Blog Finale

Blog Finale

Having blogged on all of the chapters, I am going to focus on what stood out to me in our workshops. I was very impressed by the hard work and creativity that went into each workshop. I would like to extend a thank you to my classmates for such enjoyable learning experiences. I have not been to any career development workshops, so in the beginning of the year, I was not sure what to expect. I experienced the workshops as helpful and would attend a career workshop in the future because of it. I must admit, I am grateful that I am not currently in need of those services.

Several things stood out to me in the workshops – interviewing, resumes, internships, and learning the skills applicable to certain jobs. I have had many interviews. I always try to remember that I am interviewing the job as much as the potential employer is interviewing me. I learned this idea very early in my work life. I was 19 and looking for an office job after high school. I will never forget the interview I had with the office supervisor at a local business. She made prejudice comments about Jewish people during my interview. I knew I would never agree to work for her in one million trillion years (as my daughter says).

It was interesting to me that “teamwork” was the most desirable soft skill. I always think this term is so vague. A person must possess a variety of social and interpersonal skills to be a good team player. We have a “commitment to my co-worker” initiative at my job currently. It is meant to improve teamwork and overall morale. There have been a lot of improvements and I think the program will be successful. I noticed that the people who don’t want to “get on board with it” have or are leaving.

I agree that internships are not only helpful experiences, but probably essential. I did not have any “real life experience” when I embarked on my undergraduate internship. That experience did not lead to my first job, but it did contribute to a later one. I think there is a strange unwritten commandment that all psych grads must work as a TSS at some point in their careers. Anyway, of course TSS was my first job after college. I am about to enter an internship again at the graduate level. This one has a different feel – but I am not sure I can put words to it. I was definitely more active in choosing the environment for my internship this time, and I have a great deal more to balance. I no longer work flexible waitress hours and I am responsible to make sure a child has health care benefits. I don’t want to compromise the job I already have and worked so hard for. I don’t feel the luxury of working my life around my internship. Instead it has to somehow fit into an existing life. I really do believe that these graduate struggles are somehow part of the overall experience and a benefit. I think I am looking forward to a hindsight perspective.

I hope everyone has happy holidays and an excellent winter break. I enjoyed being in class with you all.