What a Program Evaluation Specialist at University of California San Diego wishes they had known before entering the Program Evaluation industry
Merissa, a Program Evaluation Specialist, discovered the significant degree of self-motivation needed in the field, noting that "if you have a question...you have to be the self-starter". This independent research pursuit, even outside a project's scope, requires initiative, as "it's going to be on you to do that," a crucial lesson learned through experience.
Self-Motivation, Independent Research, Data Analysis, Collaboration, Project Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Merissa Kado-Walton
Program Evaluation Specialist
University of California, San Diego
UCLA 2014
San Diego State University, MA in Psychology
Psychology
Healthcare, Medical & Wellness
Data and Analytics
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Student Athlete, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. You must be self-motivated to conduct independent research projects.
2. You need to actively carve out your own research interests and be a self-starter.
3. You may need to conduct research outside the scope of your assigned projects if you want to explore specific areas of interest.
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone would have told you before you entered the industry?
One thing I learned that I didn't know when I was first getting into this was how self-motivated you have to be if you want to undertake your own research project, manuscript, or presentation. My understanding of research as an undergrad was very collaborative; you split things up, and that's still the case.
However, I realized that if you have a question and you want to be the one to look into it, you have to be the self-starter. You can always go to your coworkers for help, and it's meant to be a collaborative process.
I think what I didn't know was how much you have to carve out your research interests for yourself if you want to pursue something outside the scope of your actual project. For example, if we're looking at a certain dataset and notice an item that's really interesting, I can absolutely do my own independent research study on it, but it will be on me to do that.
That's something it took me a while to understand: I wasn't going to have my boss hold my hand through the process. That really was something you're just going to have to go after and chase after yourself.
Advizer Personal Links
No