geography careers workshops
You've now missed four workshops this spring term: two on skills develop
and one each on portfolios and resumes. I'm still willing to do a workshop
for any group of three or four, I still can find time to meet with you
individually for specifics, and I can always find information on Websites
to help you.
Please let me know what Geography Careers Workshops you'd like to have
next term (and what time frames fit your schedule!) Here are some possibilities.
- Uncovering Your Skills in Geography
- Building Resumes
- Preparing for Interviews
- Developing Professional Portfolios
- Talking Yourself into a Job
- Other topics????
There isn't time to do all of these topics each term, so I'll respond
to requests/comment. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU WANT!!!
I'm waiting....email me!
Cheers, Kate
Geography Dept. Career Resources Coordinator
Description - Preparation
for
Uncovering Your Skills in Geography Workshop
Our purpose is to help you build a foundation that will give you the
basics for directing your own career, from choosing appropriate courses
to deciding your best job search strategies.
It will help you:
- decide what skills, abilities and qualities you want to emphasize
in your future work.
- recognize what coursework you will need to prepare yourself for that
work.
- focus your resume.
- build your portfolio collection, and select appropriate parts as you
build temporary professional career portfolios for specific needs.
- prepare for job interviews.
- articulate your self-description so you can be effective in your
job-search process.
Homework??
Not really, but the more preparation you put in, the more you'll get
out of the workshop.
Good
(Learning) Experiences
This is a memory exercise that will help you make some choices based
on your past pattern of preferences, which may be less obvious than you
would think. Find a time when you can sit and think/write without interruptions
for at least a half-hour to start, and assume that you may want another
time to continue that process, preferably before the workshop, because
this seldom all comes to you at once.
Your simple-but-not-"easy" task is to bring up what are defined
as Good Experiences, that have happened over the course of your entire
life.
A Good Experience must
contain three elements.
- You did it well.
- You enjoyed doing it.
- You are proud of it.
Notice that the third element (pride of accomplishment) often eliminates
the simply enjoyable experiences in life (a wonderful day outdoors, attending
a performance or party).
On the other hand, your Good Experiences do not have to be work-related.
They can occur with hobbies, during volunteer activities, or they can
be family-related. They can come from any sphere of your life, and they
can be large or small, events or actions - whatever you did well, enjoyed
and are proud of.
You should make a list of at least a dozen of these Good Experiences,
and at least one should have happened before you were 10 years old. In
writing them down, you can be as brief as you want, but it's best to at
least note the circumstances and (this is the important part) what
you did to make it happen. Feel free to write a paragraph or more
on each.
The idea is to tease out the pattern of events or activities that makes
you feel useful, competent, helpful, good - whatever adjective most applies.
We ask for one before age 10 because we find that these patterns tend
to show up very early.
Another point to note here is that we are actively looking for your strengths
and qualities, as well as skills and abilities that you tend to rely on.
We are going to focus on the things you like to do (and you often find
yourself doing them again and again), even if you usually discount them
as unimportant, irrelevant to your career, or you think "anyone can
do that."
We are also going to pay particular attention to your "learning"
experiences, that may have influenced the way you learn and the things
you prefer to learn about. Many of these experiences will be related to
your choice of geography as a major and the choices you have yet to make
within geography and regarding your career plans. When you understand
these relationships, you will be able to more clearly articulate why and
what you want to do with geography.
Once you have collected (and articulated) as many of your traits, qualities,
skills and abilities as possible, then you can decide which ones to add
to your "marketing package" (including resume and portfolio) that you
can offer employers. Of course, deciding what you put into your package
means that you are in charge; you are responsible for directing your own
career.
|