This is the first of our Career Talk Series, which invites faculty, former Cengage student ambassadors and Cengage employees to share their unique journeys into their current roles, highlighting the motivations and inspirations that guided them.
Each talk delves into the unexpected twists and turns that shaped their paths, offering valuable insights and lessons for students as they think about their own future careers.
The future “Imagineer”
I still remember… it was 2009. I had just graduated high school and was accepted into the Electrical Engineering program at University of Cincinnati. I was on a trip with my family to Disney World with dreams of becoming a Disney Imagineer. During an attraction about the history of human communication, this particular line caught my attention:
“The choices we have made for the last 30,000 years have been inventing the future one day at a time… and now it’s your turn.” – Spaceship Earth, Disney World
I recall thinking “that is going to be me.” I was top 30 in a class of over 500 with a year’s worth of post-secondary credits already on my transcript and accepted into one of the top Engineering programs in the country. I was smart, I was ready and I knew what I was going to do.
And wow was I wrong.
Turns out, I struggle with Calculus. How does anything solve to be imaginary? Also, in Computer Programming, I learned that misspelling in C++ is even worse than misspelling in English. In C++, you don’t get a nice red line telling you something isn’t right.
I made it through the first term, but by the second, I was floundering. I started going to tutoring, buckled down and studied more than ever. Yet, I ended up near academic probation with a low GPA.
Suffice to say, that was a low point in my life. I felt lower than I had ever felt before. I had tried and was still failing. What was I going to do?
A different path
That’s when it hit me — I could leave Engineering. There was nothing set in stone that I HAD to stay and keep running into walls. There were other majors out there, and I could forge a different path. I didn’t know exactly what the endgame was. While all the other Engineering transfers went to Business school. I wanted to do something else. I worked with the career center and academic advisor and ended up in Criminal Justice.
So, I started my new program. I learned a lot, but in my last year, I wanted to go into Hospitality instead. However, it cost less time and money to finish my current degree path. Negotiation tactics and customer service aren’t that different right? I started working part-time at a fancy downtown hotel while still in school. After graduation, I worked full-time at the hotel, eventually becoming Room Service Supervisor and learning more about the operations.
It was great while I was single, but I eventually met who would end up becoming my wife. She worked a standard 9-5, Monday to Friday at Cengage. Knowing I was never going to get that in Hospitality, I needed to find something else. And, after a brief failed attempt at becoming a plumber, she told me that Cengage was hiring.
I started in the Customer Service Team as a representative. I never knew what the next call would be, and it gave me visibility into a lot of different aspects of the company. After two years, I decided to explore new roles and new things to learn at Cengage. The “little bit of everything” aspect of Customer Support was nice, but as soon as my call or chat was over, I never interacted with that person again. It felt ethereal, and I wanted something that felt more “mine.” I wanted to be involved in more aspects of the same territory. I took a role with the Operations Specialists Team in October 2020, and am now a senior member..
We work with the Inclusive Access/Equitable Access programs for U.S. higher education institutions, making sure that instructors, bookstores and bookstore parent companies all have the same adoption information and that all census reporting for these programs is reviewed and is as accurate as possible. I work with the same bookstores and people term after term, building a rapport. The lists of data can be references if needed or compared to current data to assist in identifying growth, if anything is missing and may need review. I really enjoy it.
What’s next?
But, what’s next? In my initial interview I said, “keep me from getting bored and I’ll have no real reason to change roles,” and so far that has stayed true. There is always something new to learn, solve and get involved in. I have been both a Mentee and Mentor with Cengage and have learned how to build my own brand and speak up ― whether that means to throw my hat into the ring for a new project or ask questions about a new initiative that will be my responsibility to complete. I have met so many amazing people and have built a network across Cengage and beyond. Plus, I still have time and energy to see family and friends and pursue outside work interests, including knitting, gardening, gamemastering Dungeons and Dragons and lapidary.
While that initial line at Disney didn’t end up fitting my life exactly, there is another in that very same ride that I still say to myself at least once a week:
“While no one knows for sure what we we’ll see or do, I do know it will be quite an adventure. An adventure we’ll take, and make, together.” – Spaceship Earth, Disney World
Written by Caleb Jud, Senior Operations Specialist at Cengage, who enjoys cooking, gardening and lapidary (making rocks nice and shiny).
Are your higher ed students searching for career guidance? Look for more of our Career Talk Series coming soon. Plus, check out our career-focused articles that include tips and advice from students, peers and experts.