ON THE MARKET: ROADMAP TO BECOMING

A PRACTICING ANTHROPOLOGIST

SUSAN MAZUR-STOMMEN, PH.D.

PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER OF INDICIA CONSULTING LLC

AGENDA• Introductions

• My story

• The ‘aha’ soment

• Structuring a business

• What not to do

• What to do next

• Recommendations

• Further reading

WHO ARE YOU?

• Tell us about yourself

• Why did you pick anthropology as a major?• How are you feeling about it now?

• What are your plans post graduation?

• What induced you to join us today?

WHO I AM

• Undergrad 1991-1995

• Grad 1996-2002

• Job Market 2002-2006

• Going to the library 2002-2005

• Starting a business 2006/2015

THE ‘AHA’ MOMENT

• Mine came in 2006

• I didn’t get a job I didn’t want • Have you had one?

• Tell us about it

DEFINING YOUR BUSINESS

• Write up a provisional business plan/put everything on paper

• What do you want to do?

• Why do you want to do it?

• I wanted to do more fieldwork

• Who will pay you to do it?

• Why will they pay you to do it?

• Work on boiling it down• Humans-Behavior-Energy

STRUCTURING YOUR BUSINESS

• What are the steps involved?

• For profit/non profit

• Sole Proprietor/LLC/S Corp

• WOSB and other Federal contracting

WHAT NOT TO DO

• Don’t run out and set up your own business

• Look for people doing the work you want to do

• Work with/for them while figuring out your path

WHAT NEXT?

• Take a few moments/envision yourself ten years from now

• Write down on a piece of paper:• What are you doing

• Where are you living

• Who are you with

ROADMAP

• Take a few moments to think through a logical pathway to your goals

• On a piece of paper, sketch out this pathway

• What skills do you need to add/work on?

• What qualifications must you posses?

• What is amount of ‘runway’ you need to get there

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Grad school

• Take a year off

• Know why you are going/go for you

• Full funding

• Getting published

• Applying for grants

• Talk to me about possible work!

FURTHER READING

• Check out what we do at www.indiciaconsulting.com

• Follow us on Twitter: @IndiciaInfo

• OR

• Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indiciaconsulting

• Both of those are places where my team posts about social science, the environment, research, and data

• Connect with me on LinkedIn

• Check out my thinking over the years at http://indiciaconsulting.blogspot.com/