Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Digital Interview with Jens Nestingen Conducted by English Faculty Member, October 2012

1.)    What year did you graduate and what was your area of emphasis?
2005
Professional Writing

2.)    Where are you now, and what are you doing?

I currently live in Woodbury Minnesota. I’ve spent the last 4.5 years selling capital equipment around the world.

3.)    Could you tell us a little about the paths you’ve traveled since you graduated?

My first job post graduation was working as a residential carpenter (I used my degree 0% at that particular job).  I then took a glamorous job mowing lawns and running a landscaping a company (bringing my total usage of my English degree to a whopping 0x0).  After a year of largely manual labor I fell into corporate America.  Full blown, suit and tie, short hair corporate America.  I took a job as a professional recruiter and worked my way into a sales position.  At that point I realized that using my degree in anything more than an implied fashion was going to be difficult.  I decided to see where a job as a sales guy would take me.  I ended up working as a technical sales person for a company that supplied nuclear material handling solutions to companies worldwide.  I was able to go to Europe, and Japan as well as all around the United States and work with some very interesting people on some very interesting projects.

4.)    Was there something you had to do here which you felt was a waste of time?

My time at UWP is probably the only time in my life I will be able to focus 100% on just pursuing academic knowledge.  I can’t really classify the pursuit of knowledge a waste of time.  Had I been asked that question when I graduated, I would have listed off a litany of classes I thought were “useless” or “pointless” (largely any classes focusing on grammar, foreign language, and almost all math courses).  The reality is those classes were classes I was either A) too prideful to take seriously, and therefore classes I did poorly in or B) courses that I felt had no bearing on my future.  My attitude showed  a stunning lack of foresight and maturity, as the classes I felt were outside the scope of what I conceived to be useable knowledge are the classes I rely most heavily on now. 
I do not carry a single second of regret in the major I chose to pursue.  I do however; deeply regret not taking the time and effort necessary to excel in academic areas that were outside my talents.  I was fortunate enough to go to a good university and be exposed to everything a university education is supposed to be about; learning as much as you can, about as much as you can.  Instead I chose to learn as much as I could about the things I was good at, and largely ignore the rest.  Not working hard enough when I had the chance was my only wasted time.


5.)    Is there a class or classes that you wish now you could have taken, but didn’t? If so, why?
       
I would have taken more science courses, specifically physics and chemistry.  My career path has forced me into some very technical situations, situations where I have had to sit down and talk intelligently about physics and chemical reactions with PhD Nuclear Physicists and Doctoral Candidates in Chemistry (please keep in mind these people are not asking me my opinion on their work, that would be like asking the family pet to edit your manuscript, it’s a bad idea).  Any and all of the knowledge I have on those areas of thought have been through my own reading and exposure in industry situations. 
Having an English Degree has helped me communicate with people both orally and in writing in relative ways.  If I had studied more hard sciences I could relate to many different people on a much different level and be more effective. 
One caveat, Physics and Chemistry are incredibly interesting, math for the sake of math, is a deep black depressing hole.

Classes I took that are an absolute must for anyone in the English Program.
Listed in no particular order:
History of the English Language
Advanced Writing
Grammar
Rhetoric


6.)    Can you tell us about one or two high points of your life since you’ve graduated?
My high points are pretty mundane, very satisfying, though largely normal.  I’ve been married since my senior year at Platteville (in layman’s terms, a long time) the fact that my wife still finds any redeeming qualities in my exceedingly bad habit riddled persona is pretty neat.  I have two kids that will no doubt outsmart me by about half way through preschool, and a very nice house in the suburbs of Saint Paul (and an enormous dog). 

7.)    Do you ever write for fun? (If you do, can we follow up and interview you for our writing blog later on?) yes
My wife started a blog, and lets me contribute to it occasionally.  It’s largely about all the work we’ve done to make our house less dated.  I’m typically too busy actually updating the house to write about it.   
8.)    Is an English Degree applicable in areas outside of writing and teaching?
An English Degree is a great foundation for a career.  I have been fortunate enough to develop relationships with Company Presidents, Government Officials, and Scientists, all from divergent backgrounds,  I was only able to do that was because I developed a deep understanding of how people react to words and language while studying English at UWP.  In the world outside of college class rooms there is a dearth of effective communication.  Corporate communication is mired in a dearth of buzzwords, and catch phrases all presented in a hackneyed contrived format.  The biggest advantage people can bring to the table in any career endeavor is the ability to work hard and communicate in a succinct and concise fashion. 
Having an English Degree allows me to distill very complex ideas into easy to understand sentences.  Employers will never put “be able to make complex ideas understandable without losing any pertinent information” on a job requirement, that won’t happen.  Having the ability to accurately synthesize and disseminate ideas is crucially important to any employer.  The key is, demonstrating the ability to write and orate, via face to face contact and written correspondence. People communicate more readily in writing today (text and emails) than ever before, being able to write well is indispensable.       

9.)    Is there alum you think we should contact?
Ben Landsee, James Schrader, and Thom Pitcher those guys were the three smartest most talented guys I met in the English program.

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