028. “I’m not a business(wo)man, I’m a business, (wo)man.”

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.