The Trick or Treats of Career Planning

 By: Emma Dickson, Peer Advisor

Well, it’s Halloween once again. Lots of time spent planning costumes, making them look perfect and co-ordinating them with friends.  Planning your costume takes time…and so does planning your career. You can’t leave planning your Halloween costume until the last minute, or you might end up with a costume that you don’t like and that isn’t the right fit for you (a trick?).  The same goes for career planning; if you leave it to the last minute you could end up taking a career that doesn’t interest you, or fit you all that well. You just chose it because it was available. And choosing a career isn’t as easy as choosing a Halloween costume.

What about the accessories? What would a Dorothy costume be without the ruby slippers? Or a clown without the red nose and face paint? Thinking ahead on your costume gives you lots of time to realize all of the extra accessories that can make it even better and where you can find them. When looking for the right person to fill a position in an organization, the employers aren’t just looking at your base costume (e.g., the degree you have).  Employers are looking at all of your accessories as well – the extra things you have done to prepare. These ‘career costume’ accessories could be taking a specific class that would increase your understanding of a topic, getting involved in certain campus clubs, and as always… volunteering, on or off campus, in a skill-building role.

Career planning takes a lot of time and requires a lot of research. It is a much larger commitment than choosing a Halloween costume to wear for one night. If you take the time now to plan your career, you can end up in a ‘Career Costume’ that is the perfect fit for you – the treat!

Navigating Obstacles

By: Shanelle Weber

Of course, finding your passion is important, but determining the steps to reach that passion can be a frustrating challenge. Many teachers or guidance counsellors that I have talked to before entering Laurier often told me finding your career was like climbing a mountain with many obstacles to overcome to reach your goal.  I’m here now to tell you that it isn’t nearly as hard as climbing a mountain. It’s actually more similar to an obstacle race. Instead of looking at obstacles as something to stop you, think of them as ways to challenge yourself to learn and tackle something new. I can’t tell you how to overcome every obstacle, but here is a list of suggestions and tools that might help you on your way to achieving your passion. 

First, you should never say no to a new experience. When you say no, you’re cutting yourself off from being able to network with new people and from a learning opportunity that might help you in the future. I made the sad mistake when I started at Laurier of never joining clubs and participating in activities, and as a result I feel like I could have made some more friends, which is why as a senior student, I’m now getting involved. 

Secondly, never be afraid to ask for help. It shows others that you care about what you are working on and it is a great way to learn or gain insight. Chances are someone else has run into the same problem as you at some point or another. And never feel as though you are asking too many questions, unless you feel you’re just starting to ask useless questions or are annoying the person. And no, what’s your favourite colour is not a good question. 

Third, search for ways to improve. Looking for ways to gain new skills will inevitably help you along the way.  Look into learning about a new technology, join Toastmasters International to develop your presentation skills – and the list goes on. After all, we learn something new everyday; why not make it helpful for building your career? 

Finally, reflect on your past obstacles. Consider why they were obstacles in the first place. What could you have done better? What did you learn from these experiences? Remember to never look at them as failures. They are in your life to teach you something specific, you just have to make sure you understand the meaning behind them. Just like when you peed your pants in kindergarten class, you learned a valuable lesson about always going to the bathroom before going out to recess.  So if you feel you didn’t get involved in first year and feel lonely, get involved and make new friends! If you feel your grades have stunk so far, start utilizing learning resources and form study groups! If you feel your summer jobs are lousy because you leave your summer job search until the last minute, start before Christmas. Recognize these moments as lessons, and more importantly, take action.

How to Deal with Mid-Term Stress

By: Emily Roome, Peer Advisor 

Mid-term season is in full swing. Between tests and essays – you’re officially stressed out. For myself, and I’m sure many of you too, October has allowed me to reach some of the highest stress levels of all time.  However, I’ve found a way to fix it and the answer is really quite simple! By taking time away from the school work, you give your brain a chance to recover from the informational overload and keep yourself sane. There are many different ways you can do this and here are some of my favourites.

1)      Take some time to work on yourself. Improving yourself outside of the academic arena is a great way to take some stress off. One way you can do this is by volunteering. Now this may seem like you are adding more work for yourself, but by volunteering even just once a week, you allow yourself to focus on a different project, meet new people and learn some transferable skills! Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community as well as to develop some new and current experience.

2)      Another way to take a break from the academic stress is to take some workshops offered at the Career Centre. There’s also a great contest going on right now that gives you a chance to win a prize as well as build a great resumé! Who doesn’t love free stuff?

3)      Another great way to relax is to take some time for you. This can be anything you genuinely enjoy doing; watch a movie, go for a run, listen to music, light some candles or hang out with your friends. Studies have shown that by taking time to do an activity you love, your stress levels are significantly lowered. 

Hopefully these are some helpful tips on how to get through this mid-term time with as little stress as possible!

For a complete schedule of workshops happening at the Career Centre check out the Schedule of Events. For information on the Resumé Writing Contest, go to https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151114139053020&set=pb.25327118019.-2207520000.1351021618&type=1&theater

Making the Most of Your Work Experiences Through Transferable Skills

By: Allison Lougheed, Peer Advisor

For most students, they feel as though the work experiences they have while being a student (e.g., waitressing, customer service, etc.) are not valuable or sufficient enough to land them a professional job upon graduation. While it is important to build your skills through professional strategic volunteering and possibly further education, I am here to educate you on the importance of selling those ‘seemingly unimpressive’ experiences you possess – by beginning to reflect on the transferable skills you have gained.

A ‘transferable skill’ is a skill that can be taken from one type of job and applied successfully to another job. Here is a personal example of how I can use transferable skills to sell my summer job as a bartender and server at a golf course. Typically people only think about the obvious skills acquired from bartending and serving such as learning how to make a multitude of drinks, taking orders and delivering food. Instead, if I was applying for a Marketing and Sales job, I now need to ‘sell’ bartending by discussing this role in a way that is now relevant to the demands of a marketing/sales position. For instance, as a bartender and server, I adeptly applied promotional skills, demonstrated the value of product knowledge to optimize sales, how to multi-task in a fast-paced environment, applied relationship-management skills to foster customer loyalty and demonstrated utmost attention to detail to ensure 100% accuracy of cash floats.

It is more important on a resumé and in conversing with employers in interviews that we as students sell and relate our skills, rather than constantly focussing on the specific positions in which we have held.  The Career Centre offers a booklet titled, ‘Transferable Skills’ and highlights ways in which to most effectively discuss these. Remember, it’s important to not dismiss your work experiences as irrelevant and unimpressive. You will find yourself landing more interviews and job offers if you take time to reflect on those transferable skills so that you can professionally articulate the value they will bring to your next career/job!

Gaining Real ‘World’ Experience

By: Emma Dickson, Peer Advisor 

Have you ever wanted to travel the world? Wondered how to tackle this? Wanted to travel, but didn’t know how to find the time or money?

Over the summer I started getting really into the idea of travelling; making lists of all the countries, major cities and world landmarks I wanted to visit at some point. When I came back to school for this semester, the school seemed to have all of the same ideas! I had people coming to my classes giving mini presentations about volunteering abroad, and one day there was a ‘Go Abroad Fair’. At this event there were people from many different organizations ready and willing to answer any questions and provide information. There was information on volunteering, working and studying abroad as well as for international exchanges.

Many students think that they need to focus on their schooling and that taking the time to travel would set them back. With volunteering, working or studying abroad there is a purpose to the travel; you are going for a set amount of time, usually in the summer when you don’t have school; and as for studying abroad, you can get a letter from WLU stating that they will accept the schooling that you do abroad.

Travelling abroad and seeing the world is a great investment while you’re still a student!

Visit: http://www.vesabroad.com/home_1.htm for more information on volunteering abroad. In addition, Laurier Career Centre offers access to The Big Guide To Living & Working Overseas, which offers tones of resources to help build an international experience (sign up with your Laurier email address).

Fall Into Some Employer Recruitment Sessions (even if you’re not a business student)!

By: Emily Roome, Peer Advisor

Fall is my favourite time of the year; the leaves are changing, Starbucks has the Pumpkin Spice Latte back, and there’s tons of stuff going on at the Career Centre! One of the best and most beneficial resources the Career Centre has to offer is the Employer Recruitment Sessions. Practically every day a different company sends representatives to give students great information on their company and career opportunities, and offer a networking period so you can get to know each other. You may be asking yourself – “aren’t these Employer sessions  only for business students?” The answer is NO! Employer sessions are an awesome experience for ALL Laurier students – and here’s why: 

1. Networking is important for any field – Employer sessions offer opportunities for students to ask questions, make relationships with the representatives and learn more about companies and career opportunities.  Let’s face it, whether you’re in arts, science or business, at some point you’re going to be looking for a job and you’re going to need the connections to help you get one. Employer sessions are an excellent opportunity to cultivate those connections. Plus, Employer sessions offer tons of tips on crafting a cover letter and resumé, as well as interviewing – tips you can apply to any position. 

2. Employer sessions also give students an in-depth look at career opportunities that exist. For instance, last week at the Walmart recruitment session, I learned so much about the hundreds of employees that make up their head office. Before that, when I thought of getting a job at Walmart I only thought about in-store jobs such as cashiers, shelf-stockers and managers. Because of this I have a whole new awareness on the scope of possibilities I could look into that I never knew existed (and I’m a sociology student!). 

3. The third reason all Laurier students should attend Employer sessions relates to one of the biggest misconceptions – that you have to have a BBA to work in the field of business. Just because you’re currently getting a degree in History or Sociology or Health Sciences doesn’t mean you are limited to being a historian, a sociologist or a health scientist. It’s actually the opposite, your opportunities are endless (insert cheesy quote here). It’s been said before at the Career Centre, and I’ll say it again – employers don’t hire degrees, they hire people. Last week, at the Capital One recruitment session, one representative from their financial team stated her degree was in Kinesiology! So even if you aren’t in business, there are still a ton of positions that exist in the private sector for you to learn about – and the place to do that learning is at the Employer sessions!

Millennial Interview Mistakes

By: Justin Tabakian, Peer Advisor

In a recent Forbes Magazine article posted online, they have identified the top five mistakes Millennials make.  So the first question you may be asking yourself is… what is a millennial?! Well, as it turns out…YOU ARE!  Millennials are individuals that were born between 1981 and 2000; which means this applies to the majority of Laurier students.  Recruiters seem to be most apprehensive about Millennials’ long-term commitment, professionalism and reliability.  These were the top five concerns listed about our age group:

1. Wear inappropriate interview attire
2. Have posted questionable social media content
3. Haven’t done their research
4. Don’t ask enough questions
5. Over confident

How can you avoid these five plunging interview mistakes? You can start by attending an interview workshop, and/or meet to discuss your issues with a career consultant. Until then, here are some quick tips that may help:

When it comes to interview attire – dress to impress. Another major issue many students may have is the social media content they post online. Seventy percent of hiring managers believe that Millennials make mistakes in social media by posting compromising content.  Google yourself! That MySpace account you had in Grade 8 may have some questionable content that is still sitting there. Be smart and use social media as a resource rather than a negative source.  As well, research and prepare for your interview by doing research on the company, position and interviewer. Find out about the industry and use social media like LinkedIn to assist your research. Lastly, sell yourself! Be proud of your accomplishments and achievements, but try to avoid sounding cocky.

Just by following these quick easy little tips you can appear years older in the eyes of the employer! That mature difference between you and other students can be the difference between who gets the job, and who gets labelled as ‘just another millennial’.