of East Orange as a workforce developer. Initially, this was a 6 months
temporary position that started with me selecting adult applicants for an adult summer jobs
program. I was in charge of hiring for two programs which consisted of 200 positions
needing to be filled. At this time in the spring of 2013, the New Jersey economy still lagged
behind the rest of the country considerably in new jobs creation and as a result, I had over
2000 applications to process and review and during the initial interview process I witnessed
the residents total desperation for employment of any kind and these temporary programs
represented hope for all of them to relieve their overwhelming situations if only for a little
while.
My boss M.J. Peterson the Director of Employment and Workforce Development created
this city department 30 years ago and then went on to create programs in Chicago and in
Southern California. As she got closer to retirement age, she wanted to move back to her
native Pennsylvania and decided to take her old positon back 15 years ago at the behest of
an old friend, five terms Mayor Robert Bowser.
Ms. Peterson, faced with a shrinking budget and an unenthusiastic staff of civil servants
was totally disenchanted and fed up with the lack of quality and mediocre efforts of her staff
,and the way that her beloved department had lost its credibility searched outside for a fresh
perspective. Mrs. Peterson knew that this was her last year; the Mayor was up for re-election
and after 16 years in office it did not look promising.

At this time, I had just relocated to New Jersey 4 months prior from North Carolina after I
had spent almost 8 months there training and working as a Provider Services
Representative for Xerox. I got the call from an agency that my resume' had been selected
for an interview with the City. I jumped at the opportunity. I knew there was no way that I
wasn't walking away this positon.
I met with Mrs. Peterson and it was the most interesting interview I have ever been on and I
knew I was in the presence greatness. "Miz Pete", is a no nonsense, no wooden nickels, and
take no prisoners type lady and after I heard her story and how let down and defeated she
felt at this stage in her trailblazing career. I knew right then that if chosen for the position,
I would let her see that all of her life's work that she had invested for more than 30 years in
the urban minority communities across the nation hadn't been in vain. I knew I was capable
of dong this because not only did I possess the necessary hard skills like advanced office and
technology skills, I also possessed a passion for improving my community through outreach
and volunteerism
From the first day, I brought my "A Game", as the city workers in my department sat around
day after day doing absolutely nothing, I went to work. You see, I came to create something
new from something old and being that I was Corporate Tax veteran and had never worked
in public administration before, I had to lean on my own understanding and utilized what
had worked for me in my own personal experience when faced with most of the issues now
facing my new client base.
I let Miz Pete talk and tell me her stories about past experiences and I took that prior
information and used it as a guide and I began to run with it. First, I began reviewing the
stack of applications and at the same time created a document management and file
maintenance system to secure confidential information, and to track applicants progress at
a glance; I created new forms and streamlined others to suit the onslaught of new
information arriving daily from scheduling interviews, setting up workshops, background
checks, urine analyses, Form I9 and W-4 information. Organization of information and a critical
eye for detail was crucial to this process in order for it to run smoothly and these are skill sets and
knowledge derived from many years working in a corporate, fast paced and high pressured
environment.
After, the chosen candidates were installed in their summer positions, next on my list was to
recreate a robust adult workforce development program from the applicant pool. Ms.
Peterson left me alone to my own devices. I sought out and registered the department with
an organization called Career Closet that provided business cloths for unemployed women
that were participating in workforce development and who actively interviewing; I created a
weekly job club, which actively worked on creating functional resume's, curriculum vitae's
and professional cover letters and thank you letters. I coordinated group trips to job fairs
and provided referrals for food, clothing, and other municipal, county and state services.
Mayor Bowser lost the election and this meant that his staff and all appointed city officials,
who were not civil servants, were out of their jobs; however this did not include Ms. Pete,
she was a civil servant and could have moved into another positon, but she was tired and
ready to go. She retired on December 31, 2013, but left as a line item in the upcoming year's
budget money enough to cover my salary for the next year.

After only 8 months on the job, I had created a consistent client base that remained as high
as when I had started it. As of my last day, which was Friday January 27, 2015, at my weekly
job club meeting I had over participants in the room. They kept coming, and as those
participants found employment, everyday new clients joined the club.
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