STEM - big picture vs. detail-oriented

[Sunshine State Sue]

What kind of STEM careers are well suited to a big picture kind of a person?

 

I am a STEM major, and I am a detail-oriented person. Ds16 has no idea what he wants to major in, but he definitely has my math gene. It is possible that he will be a STEM major but he is a big picture kind of guy. I honestly don't know if STEM careers are well suited to big picture people. :confused:

 

I think some are, but I'd love to get other's ideas. I have a master's degree in Industrial Engineering with a specialization in Operations Research. Honestly, I think that might be well suited to a big picture kind of a person because some of the things I used OR for I struggled with because they were more big picture. Educated guess was really what was needed. I always wanted to be perfectly correct. :blush:

 

Thanks!

[Arcadia]

I am thinking project lead or visualizer or urban planning (transportation) Basically any STEM career that requires one to be able to see in a macro sense and not micro.

 

When I was working in project management, I had to be able to see the big picture and let all my engineers and secretary get to the details. If I micromanaged, they would be upset.

 

Hubby is in R&D and he is the detailed oriented person (but he finds filing tax tough)

[Kathy in Richmond]

We've been through this same search this year with dd, who wants a STEM career but is most definitely a big picture, VSL, right-brained type of girl.

 

She started out in pure math, but that didn't really ring her bells. Then during her sophomore year, she switched to an interdepartmental major in applied math/computer science/statistics. It was better, but there were still way too many trees and not enough forest.

 

So when she gets back on campus in January, she's going to switch again (Argh!!) to product design. Product design is part of the engineering school at her university (within mechanical eng), so it's a STEM major. But its approach to problem-solving is global and integrates everything from structural mechanics to art to business planning. They start by looking at a big real-world problem; any details are learned as-needed in the process of solving that problem. So it ought to appeal to my big-picture kid.:)

 

Let's hope the third time's the charm.:glare: I have to say that I think she's nailed it this time. She's always happiest when she's creating and designing stuff. And thank goodness for the AP credits she had going in. If all goes as planned, she'll JUST be able to graduate on time...

[bugs]

Systems engineering? I have a mechanical engineering degree but am not detailed oriented. I prefer looking at the whole system as oppose to one part (i.e. valve).

[bugs]

So when she gets back on campus in January, she's going to switch again (Argh!!) to product design. Product design is part of the engineering school at her university (within mechanical eng), so it's a STEM major. But its approach to problem-solving is global and integrates everything from structural mechanics to art to business planning. They start by looking at a big real-world problem; any details are learned as-needed in the process of solving that problem. So it ought to appeal to my big-picture kid.:)

:iagree: That does sound like fun.

[Arch at Home]

Architecture is full of VSLs. Roles on projects vary from highly conceptual and design oriented to highly detail oriented. It is pretty easy for a VSL to find the right level of whole to parts for each individual's preferences. As an architect I also find that our best consultants (Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural, civil, acoustical, theatrical and more) are VSLs. The ability to step out of their own discipline and see the greater problem is highly beneficial.

[Nan in Mass]

Perhaps you should look more at which part of the process of building something she is suited for? There are parts of the process at the beginning where the details don't matter as much as the big picture (and there is no sense in settling the details because they will all have to be changed when the big picture changes), and parts later where the big picture is determined (and somebody who wants to alter it is NOT popular) where the details are super important.

 

Nan

[jennynd]

I am also a Mechanical Engineer and working as mechanical engineer right now. I will think most of us are big picture type guys and gals. There is certainly amount detail needed, as if if you are not detail enough.. plane gonna crash. but there is a lot more problem solving and imaginary..

[regentrude]

I am a theoretical physicist, and I know both kinds of physicists.

Some need to understand the big picture first and then work on the theory to support it (my DH is one of those)- others begin by performing detailed calculations and see afterwards where they led. Experimentalists can be similar.

If I had to generalize, I'd say the bold new ideas and breakthroughs probably come from the big picture people, while the actual applications of these theories come from detail oriented people.

But I think each science and engineering discipline has a place for both kinds.

[elegantlion]

I'm reading a book that might be helpful, A Whole New Mind. It's not a deep book, so far, but it shows how those big picture people are an important part of the modern work force. It has discussed a few STEM topics so far.

[spaceman]

Math, Physics, Chemical Engineering

[Brenda in MA]

What kind of STEM careers are well suited to a big picture kind of a person?

 

I am a STEM major, and I am a detail-oriented person. Ds16 has no idea what he wants to major in, but he definitely has my math gene. It is possible that he will be a STEM major but he is a big picture kind of guy. I honestly don't know if STEM careers are well suited to big picture people. :confused:

 

Sue,

 

There are definitely "big picture" type jobs in lots of STEM areas. I think these jobs tend to be in areas like project management or operations.

 

I really think that you can get to these "big picture" jobs through lots of majors, so I'd advise your son to pick an area of interest and go from there. In engineering school, I learned a lot of details, but once I started working, I didn't use them very much. But, having that knowledge really helped me to be able to interface with the "detail" people when I needed to, and it made me more effective in my position.

 

I had several jobs in research labs during college, and after several years at those, I decided that lab work wasn't for me. I wanted something different, but I really didn't know what. With my engineering degree, I ended up getting my first job in manufacturing support. I was able to directly interface with the people on the shop floor and work with management to track the production process and implement process improvements. This job proved to be an ideal mix for me of some details (the process data) and some big picture tasks (planning for and implementing the process improvements). I moved on after this job to one involving equipment testing, and then to a role that was supervising a small group of people and managing plant start-ups.

 

While this type of work may not seem very creative, there are actually a lot of opportunities to think big and to create. Sometimes, however, I was creating methods or plans, and not hard "products". Often times, it's only someone in this role between R & D and production who knows enough about both areas to "see" how a change has to be implemented and to figure out the best approach to see it through.

 

Many of the larger companies have development programs for new employees where they rotate them through several different areas (R&D, production, design, sales, etc.) over the course of a year or two. This way, they can see where to best use the new employee's skills. The new employee can also see what kind of work he or she enjoys.

 

So, I really don't think that the actual major is that critical, as long as it's something that the student enjoys. He/she should realize that schooling will provide background knowledge in many different areas and that he/she may not use all that knowledge in the future, but it will likely be beneficial to have. I do think that there is some value in school in making "detail" people think "big picture" and vice versa. No matter which "type" he/she is, he/she will need to work with the other type and will need to understand where that person is coming from.

 

What an exciting time to see so many of our young people launching or getting ready to launch. My oldest is a senior (Mech Eng) this year and has begun interviewing for jobs. He has also been thinking about what type of industry he might was to work in, and what type of job he'd enjoy. I hope he winds up in a field that suits him.

 

Brenda

Edited October 26, 2012 by Brenda in MA

[Brenda in MA]

So when she gets back on campus in January, she's going to switch again (Argh!!) to product design. Product design is part of the engineering school at her university (within mechanical eng), so it's a STEM major. But its approach to problem-solving is global and integrates everything from structural mechanics to art to business planning. They start by looking at a big real-world problem; any details are learned as-needed in the process of solving that problem. So it ought to appeal to my big-picture kid.:)

 

Kathy,

 

I hope your dd likes the product design major. My son's school also has this option for a major, but you have to declare it very early, and he wasn't sure about it, so he didn't go for it. They also have a special manufacturing processes sequence of courses in their ME major, and that is what he's decided to do. He is currently taking a class where the students are divided into groups and have to come up with an idea for a product that they will be able to make in the MFG lab. He is absolutely loving the course.

 

I'm so happy that he is enjoying this course because he really suffered through several courses full of details in the introductory sequence that he didn't really enjoy. Now that diligence on his part is paying off. I hope your dd falls in love with the product design area!

 

Brenda

[Gwen in VA]

I really think that you can get to these "big picture" jobs through lots of majors, so I'd advise your son to pick an area of interest and go from there. In engineering school, I learned a lot of details, but once I started working, I didn't use them very much. But, having that knowledge really helped me to be able to interface with the "detail" people when I needed to, and it made me more effective in my position.

 

:iagree:

[Sunshine State Sue]

But I think each science and engineering discipline has a place for both kinds.

 

So, I really don't think that the actual major is that critical, as long as it's something that the student enjoys. He/she should realize that schooling will provide background knowledge in many different areas and that he/she may not use all that knowledge in the future, but it will likely be beneficial to have. I do think that there is some value in school in making "detail" people think "big picture" and vice versa. No matter which "type" he/she is, he/she will need to work with the other type and will need to understand where that person is coming from.

 

Thanks everyone. Regentrude and Brenda, you were especially helpful.

[TechWife]

So when she gets back on campus in January, she's going to switch again (Argh!!) to product design. Product design is part of the engineering school at her university (within mechanical eng), so it's a STEM major. But its approach to problem-solving is global and integrates everything from structural mechanics to art to business planning. They start by looking at a big real-world problem; any details are learned as-needed in the process of solving that problem. So it ought to appeal to my big-picture kid.

 

I was coming to post about product design! At our state university it is Industrial Design & is also part of the engineering college. There are several classes that are taken in the School of Design, though.

[Lori D.]

Ds16 has no idea what he wants to major in, but he definitely has my math gene...

 

 

Sounds like THIS (quote from your post) is the core of your REAL question -- i.e. -- "What are DS's strengths and interests, and what kinds of careers (particularly STEM careers) will match up?"

 

I know I keep beating this same drum of career exploration :tongue_smilie:, but I REALLY do think it helps people in finding a career that will be satisfying, by FIRST figuring out:

- strengths

- interests

- preferred modes of working

- personal values

 

By combining the results to all 4 of those areas, most people find there are a number of occupations that fit them -- many will be STEM jobs!

 

Think of the tons of money, time, and frustration your student can save by investing in a bit of career exploration and even a time with a professional career counselor. While I really do believe no experience is ultimately "wasted", I think what with the high cost of college tuition, most of us just don't have the money to spend on extra years in college classes to figure out what we want to be when we grow up". The economy is such that we kind of need to know that FIRST. I also know so many people who were advised to go into certain fields (job security; pays well; etc.), and are SO unhappy because it doesn't fit their personality and values -- but they can't change jobs now due to having families, the cost of college, etc.

 

 

JMO: I think it is possible -- just a whole lot harder -- to hold up various jobs which you know little about, and say, "How about this one? Do you like this job and do you want to do it?" -- rather than listing what you DO already know about *yourself*, and comparing the "list of you" occupations that have already been categorized by types of skills, interests, and preferred modes of working, and personal values to find the best matches for you. :)

 

To get you started, below is a "replay" of my career exploration drum :tongue_smilie: in case it helps. It REALLY helps to start with an Interest Inventory (#4 below), and then combine the results with the Work Values Survey (#3) and Personality Inventory (#2) to have a clear picture of how you like to work and what gives value and meaning to you in life. Then it's pretty easy to look at ANY occupation and see how close of a match it is for you.

 

THEN, you can invest the bulk of your time researching about the top job fits:

- what do they actually DO (read/research, job shadowing, internship)

- what education/training is required (degree/major search)

- where to find that education/training (college search)

 

You will have already crossed off occupations that aren't STEM jobs, and don't fit well with personal values. Then as you start researching specific jobs, you can also cross off jobs that don't make enough money or have advancement or are only located in places you don't want to live, etc. And once you have your "finalist" list, you can see which colleges offer that as a major, and start picking a college.

 

BEST of luck as you help DS begin the process of learning about himself and how that matches up with various occupations! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

_______________________________

 

4 types of career assessments / tests:

 

1. Aptitude Assessment (Work Skills) = determines specific abilities/skills

(i.e., can you type, do you have specific certifications, etc.)

California Career Zone: free online skills profiler

Career One Stop: free online skills profiler

 

2. Personality Inventory= helps see how you fit in with others in a work place

(examples: Meyers-Briggs Indicator; Keirsey Temperament Sorter)

Fun Education: free online test

Team Technology: free online test

Personality Lab: free online test

 

3. Work Values Survey = what brings meaning/is important to you in working

Work Values Inventory: free online test

Saint Anselm College: free online test

Career Center: free printable test

 

4. Interest Inventory = ways you like to work

(examples: Campbell Interest & Skill Survey; Strong Interest Inventory)

New York Career Zone: free online interest organizer

California Career Zone: free online test

 

 

Start with an interest inventory test that helps you understand the ways you like to work, which then narrows down what kinds of jobs match up with the ways you like to work. Most of these tests are a variation of the Holland Code, organized around 6 interest areas, and then the career fields/jobs that use those interests. See this (Wikipedia article.

 

Both the NY Career Zone and CA Career Zone websites have tests for figuring out interests (i.e., top 3 Holland Codes) and then matching them to specific jobs, and then links to explore hundreds of jobs.

 

The self-scoring Kuder Career Search test ($5 + shipping), is also a nice resource. It is organized a bit differently than the Holland Code-based tests, which makes it a little more difficult (but not impossible) to integrate the test results with all the resources available on the web (which are largely Holland Code-based). I used the Kuder Career Search with homeschoolers last spring, and it was a pretty good indicator for most of the students.

 

Then once you know your specific interests and have an idea about some possible job areas, you can explore the US Bureau of Labor's free online Occupational Outlook Handbook for info on specific careers, plus different ways to do a search to come up with a list of careers to look at (by salary; by amount of education required; by how much growth that field expects in the next 10 years; etc.).

 

 

Another way to explore is with Career Clusters, a nat'l educational tool that divides career areas into 16 "clusters", and then into 70 specific "pathways" of the essential knowledge/skill required for the "cluster". The pathways then branch into over 1800 "crosswalks", which are the specific jobs, which can be researched in the Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), or by "crosswalk" at the Dept. of Labor's O-Net website.

 

O-Net (for Occupations), allows you to read info on the various "crosswalks", search by career cluster, industry, STEM jobs, and more. The best starting point at this website is the "My Next Move" section, which has two different search engines (by industry or by key words), and an interest profiler. The OOH is similar in organization to the career clusters, in that it loosely organizes the hundreds of jobs under 25 "occupational groups" (see the list going down on the lefthand side of the OOH home page).

 

Glencoe website: Career Education: Career Clusters information

Career Technical Education website: Career Clusters information

List of 16 Clusters, 70 "Pathways"

Career Cluster Interest Survey (the test)

 

 

Other helpful resources:

 

- What Color is Your Parachute for Teens

Part 1 discusses what the 4 different types of tests help you know about yourself for matching up with jobs.

Part 2 covers what kind of education/training you'll need for specific jobs.

Part 3 is about the job search process.

 

- career exploration resources available through your DS's community college (since he is dual enrolled)

 

- local professional career counselor (for a fee)

 

- Crown Ministries online career exploration package (for a fee)

Edited October 27, 2012 by Lori D.

[Bluegoat]

I can think of quite a few that might apply:

 

My husband works in meterology, which seems to have a lot of big picture types (and apparently tends to have a lot of job opportunities).

 

When I was in the army I worked in a geomatics cell for a while. It was really interesting work and applicable to many fields, and again, a fair number of jobs. My dh's father was a remote sensing guy which also is similar, or geographical sciences in general.

 

Medicine could be a good option for someone who enjoys working with people. Maybe especially a specialty like family medicine that is concerned with the whole individual (and ideally the whole family) and coordinating their care with other specialists.

 

Areas of study to do with ecosystems could be very appropriate for someone interested in complex systems. For someone who is very outdoorsy there could be some good options like working as a field naturalist or even in something like parks management, which often wants a strong science background. As far as I know jobs in these areas can be harder to come by at the moment.

 

Something that people don't always consider are aspects of agriculture or even studying something like permaculture or food systems.

 

And for a slightly different approach there is always the philosophy of science, which is a really growing area in the study of philosophy. There are a lot of new programs of study being created with that kind of focus. Ideally those who go into this field will have a strong math and science background. They might do undergraduate or graduate work in the sciences or math before going into the philosophy of science, or do a double major as an undergraduate - there are a number of ways to become qualified. Philosophy jobs are generally in academia of course, and aren't always plentiful, but this is an area of growth.

[Sunshine State Sue]

I know I keep beating this same drum of career exploration :tongue_smilie:, but I REALLY do think it helps people in finding a career that will be satisfying, by FIRST figuring out:

- strengths

- interests

- preferred modes of working

- personal values

 

Lori,

 

Your post made me laugh. Ds is strong in math, but he has no real passion for math as far as I can tell. His passion is for basketball, but he knows that the chances of making the NBA are slim. Doesn't seem too keen on the international leagues yet. He spends all available free time playing or watching videos. He will think about career exploration tomorrow.

 

He does say that he doesn't want a desk job.