I remember the first class of Career Fundamentals, I walked in expecting the cost-benefit ratio of the course to be heavily skewed towards the “benefit” end of the scale. I think many of us were surprised at the amount of work we were eventually required to do (considering it was our only year-long course, worth a grand total of ONE credit), but I am glad that I took away a lot from the course: meeting & learning from the TAs, getting to hear from Philippe, and gaining the practical experience with resumes, cover letters and interviews.
Through going through the exercises of resume writing, cover letter writing, and interviewing, I learned a few things about myself:
- Though I am a perfectionist, I am not perfect
- I have gained a lot of practical work experience (aka soft skills) but had difficulty placing metrics on actual results of my work – perhaps more because of the nature of the roles in which I have worked
- I have a tendency to elaborate on context and neglect acknowledging results
I think one of the most valuable things that Comm 299 brought to my attention was the process of breaking down a cover letter and resume into parts. Specifically: C.A.R. statements (cover letter), and accomplishment statements & adjectives/nouns/skills/values in profile statements (resume). Breaking down each section systemically into parts and being able to colour-code things and see the components that way really appealed to my visual/organized learning style, and it is definitely a transferable skill I will retain and use in the future.
Although I am sometimes doubtful about how touted the rigid resume structure we followed was (meaning, I know it matches Harvard’s standards, but it would not necessarily set us apart in a job application – many of the eastern B-Schools also use it), I think it was very valuable to be taught to limit ourselves to the one-page format, as I had previously had a 3-page resume from high school (shock! gasp! the horror!). I look forward to using the skills I gained in writing resumes/cover letters and conducting interviews in future job applications; I have also made it a goal this summer to set up several information interviews with some people I look up to. To success!
I’ve always been wary of writing prompts containing superlatives because for one, I have a poor memory, and two, my life hasn’t been exceptionally interesting at any one point. No, really. I’ve lived and grown up in Vancouver all my life (not gone to 3 different high schools in 3 different countries), I dedicated 16 years to and became, all considered, relatively mediocre at gymnastics (not basketball, or volleyball, or just some competitive team sport that UBC offers), I grew up in a single parent household (but had such a hardworking parent that we never really noticed), and was labelled as “gifted” at a young age just to realize that it was more of an excuse to put a bunch of us eccentric children together so as to not disrupt the “normal” kids throughout elementary and high school.
With that disclaimer, I certainly have attended some inspirational conferences and probably picked up some noteable lessons from others along the way (despite never having achieved my childhood dream of travelling… oh, just about anywhere outside our province). I can’t pinpoint exactly when or who, but the one that’s stuck with me until now is to figure out what you want, and don’t let anyone sway you from your ultimate goal (no matter how lofty). I just made that up right now, but I’m sure someone said that at some point.
I always thought I was at a disadvantage growing up because, instead of imagining one thing I wanted to do, or having no idea at all, I had (and still have) way too many things I want to do (or be) in my lifetime. It changes from year to year.. or month… but right now, I know where I want to be (though not necessarily what I want to do).
Along my arduous relatively unexciting journey to university, there were a few family/friends/teachers along the way who thought to offer their sage advice on what I should do or where I should go. Unfortunately and obviously unbeknownst for them, even if I hadn’t made my up mind by then, I certainly wasn’t interested in what they had to say – because, who but me could really tell me what I wanted to do with my next four years life?
Now, with that said, of course I respect others and their opinions/insights. But this is one thing I knew I could figure out on my own, and my family slipping hints and whispers of “you’re so good at Sciences” and “your grades are good enough for Medical School” and “you could help people by being a Doctor” just drove me farther away from my second choice. I know it’s hard for anyone at this point to say for sure what they want to do or be for the rest of their life, but I’m not really concerned about making that decision now anyways. What I do know is there are certain companies, in certain industries, with certain people, that I’d like to work for. And no one is going to sway me from my dream(s). 🙂
(sorry for being so long-winded, Lauren!)
