Job Title

A blog about all things linguistic by Gretchen McCulloch.I cohost Lingthusiasm, a podcast that''s enthusiastic about linguistics.I''m the author of Because Internet, a book about internet language!Linguistics jobs - Interview with a university course coordinatorIve known Colleen since we were both PhD students at The University of Melbourne. When I found out that she had also moved to La Trobe, it was lovely to have a friendly face around the place! Colleen has taken a slightly unusual, but increasingly common, lateral step; although shes no longer working in linguistics research, shes still working at a university and running courses. She kindly agreed to be interviewed about her work.What did you study at university?For undergraduate studies, I completed a BA (Languages) at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. I did a double major in Chinese and Linguistics, and a minor in Spanish to satisfy the ''languages'' part. Originally, I wanted to work as a translator at the UN! When I realized that probably wouldnt work out, I pursued Linguistics for Honours. My thesis examined the efficacy of using the first four formants of certain vowels to distinguish one speaker from another.After Honours, I worked as a Research Assistant at The University of Melbourne in Otolaryngology (now Audiology and Speech Pathology). My PhD focused on the perception and production of aspects of prosody in adolescents who had grown up with cochlear implants, responding to my experiences working with individuals using cochlear implants.What is your job?Im the Deputy Coordinator for the first year of a range of Allied Health courses. There are about 2000 students across six campuses, so its a large role! I mainly oversee courses involving external partners, managing compliance and reporting for third-party teaching contracts. I also teach; I teach a Work Integrated Learning subject open to all students from the College of Science, Health and Engineering, where students go on placements and we discuss career management and applying what they learn in the job market. Additionally, I teach an Industry Innovation subject where students from across the university work in small teams to tackle wicked problems.How does your linguistics training help you in your job?It helps significantly, especially because Im still involved in research at The University of Melbourne. At La Trobe, it assists when advising students who are struggling academically. My background in linguistics and my experience teaching Master of Speech Pathology students at Melbourne give me a broad perspective on challenges students face, especially in their first year. Linguistics also enables me to provide specific advice on students'' writing and how to improve it, and I incorporate activities on intercultural communication where possible.Do you have any advice you wish someone had given you about linguistics, careers, or university?I wish I had been more honest about studying languages (not linguistics) as a career. I realized that those from bilingual or multilingual households were more likely to land interpreter or translator jobs, though I dont regret studying languages. Overall, I would have appreciated more career guidanceinformation about potential industries and what an academic career actually entails. While PhD training is strong in research skills, its less comprehensive regarding career options outside academia.Any other thoughts or comments?Id like to say that linguistics is undervalued. Communication, perception, and production are fundamental skills, and I believe linguistics should be a standard part of education everywhere!Don''t miss out on any interesting linguistics! Get my monthly newsletter in your inbox.haptichoax said: Hey, Colleen took us (UniMelb MSpPath) for lectures in acoustics, prosody, and syllable structure over the past couple of weeks! Shes a great lecturer, how lovely to see her here! #J-18808-Ljbffr