You're Doing What With Your Major?

 

Spotlight on UK Alumna Michelle Harris

Major: BS Chemical Engineering (1994)

Current Career: Strategic Planner for Gresham, Smith and Partners

I am currently a strategic planner for a large architectural and engineering Firm headquartered in Nashville, TN.  I currently report to the Firm’s CEO, helping the management team develop their strategy to position the firm for success now and in the future.

Brief Description of Career Path:

After graduating from the University of Kentucky, I began my professional career in engineering consulting as a chemical engineer.  Through years of process engineering experience, I eventually transitioned into project management and senior level consultancy.  Along my journey, I learned quite a bit about strategy, which included identifying a strategy to save my job. I put my background in engineering to use in a different capacity; as manufacturing moved overseas, I found a place in the job market in site selection and economic development for manufacturing facilities overseas(working remotely from the states) and consulting communities on what kind of industry to attract as they began to lose manufacturing jobs locally.“Change is inevitable, and I realized I had to embrace it.” As the job market continued to transition, I continued to evolve professionally and continued to expand my network.  While reconnecting with colleagues and quite happy in my role as a consultant, I had no idea I was about to connect with individuals at Gresham, Smith and Partners who would give me the opportunity of a lifetime, to write my own job description!

Favorite UK memory/class:

Teaching UK 101 to freshman. I have always enjoyed giving back to others, especially where something so great had been given to me.  When I took UK101 as a Freshman it helped me understand the new world I was signing onto in college.  It connected me with peers and faculty that would help me all throughout my college education.  Being able to be a part of teaching the class and truly connecting with the apprehensions of some of the freshman gave me the opportunity to give back. 

What I know now that I didn’t know as a student:

Real world application! So many classes were so theoretical.  Even with a summer internship, many times the classes were not translated well enough into real world application.  In some cases I had been working years before I realized what I was supposed to be learning in the theoretical classes and more importantly, why I needed to learn it.

Advice to others considering a job or career change:

Change is inevitable. Embrace it.  Also, realize that in everything you do, you are creating an experience for yourself and for others whether it is for your clients, your supervisor, your peers or an interviewer.  Keep up with change, don’t grow stagnant in the role you are in and strive to create the most rewarding experience possible. If you are passionate about it, it makes good business sense (personally and professionally), continually monitor the situation around you and you may find an opportunity to give it a try.  One of the fastest growing elements of change to stay on top of is technological advancement and how it impacts us individually and the world we live in.