Unicorn Careers: How to Combine Different Areas of Knowledge for Your Profession
Alaina Levine, American science communicator and comedian, gave a series of talks at College UC Chile, focused on career development, entrepreneurship and job placement from an innovative and versatile perspective, which adapts to the career options of each person.
photo_camera Alaina G. Levine in lecture series at College UC. Photo credit: College UC Chile.
Like many College UC Chile students, Alaina G. Levine is a poster child for the multifaceted professional:
- B.A. in Mathematics and Anthropology from the University of Arizona
- Science communicator
- Career advisor
- Coach
- Comedian
- Founder of Quantum Success Solutions, a consulting firm that provides advice on career planning, networking, entrepreneurship, and organizational management.
In June 2022, Levine visited UC Chile and participated in a series of talks and discussions with College UC Chile students to encourage them to embrace the advantages of interdiscipline.
Levine believes career development should not be limited by a major field of study. By broadening her areas of interest, she was not only able to build her own career as a speaker, writer and consultant, but she was able to help other people enhance their areas of knowledge, such as science, through humor.
This is known as unicorn careers: many areas of knowledge that, when brought together, form a new career path.
Levine urged the students not to limit themselves and to believe in their possibilities.
“At College you are not limited by your major or studies. Nor are you limited by degrees or organizations. You are only limited by your imagination," said the speaker during the meeting at UC Chile.
From her own experience, she shared stories about how she developed her work based on her different areas of interest, and how this provides tools to take on current and future labor and social challenges.
Interests Beyond Hobbies
Because College UC Chile has multidisciplinary curriculum and encourages thoughtful research at the intersection of various disciplines, "many of its students will already have a network of national and even international people that they can draw on in the future."
Catherine Calderón, coordinator of College UC Chile's Liaison and Professional Development area, commented:
“Alaina's visit to College was fantastic and it is shocking how generous she is. We have so much to learn and value from the profiles we have."
She emphasized a point made by Levine, which is that it is especially important that each person takes their areas of interest seriously, to ensure they do not remain just hobbies:
"We have the opportunity to work on that here and having Alaina here has been a great push."
Levine gave a total of four talks to students, alumni and organizations linked to the UC Chile, as part of the activities carried out annually by College UC Chile. The meeting was supported by the UC Chile Innovation Center, the Office of the Vice President for Research, UC Chile Engineering, UC Chile Alumni and Mercado Laboral UC Chile.
Watch this video to learn more about College UC Chile.
Check out Alaina Levine's Spanish dubbed lecture series:
- How to Attract the Best Talent for Your Organization
- Crea tu carrera unicornio [Create your Unicorn Career]
- Entrepreneurship and Networking
- Redes y visibilización de la mujer en ciencia: resolviendo problemas complejos [Networking and Visibilization of Women in Science: Solving Complex Problems]
