If you can’t go around it, over it, or through it, you had better negotiate with it. ~Ashleigh Brilliant
Before I came to work with the amazing Puget Sound students who come into Career and Employment Services, I had a live-in staff position in student housing at a small college in Vermont. Every day brought different challenges, which is what I loved most about the job. No matter the week, day, or even hour, I could always count on residents to come to me with conflicts large and small. “My roommate leaves moldy food in the refrigerator,” one student would say. “Yeah, well she leaves hair in the sink and never does laundry!” More commonly, though, students would complain about more modern issues, like “he uses up all the bandwidth,” or “I can’t stand how she stays up late playing WOW every night; it keeps me awake!” My job was to listen carefully, hear each person out, and then help them come to a reasonable compromise.
As you’re reading this, you might be thinking about some of the conflicts you’ve had with people throughout the years: a sister who always borrowed your favorite sweater, a college roommate who always ate your food, or parents who refused to let you take the car. Those who are talented communicators, diplomatic negotiators, and strategic thinkers, may manage conflict particularly well…or even enjoy the process. Those natural talents alongside a cutting edge liberal arts education are a great foundation for a career as a mediator.
There are many types of mediators. There are divorce and custody mediators who work for law firms. There are conflict resolution staffs at colleges and universities. There are ombudsmen who work for large corporations. There are international peace negotiators and diplomats. There are even those trusty resident assistants who work out conflicts in residence halls. Many different academic majors can prepare students for the mediation profession. There are even opportunities to study conflict mediation in graduate school.
In the Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) Network on Cascade, is Mark, a conflict resolution professional. Mark has six years of experience mediating consumer product disputes for the Better Business Bureau and civil disputes in small claims court. He currently handles workplace discrimination cases for a federal government agency. Mark graduated from Puget Sound in 1999 with a BA in English and a minor in Comparative Sociology. In his ASK Network profile Mark reflected, “My Puget Sound experience taught me how to think critically, write well, and maintain a lifelong passion for learning.”
According to The Princeton Review, “Being a professional mediator is all about conflict resolution, and so the job demands a person with excellent reasoning, problem-solving, and peace-making abilities. When two parties have a dispute and wish to avoid the legal intricacies of litigation, they may call in a mediator to facilitate an equitable solution.”
Think about the skills you’ve already developed—the hours spent keeping your friends from breaking up, dividing the utility bills with penny-pinching roommates, negotiating the price of fruit at the Proctor Farmer’s Market —so make it work for you! Here are some resources to learn more about the mediation profession!
Career Cruising on Cascade provides profiles for many different careers related to conflict management.
The Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) Network on Cascade lists alumni available to contact for more information.
Books available for checkout in the CES Career Resource Library in Howarth 101
Becoming a Mediator: Your Guide to Career Opportunities, by Peter Lovenheim & Emily Doskow
Career Opportunities in Politics, Government, and Activism
Career Opportunities in Law and the Legal Industry
Web Resources
U.S. News & World Report-Best Careers 2009: Mediator
Mediate.com-Professional Association
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