What is your purpose to work? Identify at least three reasons.
My purpose to work is to make money. When I think about working, my main goal is to make money so that I can provide for myself. Additionally, I work so that I am able to provide for the things I need, but also the things I want and want to do. I cannot do everything I want to, like travel, if I am not working during my other times. Another purpose of work is to help others. I want to work in some form of helping profession to see others succeed. Overall, my purpose to work is to make money, provide for the things I want to do, and to help others.
What motivates you? Identify at least three reasons.
I am motivated by the potential opportunities of things to come. One of my biggest motivators is the idea of being able to travel. Knowing that this would be a potential opportunity, I am constantly motivated to work. Another motivator is the potential to see other people succeed. As I previously stated, I want to work in a helping profession of some kind. Seeing how people can work to promote their own success and if I can be a part of that is a big motivator to me as a worker. Finally, money is also a motivator to me. To have more money would give me more opportunities to do things I want to do rather than just work. Overall, I am motivated by the opportunities to come, the potential to see other people succeed, and money.
How does your “why” impact your career path? Identify at least three reasons.
My “why” and motivators may impact my career path in what I chose to do. First, I will want to choose a job that provides a salary that is livable. Some careers may not provide a salary that I could actually live off of so that would impact my career path. Another way my “why” would impact my career path is that I will want a job that will allows me to take time off to do things for me, like travel. Additionally, I’d want a job where I have potential for advancement. This would allow me to both be able to earn more money and to earn more time to take off and seize the opportunities I may have. Finally, I will want a job where I can interact face-to-face with individuals. This relates with working in a helping profession and wanting to see people succeed. These are all ways my career path could be impacted by my motivations.
What jobs/experiences have made you feel fulfilled? Identify three.
Being a swim coach made me feel fulfilled. Getting to see the swimmers grow and be proud of themselves was something I will never forget. Even if they didn’t win, they would come to me and say “I didn’t get disqualified”, which showed their improvement and how much fun they had in the water. Another experience that has made me feel fulfilled is giving tours as a Longwood Ambassador. Through this position, I get to give tours to prospective students, many of who end up coming to Longwood. When people tell me “You gave me my tour and I came to Longwood”, I have an immense sense of pride. This relates to a third experience where I have felt fulfilled, being a Peer Mentor. In my first year, I had very close relationships with several of my mentees. Seeing them grow and succeed in their first year and beyond was so special and makes me so proud of them.
How can a future career align with those experiences? Connect the three above with future career alignment.
One future career that could align with the experience above is being an Admissions or College Counselor. In this position, I would be able to connect with my working with the Admissions office as a Longwood Ambassador. I’d also be able to connect with my position as a Peer Mentor where I got to see students succeed. I’d be able to keep up with some students that I. helped in their admission process and see them succeed. Seeing students finally decide on a college will also be a rewarding process. Finally, I’d be able to see the students I worked with be proud of themselves with their college decision. All of these possibilities in the future career could connect with the experiences I have had that have made me feel fulfilled.
Reflect on the work/volunteer experiences you have had. What did you enjoy? What did you not enjoy? Identify three each.
In my work and volunteer experiences, I have enjoyed several aspects. Firstly, I enjoyed being a leader. Taking on an additional role where I can see others succeed and use my skills to promote the experience was very rewarding. I also enjoyed being around people and interacting with them face-to-face. I am a very personable person and prefer to be around people than be alone. Finally, I enjoyed sharing my knowledge with others. I love sharing my knowledge with others and seeing them begin to understand the topics.
I have also not enjoyed several aspects. First, I do not enjoy when other people think they know everything. I believe there is always more to know, so we need to be open to listening to others to see what else we can learn. I also do not enjoy when I do not feel appreciated. I have worked in several positions where I felt unappreciated and did not feel valued in my job, which contributed to a very negative environment, Lastly, I did not enjoy doing manual labor. I love volunteering to help my community, but when it gets to the point of heavy lifting and moving, I do not enjoy it. I am not very strong, so it became difficult.
What hard and soft skills do you possess?
I posses several hard and soft skills. For hard skills, I received my Microsoft Office certification in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel in 2022. I am also proficient in several statistical programs, including: jamovi, R, and SPSS. I am also proficient in research methods in the fields of sociology and psychology. For soft skills, I am well trained at communicating with others. I also have a natural tendency toward leadership and am skilled in the arena. Finally, I also am understanding and have empathy, being able to put myself in other’s shoes.
If someone were to describe what you are good at, what would they say? Identify three.
Something someone would describe I am good at is professional communication. I am very good at crafting emails and in-person speech in a professional manner depending on the context. Additionally, I am skill at getting my point across, even when others do not know what we are talking about. I am good at explaining the basics of concepts before getting into the nitty gritty. Finally, I am good at problem solving, especially when a solution is needed soon.
Who do you know that has the coolest job you have ever heard of? Why is it so great? What about your potential career path/major aligns with this job?
I think the coolest job I have ever heard of is being an international admissions counselor. What I think is so cool about this job is that you get to travel the world to show off the organization you work at. To be an admissions counselor, you have to love (or at least have an appreciation for) the institution to work at. To be able to travel to different countries to spread the message of your university sounds amazing! It would combine my passion for traveling with my ability to inform people of all the good of my university.
Take the top four NACE career competencies. How has something you have done show that you have that competency?
I have demonstrated critical thinking in problem solving in several roles. One role I have demonstrated critical thinking in is being the head swim coach. We had to problem solve to make sure all groups had a coach and workout. I also had to work with the other coaches to plan the entries for swim meets. We had to problem solve to make sure relays were created for each group and that all swimmers were entered equally. When conflicts arose, I had to quickly find a solution and problem solve quickly to resolve the issue.
I have demonstrated professionalism in many settings. One way I have done this is by communicating through email. Email is more formal and professional than text messaging and sometimes spoken language. Being a peer mentor at Longwood, I have had to reach out via email to several individuals, some of whom I have never talked to in person. I was able to convey my point and communicate in an appropriate and professional manner. When it lead to meeting in person, I was able to dress appropriately and have proper body language so that I was able to act in a professional manner.
I demonstrated communication in many setting. As a peer mentor, I was responsible for maintaining communication with the freshmen students I was assigned to throughout the semester. I communicated with them through GroupMe messages and email to get my point across. Many of the students did not know what I was talking about, so I had to make sure I explained everything in detail that they understood. Even though many of my students did not also communicate back with me, I was able to practice my communication skills.
I demonstrated teamwork by working with a co-chair in my position as special projects in Longwood Ambassadors. Even if we both had different ideas, were were able to talk things through to make the events run as smoothly as possible. We both had to give some and take some, but it taught me about working with others and collaborating. We learned to assign tasks so we were not both trying to do the same thing, which helped everything run smoother. Overall, the experience taught me about teamwork and showed that I can work well as a team.
Identify 3 people who you can connect with to ask about their career journey. You want to list their name, occupation, and contact information.
Macey Lynch, Admissions Counselor, macey2@vt.edu
Penny Pariet, Director of Annual Giving, parietpw@longwood.edu
Susan Sullivan, Assistant Dean and Director of the University Center and Student Activities, sullivansm@longwood.edu
Q1: Define the NACE competencies.
Critical Thinking: digging deeper, thinking past initial thoughts, problem solving; thinking from other perspectives, leads to good decision making
Professionalism: behaving in the proper situational context, understanding the difference in casual communication and the audience you are around; attitudes to portray in professional settings, standards, responsible and accountable
Communication: the ability to effectively share thoughts and ideas with others, co workers and strangers
Teamwork: coming together to produce a product or ideas where everyone is contributing and given opportunities; collaborate, being respectful, bringing out best skills in each other
Leadership: taking on additional responsibilities; setting a positive example for people around you that guides them in the proper way
Technology: being able to use modern-day resources in an effective way that may have required additional training/practice, and requirements need for your specific career
Equity and Inclusion: the ability to include everyone despite the awareness of human differences
Q2: Which identities are going to be particularly helpful in particular roles?
I demonstrated critical thinking by problem solving with a freshman student that was struggling socially while I was acting as a Peer Mentor.
I demonstrated professionalism by acting appropriately and effectively to visitors while I was a Visitor Center Ambassador at Virginia Tech.
I demonstrated communication by discussing plans and effectively emailing with my faculty coach while I was acting as a Peer Mentor.
I demonstrated teamwork by working with my other swim coaches to create entries for swim meets while I was acting as the head swim coach.
Q3: expression on cover letter, expression at interview
Cover letter: want to sound excited about job and interested in position; be a positive person, show emotion so you’re not speaking monotone; display professionalism; knowledgable about position and field; demonstrate other skills you feel strong in; want to be open to new experience and learning more about the position
Interview: be aware of facial expression, smile not RBF; allowing others to talk to show patience; body language/posture, sit like a professional and act accordingly, don’t slouch or look uninterested; stay engaged in the conversation; display professionalism; knowledgable about position and field; don’t convey entitlement
Q4: Reflect upon resume and cover letter.
My resume and cover letter can tell a lot about how I want to present myself socially as it relates to my future career. Both my resume and cover letter demonstrate that I am trying to present myself in a positive light. I am attempting to show the qualifications and skills that will set me apart. I am highlighting all of my positive qualities and skills, but I do not discuss my negative qualities (like I overthink in situations). Overall, my resume and cover letter are presenting myself and the qualities I want people to see when considering me for a job.
Crafting a resume and cover letter can demonstrate the different phases of impression management. The first stage of impression management is defining the situation. When writing my resume, I had to consider what job I was considering to craft my objective. Knowing I was looking for a job in higher education helped me determined which skills and experiences to included on the resume. The same thing works with a cover letter, knowing the position I was looking for I could write the skills I needed and focus my writing on the specific position.
The second stage of impression management is understanding the situated identity. This relates to understanding the current role you are playing in a situation. When writing my resume and cover letter, I knew I was taking the role of being an applicant. No matter my experience with a position or the company or my skills, I am applying to a job just like everyone else. I have to be aware that they may not know me or my experiences and have to make sure I explain my experiences and what I can bring to the table.
The third stage of impression management is creating impressions through expressions. This portion relates to our language and body language. When we write our resume and cover letter, we need to ensure that we use professional language that presents us in that way. We have to be aware of the physical expressions and language we use when we are writing a resume and cover letter for a job position.
The fourth stage of impression management is the front stage and back stage. We behave differently around different groups of people. We will act differently in a job interview than we would around our friends. Our front stage is when we must present ourselves appropriately, where the back stage is our time to relax. When crafting my resume and cover letter, I had to be on my front stage to act appropriately. I cannot relax and act like I would around friends, I just had to make sure I am “on”.
The final stage of impression management is self-awareness, self-monitoring, and self disclosure. In this stage, we learn about our self so that we can understand how we relate to others and regulate our behaviors as other’s react. This is important when writing my resume and cover letter because I put myself into the shoes of a reader to see what they would take away. I have to be aware of my self, but also how others will react to it and how I can monitor myself to present my best self.