Posts from — January 2011

Alright so I’m not actually interested in starting my own business, at least not as a career, but some of you might be. Therefore, reporter KValentine is here to give you some much needed tips on how to get wherever you want to in your professional life. You might even find these valuable for every day life as well. You never know what you’ll learn attending a Careers Expo.

Which is exactly how I spent my Thursday night, among many alumni and hundreds of UBC students: Arts students, Science students, I-have-no-idea students. The Arts Career Expo was a night of great advice, “Big thinks” and tasty spring rolls. The night started off with Dean Gage Averill cracking some funny jokes about Arts students. I’ve heard it a few times before, and it never ceases to make me laugh. What I took away most from the Dean’s speech was that as an Arts student I will be graduating with a set of skills that students from other faculties might not be able to get. With my degree and my experiences here at UBC I am becoming a critical thinker, learning how to find new solutions to old problems, networking, building relationships and seeing the world through as many lenses as there are eyes. If there’s anything I love more about hearing Dean Averill speak is the amount of pride I feel about my faculty, and most importantly, about my degree. I’m sure other Arts students can attest to this, but there are moments when I’m not entirely sure where I’ll be going, where my degree will lead me 3-4 years from now. The answer: anywhere I want go.

The first panel I attended was Careers in Community: Careers in the Non-profit Sector. What I really loved about this panel was the range of ages and array of experience they all had. From a recently retired City Librarian to a 2010 recent graduate, they each had incredible advice for someone like myself. As I stated in my last post, I really want to work in the non-profit sector, I’m just not entirely sure what I see myself doing. Here are a few awesome tips:

1. Connect the work you do outside of school (extracurriculars, volunteering) to your academics. It’ll prepare you to use the knowledge you’re acquiring in a real-world setting.
2. Get involved! Employers are not just looking for paid work experience anymore. Internships, part-time jobs, volunteer work and extracurricular involvement help you to be engaged in your community and gain a skills set that you just won’t get through academic work. Plus, it looks great on a resume.
3. Take volunteerism and run with it. Identify the organizations that you would most like to work with, or even the field of non-profit (or any other sector) that speaks to you. Then volunteer for them. Organizations are very likely to hire within their own volunteer pool. But this means doing your research. Always research the organizations you would be interested in working with.
4. ESL training, second languages and second degrees won’t hurt your chances either.
5. Cover letters are very important. I’ll say that one more time: cover letters are very important. It’s where you have the best chance of showing yourself off. It’s where you shine.

The two most important things I took away from this panel: ask yourself what change you want to make in the world and where your passion, your heart, truly lies, it’s not a race, so don’t lose heart and your Arts degree has as much value as you are willing to give it.

Attending Choose to Shmooze: ACE-ing the Art of Networking was an incredibly wise choice for me. Networking is not easy for most people, but especially not for me. I definitely needed someone to give me great advice about how to rock this:

1. Put yourself out there. Be yourself and show your personality.
2. Conversations are not just one sided. Give the person your talking to a chance to be engaged in your conversation.
3. A firm handshake is the best way to go. It’s better to be too firm than to be too limp. Look them in the eye and a couple of pumps is best!
4. SMILE! They can be seen 30 metres away. (According to psychologist Paul Eckman).
5. Flattery is good, when it’s from the heart! No cheap compliments.
6. Lead in with questions such as What do you like about your job? and What path did you take to get your where you are?
7. Leave the conversation gracefully, and end on a high note. Long, dragged-out conversations are the worst, everyone knows that. Always thank them for their time.

My most important lesson: practice makes perfect.

I may not have figured out the exact career path for me by attending the Arts Career Expo, but I definitely feel more prepared for whatever may come next in my career journey. As Oprah says, “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity”. Hopefully after this I’ll be a little more lucky, now that I’m just a little bit more prepared.

It might be a little early to be choosing a career to pursue after I graduate, seeing as I’m barely even finished my first year of university, but I don’t think it’s too early to be thinking about it. Next Thursday, January 27th, I’ll be attending the Arts Career Expo to gain a little perspective on how to make my BA work for me. I’m actually really stoked about it because I think I’ve decided what my degree will look like  (I’m thinking something along the lines of majoring in Psychology).  Still, once I graduate, where the heck do I go from there? I want to work with at-risk youth, leadership development and maybe something to do with global issues such as sustainable development, but I have no concrete plans of what to actually do with this fabulous, Krystal-tailored degree.

So, I’m attending this fancy pants Career Expo. I get to listen to the Dean of Arts Dr. Gage Averill introduce the night and then listen to two panels discuss career topics related to my specific interests. I’ve decided to attend Careers in Community: Careers in the Non-profit Sector and Choose to shmooze: ACE-ing the Art of Networking. I’m really excited about the first one because I know I want to work within the non-profit, but I have no idea exactly what I want to do. Plus, I’ve never really networked before and as I’m learning, it’s not just for those corporate-esque Sauder kids. So wish me luck trying to get all those business cards. Does this mean I have to start making my own? Anyway, I may not have my career hand picked for me by any of the panelists, but hopefully I can get some great insight into what I can do in the future. Heck, what I can even do now.So many questions, and hopefully after Arts Career Expo, I’ll have some of the answers.

Oh, and if you are an Arts student, whether you’re first year like moi, or entering in your 5th year or whatever, come on out. Mix and mingle and figure out what to do with your shiny Bachelor of Arts. If you want to register, just hit up the Arts Career Expo website here. Hope to see you there!

Stay tuned for post-ACE awesomeness next week.

This is a little late, but better late than never, eh?

I’m rethinking risks, education, careers, volunteerism, professionalism, success, friendship, networking, businesses. The future. I’m basically rethinking my life. I couldn’t be more stoked about possibilities, opportunities, and how I’m willing to grasp them.

Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to attend the 2011 Student Leadership Conference. Hands down it was the best conference I’ve ever attended. The keynote speakers, the feature presenters and the workshops each had their own impact on the way I view leadership and especially, how I am beginning to plan my future. So let me entertain you with the highlights of my wonderful day of “rethinking”:

Opening Keynote: Drew Dudley
This man is an amazing motivational speaker. He was funny, inspiring and left the stage with a standing ovation. He spoke about how we need to rethink success and goals, how they are more than just having an exceptional resume. I can’t really explain everything that I took away from his speech, but every single thing he said was relevant to my life. He talked about “lollipop moments”. Those times in life when someone does one thing, says one thing, or leads by example, and it changes your life, how we may have orchestrated a lollipop moment for someone else, but we just haven’t been thanked yet. This entire conference was one of many lollipop moments I’m sure I will have this year, and in all my years at UBC. Heck, even my entire life. What am I most excited about? Being a part of someone’s lollipop moment without even knowing it. I don’t need to, just the idea that somehow by just being who I am I can affect the lives of others in infinitely positive ways is enough.

Lunch Activity: Documentary – Ghana: A Digital Dumping Ground
I’m so glad I went to see this. It opened my eyes to a world that I didn’t even know existed. Before this documentary, I’d never really thought of where electronic waste, or e-waste goes, I figured someone was taking care of it in ethical and environmentally friendly ways. But why would that be the case? Anyway, this was the perfect way to get my social justice juices flowing and reflecting on how I can be a leader for human rights wherever they may be. Even if I am unable to majorly impact this cause, I’m grateful that I had an opportunity to be exposed to the horrors of digital dumping and now I can change my actions and hopefully inform others so they may change theirs.

Workshop #2: Young Professionals by Erica Baker
Fellow BlogSquader and self-proclaimed “hipster librarian”, Erica, led a workshop on the 7 things she learned from being Youth Mayor of her city. I really liked this workshop because she gave great tips that are applicable regardless of whether you are Youth Mayor or about to start your own business. The tips were really life tips and it was great to have a new perspective on how to handle difficult situations, make yourself presentable to others, and be open to all kinds of opportunities. The one major lesson I learned: challenge yourself. As Erica said (although this is not a direct quote because my memory isn’t that crazy-good), “If you’re not being challenged, you should move on to something else”. Thank you, Erica for helping me rethink how to challenge myself constantly, no matter what I do.

Featured Presenter #2: Andrea Baxter
Out of the two featured presentations, this one was my favourite. Not only was she insightful and funny, she really got me thinking about taking risks and going after what you really want. At one point in her life she was faced with the choice of taking an executive marketing position, or putting her full efforts into the small business she had started with a few friends. Of course she stuck with her business, a risk that brought Smart Cookies all the way to Harpo Productions and onto the Oprah Show. Now there is a possibility of having a Smart Cookies show on the new OWN Network. Listening to her stories of success and of failure (she’s been fired three times), was a great way for me to think about how much I’m willing to risk my confidence and so much more to go after opportunities that I feel will be beneficial to me. She helped me feel more secure that even if I take a leap and fall flat on my face, I can still get up and move on and try again.

Closing Keynote: The Buried Life
Probably the most anticipated event at the entire conference, and it didn’t disappointed. Listening to four passionate, amazing friends talk about making real change, not only in their own lives, but in the lives of others was beyond inspiring. I loved that they were funny, and intelligent (and come on, I can’t not mention it, they’re so cute!). What I loved most is that they really connected with Drew Dudley’s speech when he said that leaders don’t have to these extraordinary people by society’s standards (super academic, involved in so many things they don’t have time to eat), but are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And that is exactly who the Buried Life are. Seemingly ordinary guys who would never take “no” for an answer and have done extraordinary things. They got me thinking about what I want to do before I die. Hopefully you’ve already begun to do the same.

In short: I learned about new ways to approach success and community. It is not about how great your resume looks but the people you meet along the way that help to shape your life. I has reminded to hold onto them. I started to rethink the way I approach risk-taking. And although it may be hard to take a risk and leap forward into something new; it is something that must be done. Finally, I left looking forward to the future with brand new eyes. I am starting to rethink what I will be striving to do in the future. I was constantly inspired by stories of success and motivated by stories of failure. I learned how to be professional and what it takes to really put myself out there and start a project that adds value to my life. The theme for this conference couldn’t have been been more relevant to my life. As the second term of my first year begins, I am faced with decisions about what to do tomorrow, next week, this summer. Even next year. I am constantly rethinking now, and I love it.

Most importantly, I’d say, is that I approach leadership differently now. I was so afraid before that I couldn’t call myself a leader because I didn’t have any solid proof to show for it. Instead, I am now confident that I can be a leader for my friends, my family and the UBC community at large, just by continuing to be myself and believe in who I am and what I do. If I wasn’t looking forward to the future before, I most definitely am now.