Career Path of a Supply Chain Coordinator at International Rescue Committee
Dustin's career path to Supply Chain Coordinator at an international NGO involved an initial study of the arts, followed by nonprofit work that revealed the importance of purpose and collaborative problem-solving, leading to an MBA in supply chain management and data analytics, and a subsequent role as a management consultant. Finding a need to get back to core activities that made life meaningful, they returned to the nonprofit sector, valuing "learning through experimentation" and seeking work with a "strong sense of purpose" that allows for resilience and a beneficial impact on the world.
Supply Chain Management, Nonprofit Sector, Humanitarian Work, Career Experimentation, Collaborative Problem-Solving
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Dustin Weil
Supply Chain Coordinator
International Rescue Committee
University of Minnesota
Arizona State University (ASU) - W. P. Carey
Humanities
Manufacturing, Operations & Supply Chain, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Operations and Project Management
Scholarship Recipient
Video Highlights
1. Importance of experimentation and trying different roles to discover what truly resonates and aligns with one's values and skills.
2. The value of collaborative problem-solving, emphasizing the significance of working with diverse teams to foster creativity and make a meaningful impact.
3. The strong motivation derived from having a sense of purpose in one's work, particularly in making a positive difference in the world and helping those in need.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path? Please start with your experiences in college, and any internships or jobs you had before your current role.
Hello. My name is Dustin, and I appreciate this opportunity to talk with members of the ADVISE community. Currently, I'm employed as a supply chain coordinator for a large NGO doing work in the humanitarian sector around the world. But I've had a long and [unclear] career path leading me up to this point.
In college, I studied the arts, history, English, and rhetoric. I spent time traveling abroad, and then I wanted to set up a nonprofit. So I studied nonprofit management and worked in the local nonprofit sector in my hometown for a number of years in various roles. Through that experience, I gained insight into what I value in a career.
I learned by doing and recognized that certain things ignite my passion and make me feel alive, while others I don't enjoy as much. I wanted to shape a path for myself that would help me do more of what I love and minimize the things I found less enjoyable.
With that in mind, I went back to school and earned an MBA focusing on supply chain management and data analytics. These are two disciplines that complement each other nicely. Following my full-time MBA program, I worked as a management consultant for about three and a half years.
It was a good learning experience, but I felt I was drifting further away from the core activities that made life meaningful. So I returned to work in the nonprofit sector, but in a different capacity and with a different point of view and skillset.
Throughout all of that, a few themes predominate when I reflect on my experiences. One is that I have found it necessary to learn through experimentation, and that takes time. I was not the kind of person who had a clear vision of my life at age 10.
It's been important for me to have different roles, work in different organizations, get to know different people, and collaborate in different ways. This helps me understand better what is meaningful and what attributes and skills have traction in the real world, leading to beneficial outcomes.
Another theme is that I love collaborative problem-solving. There are two pieces to this: the problem-solving aspect and the collaborative side. I don't like to do work just for the sake of it; I like to think I'm being creative, making something happen, and making a difference in the world.
The collaborative side is also important because my best experiences, both in terms of happiness and professional growth, have come from working with many different people with different points of view, backgrounds, and skill sets.
Finally, the last of the major themes is that I am motivated by having a strong sense of purpose. If I'm engaged in work that doesn't have a strong motivating factor, like making the world a better place or helping people in need, I will burn out, no matter the pay or coworkers.
I really need that sense of purpose. If I feel what I'm doing is building something productive and making a beneficial impact, it strengthens me to be resilient and power through difficult times.