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4/27/10
Just One Unexpected Conversation
By Guest Blogger, Cecilia A Elliott, Human Resource Director for Sodexo Health Care Services
“So how did you get into dietetics and HR?"
That's a question I'm asked many times and sometimes I feel a little pressure to tell a story of how it all "just happened" and how carefully I planned every minute of my career. But honestly, my career really just evolved one unexpected conversation at time.
I entered college with no specific destiny in mind. My affinity for the sciences and the medical field lead me to start my journey as a volunteer "candy striper" at a hospital. After 2 semesters though, I decided it was not for me. Then, I volunteered a summer in the physical therapy department transporting patients and cleaning whirlpools. Also not for me so I considered research and spent another summer in a lab cleaning Petri dishes and working with white lab rats. Once again, not for me.
I was in the spring semester of my second year at college and I still had no idea what I wanted to do "when I grew up." And then it happened. The first of many unexpected conversations.
One afternoon I stepped into an elevator and I notice the other passenger was wearing an ROTC uniform. I was intrigued because I had taken 4 semesters of ROTC and yes, I had also considered the ARMY as a career option. My intrigue led to me to ask my fellow passenger what her major was. When she enthusiastically replied, “Nutrition,” I wanted to learn more. We had a brief conversation (22 floors worth) about the nutrition major. And there it was, in just a few seconds after 2 years of searching and after just one unexpected conversation, I had found my major – Nutrition.
That evening, I called my parents and told them I was going to be a Dietitian and they asked, “What’s that and how much do you get paid?” The question put a damper on my epiphany and I did wonder why fate or divine intervention had not happen two years earlier, but it didn’t really matter because I had a MAJOR!
True to my original excitement about majoring in nutrition, I enjoyed my career in dietetics in both hospitals and seniors for more than 12 years. When the time came to shake up my comfort zone and career so I started teaching soft skill management courses. These courses helped me discover an interest in HR and led me to wonder how I could combine the two disciplines. And that's when it happened again. Another unexpected conversation.
I received a phone call from an HR director who asked the magic question, “How would you like to recruit dietitians?” It was the perfect combination of HR and dietetics! Two years of recruitment and I was happy, but once again I found myself in yet another unexpected conversation.
I received a call from one of our HR Vice Presidents. The Vice President was calling to let me know our company had been bought by Sodexo. I remember thinking, "Oh, this can’t be good."
And it wasn't good... it was great.
Though uncertainty was looming, there is a lot to do when integrating two companies. I participated in every integration project I could jump on. And then, as you probably have already guessed, it happened again, another unexpected conversation.
An HR Director called me and asked me, “Have you ever considered becoming an HR Manager?” No, I had not. And honestly, I wondered who would want such a job? Several years later, I ended up in an HR Director position. Obviously, I warmed up to the idea.
So here I am blogging about how many unexpected and individual conversations inspired the direction of my career. I hope this blog stimulates great memories of your own conversations that influenced your career. And just as important, think about how you could possibly influence someone else with just one conversation. Sodexo's award-winning Mentoring programs are a great example of how our employees can truly have an effect on someone's career and is just one of the programs the company provides for employee career growth.
I know that the ROTC person I met on that elevator my second year of college has no idea what our conversation meant to me and my career but I would love to tell her. Two years of searching, ROTC, volunteering, cleaning Petri dishes and working with rats….and all it took to launch a career was a few minutes on an elevator with a stranger and one unexpected conversation.
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Cecilia Elliott
Human Resource Director - Health Care Services
Cecilia joined Sodexo in 1995 as a Regional Dietitian in Senior Services. She served in several operational and HR roles landing her in her current role as a Human Resource Director. She is an active member of the HR Task Force and member of several network groups. She is currently working on an MBA with an emphasis in HR.
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