“This was a very difficult decision on our part and please, do not take this as a reflection of your character or work…”

Few people talk about sitting in front of a video screen as the vice president of your department tells you that, due to government funding changes, you no longer have a job. Your sense of time and place narrows as your mind tries to suppress the swell of emotion while you remain professionally blank-faced, listening as department leaders list off next steps and instructions for returning your laptop. Few people talk about how little time is given to mourning the loss of purpose. I did not just lose a job or paycheck. I lost a space where my dedication to research, policy development, and public health was supported and celebrated by peers and leaders.

It hurt.

I was a senior research director at a nonprofit that worked with government agencies that included the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve government health policies and programs through qualitative and mixed methods research. My employers valued my expertise as a medical anthropologist.

The early phase of my job search was disorienting. The public and government sectors were struggling. The private-sector job market was overwhelmed with jobseekers. Even though I was applying for jobs that asked for a social science or qualitative research background, employers wanted someone with more project management-oriented skills. Once the shock settled, I had to stop asking, “What did I lose?” and start asking, “How do I explain my value in this job market?” I needed a “brand” that would resonate with employers when they saw my resume or met me at a job fair.

I did not rebrand by leaving anthropology behind. I rebranded by learning how to translate anthropology into a language employers understood.

I soon realized that when job descriptions asked for social science, qualitative research, or public health experience, employers often evaluated me through a project management lens. Could I manage a budget? Lead a team? Track a timeline? Accomplish deliverables? Manage priorities? My answer was “Yes,” but my resume did not explicitly emphasize project management.

Mentors told me that I had excellent project management and research experience. Taking that into consideration, I began referring to myself as a project manager with a specialty in public health research at job fairs and in interviews. I adjusted how I described my experience to focus on my management skills, even if a job description asked for someone with a research background. I focused on quantitative deliverables, project portfolios, cost savings, and dependencies as concrete evidence that I could bring value to an organization.

I began leading with my project management skillset, but anthropology gave that work depth. I framed my project management and medical anthropology expertise as a pathway for employers to reach their goals. In interviews, I actively listened to employers’ needs, then framed anthropological concepts, such as an emic-centered focus or systems thinking as the solution for their public health challenges. For example, if an employer said they wanted to build a network of patients and caregivers to serve on advisory panels, I explained that I could develop an outreach and engagement workplan using a patient-centered framework to meet their objectives. That is still anthropology, but anthropology translated into the employer’s mindset.

Anthropology was always in my back pocket, ready for the moment when a team needed a human-centered method or framework. When I eventually landed a job with a consulting firm, the employer emphasized my project management experience during the hiring process. Then one day, we were in a meeting discussing methodology for a contract.

The CEO said, “I want to do some kind of in-person observation of the participants. I want us to follow them around in their natural environment and understand how they experience their jobs. Is there a method like that, Victoria?”

She looked at me with interest, so I replied, “Yes. The method you are thinking of is participant observation.”

I explained how it could benefit the goals of the project. She asked me to write it into the methodology.

That moment stuck with me because, during the interview process, they had only asked whether I could manage a two-year assessment project with a major hospital. That was the moment my rebrand came full circle. I had been hired because I could manage a complex project. However, in that meeting, anthropology gave the team the method it needed. This exchange showed me that people do not always know they need an anthropologist until they talk to one or hire one.

You may lead with project management, public health, communications, policy, research, or operations. But there will be moments when someone needs a method, a framework, or a way of thinking that is human-centered, culture-centered, or systems-centered. That is when anthropology comes out of your back pocket. That is when you show your value.

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