The weather, as much as it fluctuates, is beginning to warm up. The trees and flowers are blooming, the days are getting longer, and the excitement of summer has begun. With our second semester of the 100 Days of Career Exploration coming to close, we are not feeling sad but excited for the upcoming school year and the new opportunities we can provide to students! If you are a continuing student who is undecided or unsure about a major, don't be discouraged! We have wonderful resources at the college that offer support and guidance throughout your discovery process. All you have to do... is ask. All of our Academic and Career Advisors are trained to answer questions about major and career exploration. They can also direct you to the resources we have to assist with all areas of the process from assessing yourself, to exploring ideas, to planning out classes once you've decided on a major pathway.
Some very important questions to ask yourself as you begin to discover what you want to do in life are:
What did you love doing as a child? Or what were your childhood dreams? If you can't remember, ask yo' mama. Seriously. Ask your mom or someone who knew you well when you were little and they can fill you with great stories.
What subjects do you enjoy? What subjects are you good at but don't necessarily enjoy? What subjects are the bane of your existence but you have to get through them to finish some requirements? What subjects are easy and natural versus difficult and take most of your effort?
What hobbies or personal projects have you been involved in? What did you learn, skills you gained, liked, and disliked?
Of what personal projects or achievements have you been the most proud? What gave you this sense of accomplishment?
What skills do you possess?
What skills do you use take very little energy? What skills take more energy to do?
Work Environment: Where you enjoy working.
Work Tasks: What work activities you enjoy.
Work Focus: With whom or what you enjoy working.
Work Style: How you enjoy doing your work.
A lot of questions but the more you ask yourself, the better you'll be able to figure out what your major and career will be in the near future. I encourage you to read through past posts to learn about the Career Decision Making model, advice on major and career exploration, and grasping the idea that this whole thing is a process. Learning is a process. It's the joy in the journey that makes everything exciting and worthwhile in the end.
"Everyone has their own experience. That's why we are here, to go through our experience, to learn, to go down those paths and eventually you may have gone down so many paths and learned so much that you don't have to come back again."~Prince (RIP)
As an avid outdoor enthusiast and lifelong daredevil, I find
myself in various risky and new situations.
Often, I find the activities I pursue are a lot like one’s pursuit of
academic achievement here at Salt Lake Community College.
Typically, my various friends with whom I share adventures
have different levels of expertise depending on the activity we’re doing. Various hiking or climbing friends are the
proverbial type A personalities who say “this way, hike here.” Or, “follow this trail.” I find that because we are all shapes,
sizes, ages, lengths and whatever qualifier one might add, our precise trails
may differ. It really doesn’t matter as
we proceed to the same general destination.
When the trail or the route up a mountain or down a slot canyon,
however, gets progressively sketchy, there are certain steps or handholds one
must watch for, and hopefully take advantage of to enable one to make the next
step or reach the next hand hold. In
some instances, you won’t make it there from where you are unless you follow
precise instructions.
I find this to be the case in one’s studies as well. American educational system relishes
choice. Often international or younger
students want precise direction.
Academic advisors, nevertheless, explain that one has so much liberty to
choose what they want to take within the general education options as long as
each category is fulfilled. Go at your
own pace, make your own path, as long as at the end you have completed all of
the various requirements, you’ll all reach the end goal. As you near the end of your journey, however,
there are various precise steps to take – certain prerequisites – to reach the
next step. Additionally, there are
certain steps without which you cannot make the next step toward the end.
When I was younger, I was happy to follow others’
paths. We were all going to the same end
so it didn’t matter. As I’ve progressed,
I know where I want to go and make sure I investigate the planned route as much
as possible prior to setting out on the adventure. Thus, when I reach perceived pitfalls, I’ll
be prepared with skills or equipment to enable the next step in the
process. The more familiar you are with
your program or your route, the more planning you make on your own; the more
invested one is in his or her plans, the more likely that person will reach the
set goals, much more than the person who is waiting for someone else to show
them or carry them. In those cases, you
may not get to where you want to go as it depends on someone else.
Lee Martinez
June 24,
2015
Lee is the Business advisor at SLCC with the Academic & Career Advising office. His background includes work with state and local government and within higher education. His lunar New Year animal is a Tiger and as you can see, he has a lot of energy and grit! Thank you, Lee, for contributing to the blog!
After the SLCC Job Fair last week, I started thinking about what it takes to prepare oneself for job searching.
Updated Resume-check
Cover letter-check
Business clothes (for interviews)-check
Interviewing skills-check
As someone who has been creating a lot of experiences at work these past five years, I often find myself thinking, "I need to update my resume so I don't forget things." Of course, the thought is usually fleeting and I forget until something triggers my memory once again. Like a job fair. Or an interesting job posting. In Hawaii. Sitting on a few hiring committees in the last two months has made me open my eyes to resumes, cover letters, and interviewing skills as well. It amazes me how people just slap something together as if they were in a rush and posting on a job site at the very last minute. "It's 10 minutes until midnight and the job closes then" type of frenzied, last minute application. The problem is, we can tell those were put together at the last minute. Without any thought or anyone really reading the job posting. Why is this important? Resumes are a summary of your background and skills mainly used for employment purposes. Typically, a good resume will focus on the skills a job seeker has that aligns with the job posting. That's why a person wants to take the time to read through the job listing, pull out key words and phrases, and adjust the resume according to each position. Some companies will even have an automatic reader that looks for the key words and if there are not enough present, the application goes right into the recycling bin.
There is also a 'sign of the times' change where job seekers are creating online resumes through blog sites. This helps them to create links to important documents (ex. welding pictures, architectural drawings, writing samples, research experiences) and keeping the traditionally asked for documents such as a cover letter and resume. This also allows job seekers to show their technological skills and update documents easily and efficiently for each job listing. Even with this new technology, writing a strong resume will also be a key factor in whether or not you will get an interview.
I sat on a hiring committee for our Career and Student Employment Services office a few months ago. These are advisors who assist students with everything you need to know about the job process from writing a resume to interviewing to looking for a job. After our first interview, one of the advisors commented on how the applicant did not shake anyone's hand or bring a resume. Even though we don't ask for an extra resume, it's always good to have it handy just in case it is required. Staying within the time limit of the interview was an important aspect to me as we had back-to-back interviews for two days which can make for a very long day. At the same time, don't forget to elaborate a bit on your experiences and how it coincides with the interview question. Do you feel like it's a "don't do this but remember to do this" type of scenario? Every interview, every company, every situation will be different but if you go into the interview process prepared, you should be just fine.
Lastly, what if you're in the encore career category? You've had a great run at a career but you're now in your 50s or 60s and you need a change. You've been working in something that you NEEDED to do. Now you're looking at something that you WANT to do. Your passion, saving the world, community service, SOMETHING that gives you satisfaction even if it doesn't pay as well. And how do you adjust your resume accordingly? Your former self and career may not relate to your new, encore career. I had an advisor who used to be a stay-at-home mom and when she started getting back into the workforce, she tailored her skills around what she did at home. For example, when asked if she managed a budget, she used her home budgeting experiences as her skill. Organizing parties and school/church schedules for her children were also used as skill sets. Always try to find what you can relate to what is being asked in a job posting. When I present about major and career exploration, I have students ask me about my college degree. I never worked in the specific field BUT, I emphasize, I used the skills acquired in that program to move myself into jobs and careers. Plus, I went on to obtain a Masters degree which also helped with finding careers that not only required the communication skills I acquired from my first degree but also needed my second degree as a requirement. The building blocks to success, whether it's your first career or your encore career, is critical to finding your place in the job world.
If resume building is far from your mind because you don't even know what major you want to choose, visit our career advising site at http://www.slcc.edu/academicadvising/career-advising/index.aspx to obtain information on major and career exploration.
If you've chosen a major and career path but would like to work on job skills and possibly working in your chosen field as an intern or entry-level position, visit our Career and Student Employment Services office at http://www.slcc.edu/cses/index.aspx.
In this final month of our first year of 100 Days of Career Exploration, we decided to switch things up. Just slightly... We decided to highlight a certain area of study for the entire month and help you understand your options within that particular area. This month we're focusing on the School of Business. These are some of our most popular programs at the college. PLUS, they have their JAM Session on Reading Day (April 29th) from 6pm-Midnight in the Business Building where faculty stay late helping with test reviews and tutoring for students who would like a little extra help preparing for finals. And guess what? There's FREE FOOD! Food, studying, help from the experts, what more could you ask for? Also, check out the happenings around the School of Business in their monthly newsletter: http://www.slcc.edu/schoolofbusiness/newsletter.aspx.
What's the first thing that comes to mind when someone says Business? Is it a CPA preparing taxes or helping with financial planning? Is it a business owner with a local Mom & Pop store? Is it the sales person calling you about a new deal in town? Is it the forensic accountant looking through the company's books? The great thing about business is the versatility and the options. The shorter certificate or AAS programs for those who need to get out into the workforce versus the transfer degree for students who want to go on to the Bachelors or beyond level, those are the choices within the School of Business. Oftentimes we'll have students meeting with advisors and saying they want to go into Accounting but the real question would be, "Do you want to go into a two-year to the workforce program that provides entry to mid-level careers? Are you trying to assist your spouse in the family business? Or are you trying to move further in the Accounting world?" Those are important questions as options within the School of Business offer the best of many worlds. In order to understand your pathway to meet your end goal within the business world, meet with one of our business advisors today to discuss opportunities. If business is your fall back area and you're truly unsure about a major? Take a career assessment today! Find out if your personality fits the business areas, or not: http://bit.ly/careerassess-slcc. Take a look at the programs we offer through the School of Business and start researching the areas that look interesting to you!
