EDUC 131 Spring '17

Career Exploration: exploring and discovering interests and skills in order to select a career path satisfying individual needs. 

[wnorowski-liam-blog]

Week 13 (04/17)

Mindfulness. It was something that I was familiar with but did not really see a real application for the class until the presentation last Tuesday. It made a lot of sense that decision making requires a degree of awareness and that the presentation would drill this concept into our minds as a result. There was a part of me that was skeptical of the implications but I really might start implementing practiced mindfulness into my daily routine. For me, I would say the slowing down aspect was the most helpful part of the practice itself. I had a time where I could be present in the minute and really develop situational awareness. I think that this is something I have to work harder on than other people as I feel my thoughts and mind always wandering to the next step and planning my future. Overall, there was a lot that I got out of the presentation in regards to its applicability of the career decision-making process and how its helpfulness how it resonated with me.

             When making a decision that is important such as a career, I would like to make sure I have taken the necessary steps to feel I am prepared in making my decision. I do not believe that this kind of decision making does not have some prior preparation and now I have a tool to help me. While we have done a lot of technical steps into making an educated decision about our careers, this is a more experience/life-related step that can transcend just this particular situation. On a good day, taking the time to reflect on the current moment can give you a boost of reaffirmation in what you want. On a bad day, it can calm you down and give you some more focus to help you readjust your gaze on the future. I think that this skill will help me reframe my mind during trying times as that is very important throughout a process like this. I am not certain that I will have much success using just this method but it will help me by far help analyze the way in which I approach the career decision-making process as a whole.

             There was a deep resonation of the in-class activities with me as we moved throughout the presentation. I felt myself becoming more aware of my interests and desires as the activities brought me to the present moment. I was reflective of my ambitions and the reasoning behind why I am going through this process. I do believe in exploration and being eager to try new things, but I felt after this activity that I could narrow down what would truly make me happy if I tried. This is something I am going to try and make as a habitual form of reflection and relaxation as it will really impact me in a positive light.

Thankfully as a result of the presentation, I was able to put my mind at ease and draw some inspiration for my future.

[kaybroblogs]

I was the same way before this presentation. I did not really know the importance of mindfulness. That is good that you are becoming more aware of your desires and being inspired. 

[kaybroblogs]

All about breathing this week. We’re almost done with the spring semester and into summer! 

[kaybroblogs]

Final Reflection

Today, we had a guest speaker come in (Jonathan Adams) to talk about mindfulness and how mindfulness can transform the way we make career decisions. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is not going into a trance, zoning out, or not thinking. Mindfulness is “moment to moment non-judgmental awareness cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment’s thought to.” Another definition is “A way of intentionally paying attention to the present moment without being swept up by judgments.” It was interesting to look at the science of mindfulness and the overall chain of brain processes used during passive meditation. Some impacts of mindfulness on the health are decrease of cortisol levels, improved cognitive functioning and working memory, improved sleep, boost of immune system functioning, lowered blood pressure, and changes in brain structure. What we have been doing today is focusing on the breath and body. “Close your eyes, plant your feet on the floor, sit up straight.” What are your thoughts? Where is your breath? I thought these activities were very relaxing and a good way to actually just sit and just breathe. We often do not take the time out to do that. I’m always getting notifications on my Apple Watch telling me to breathe for one whole minute. I often ignore them, but this presentation made me think that I should abide by them instead. During one of our breathing exercises, Jonathan had us think of why we wanted to do a certain career or why we desired to do that certain thing. That is how this presentation could be incorporated into my exploration process because I can think of why I want to become a nurse and what makes me desire becoming one so much. If someone does not have a career in mind, what we learned in this presentation could help a lot because you can just breathe and think. So, when we first started this breathing thing I wondered why we were doing such a thing in class and what was the purpose of it? When the presentation was coming to a close and we discussed with a classmate I understood it more and we found it helpful to just let everything go and breathe. It’s funny because the competitive cheerleading team that I was on last year was all about breathing throughout our routine. Our motto was to “Just Breathe” and we had songs in our routine that dealt with breathing, such as “No Air” by Jordin Sparks. For competitions, we would all write just breathe on our arms and right when we got on the mat and before we started we would yell it. It is a great motto to live by because how are you supposed to breathe with no air right? Anyways, this is what I thought of during this presentation and it brought back a lot of memories. I am glad Jonathan got us involved during his presentation and had us doing these certain exercises. Before this, I really did not know how to define mindfulness. It is always good to be mindful when endeavoring in your exploration process!

[kaybroblogs]

Week 12 Reflection

What do I want to major in? What do I want to have a career in? These are just two things that The University Career Services can assist you with. The University Career Services offers a variety of resources to students. Being in EDUC 131 has helped me learn more about the University Career Services and has encouraged me to apply for jobs or internships. After completing resumes and cover letters in class, I felt more comfortable in applying. Some services other than resume, mock interviewing, career fairs, and the courses EDUC 131 and EDUC 132 are pre-grad advising, workshops, FOCUS 2, Careerolina, and you can schedule an appointment anytime to discuss majors and career options. Pre-grad advising can always come in handy when it comes close to graduation and you want to know how to transition after college. Workshops through UCS are held almost every week going over different valuable topics. For instance, this week I have attended one helping with personal statements specifically for health professions and another talking about going from College to Career. So, if you ever need help with a specific topic and there is a workshop, these can be very beneficial to students. Careerolina includes job and internship postings, as well as details about on-campus recruiting, employer contact information, etc. FOCUS 2 is a self-paced online career and education-planning tool designed to help you make decisions about career goals and education plans. Eligible students may schedule an appointment anytime for all career development needs with any available career counselor. Don’t be afraid to use any of these services. So many of these services have helped me so much in searching for internships or jobs or simply just getting insight on life after college. I found FOCUS 2 to be kind of neat in helping to find major and career options that I passed it along to a friend who has no idea what she wants to major in. The assessments are pretty good in telling you what careers might fit you. You can use Careerolina anytime during your journey at UNC to find jobs near you. Every time I log back in it says I have new job opportunities. I have also had two appointments so far with my teacher Ms. Taylor and she loves to help with anything in any way that she can. She encourages us to use these certain resources and I like how if I never need anything or have questions I know that she is there. I think that any and all staff a part of University Career Services has responsibility for these students and I am sure the staff members can help in some sort of way. Students can access the staff by going on the UCS website and looking at the different staff members and what their position or title is. If I had not taken this Education course, I also do not think I would have known anything about the University Career Services and what it offers. Take advantage of these services during your career and professional development journey at UNC. You may thank yourself in the end. I am glad to say how much I have learned through UCS and just knowing that the services are always they’re for me whenever I am in need of something career related.

[kaybroblogs]

University Career Services has much to offer! 

[kaybroblogs]

Week 11 Reflection

Only 5-6 seconds to read a resume…what?? This is what freaks me out the most about writing and perfecting my resume, which I cannot focus so hard on perfection, but more of the authenticity of it. I realize that employers seem to be looking for specific things highlighted in your resume and if that one skill is not in it, you are out. You are not fit for the job. This must be why they go through them so quickly; they know what they are looking for. Your resume and cover letter are intended to outline your qualifications. You are selling all the reasons you’re the right person for the job. So, coming up to the topics of resumes and cover letters in class, I thought to myself-“Oh, no I really need to work on my resume. I haven’t changed it since high school.” One thing I have already learned about myself is that I do have much more that I could add to my resume; such as more volunteering and different skills I have gained since being in college. I learned a lot from my resume critique appointment. According to new requirements, I could delete some parts I had in my resume before, such as the objective piece and the skills section. I would just add my skills in bullet points for each of my work experiences and community engagements that I talked about. I realized that I have done a lot of activities with the hospital and working with kids, such as volunteering and babysitting. This shows me that a career in the hospital would be a great fit for myself. I would say the children have benefited from my contributions the most, whether it is the children that I play with in the pediatric playroom at NC Children’s Hospital or the kids that I babysit. If you say, “Kay Kay is coming,” one of my toddlers I babysit knows exactly what that means and will run to the door excitedly. Moments like that are what make it all worth it and make me feel special to be apart of these kids lives. Results of my efforts are wanting a career in nursing and hopefully getting in the nursing school here at UNC. Also, wanting to specialize in neonatal working with the little tiny children. My top skills seem to be dependability, responsibility, and organized. These are all key skills that you need when working with children. To improve upon my resume, I want to get more involved and be able to add more community engagement and work experiences, and to also get my GPA up. I feel as if I work on those things my resume will just keep getting better and better as I start to do more things in the “real world.” The main thing I have learned overall is that I have a passion for helping kids. Babysitting is something I strongly enjoy doing and sometimes I will even go over to the family’s house and just hang out or give the mom a break. It is something I love doing and that’s what I want to find in a career. I want to love my job and love going to it. With that being said to get the job/career I want I need to have a strong resume and have the aspects that employers in the certain field are looking for. Remember: 5-6 seconds…make it worth it.

[wnorowski-liam-blog]

Week 10 Reflection 3/30

The fact of the matter is; companies love to hire applicants that show they can bring a new perspective to their company. In a recent study done by the Erasmus Student Network, 92% of employers preferred employees with transversal skills. These skills are skills that are acquired from traveling to a new place, interacting with someone who is completely different than yourself and is able to thrive and adapt in these settings. They want to see that you are a global citizen and are making a conscious effort to expand your horizons. This is something I have yet to do but I hope in the future that I am able to do with the resources that are provided to me here at Chapel Hill.

              One of the core tenants that ties into that are communication skills. Either written or verbal, employers nowadays want to see you be able to present/speak in a social manner. You may not be the most social person, but when the time is right you are able to deliver a point across almost effortlessly. This all depends on the career, in sales it would be a necessity,  but there are little to no careers that would involve a lack of communication. A new form of communication that employers are looking forward to is social media. Social media can provide a way for an employer to learn more about an applicant but their employees can use it to market the business itself. Social media managers will increase by 12% over the next 5 years and are expected to double in the next decade. PR departments of companies need people with these particular communication skills to fill the spot and that proves to highlight how communication can change and used in different/modern ways.

              The final tenant that I will address from the seven career readiness competencies is the ability to have a profound work ethic. If one is not able to perform the task they are given a company will not hesitate to remove them from the company. That is money and time that could have been allocated to a person that is more willing to perform the task. Nowadays, compared to any time than before, employees are able to multitask and manage themselves freely. There is also freelancing work that can be done that is reflective of how much faith employers are putting in their employees. Being able to perform multiple tasks that are outside of your job description is also a very relevant idea as a job description never fully covers the range in which you will be put to work. One should be able to adapt and work hard at all these tasks however in order to succeed the best. As a sales rep/consultant, I would have to go above and beyond my call of duty in order to keep my employers happy and I am happy and willing to provide this service with the right training and discipline.

Overall, these were just a few competencies that I would need to improve upon in order to see success in consulting in sales. I am certain with the right attention to detail I can improve these abilities and prove to be very successful in any endeavor I choose.

[kaybroblogs]

Good research on this! Good luck with improving on these certain competencies needed in order to see success in your consulting. Yes, you can do it! 

[kaybroblogs]

[kaybroblogs]

Week 10 Reflection: Being Career Ready

Am I Career Ready? The big question that I have been asked throughout this education course. What I have been preparing for throughout this course. Becoming career ready is important. So, some competencies to help prepare and succeed in the workplace are:

·      Teamwork & Collaboration

·      Professionalism & Work Ethic

·      Leadership

·      Global Perspective

·      Creativity & Problem Solving

·      Communication

·      Technical Application

The University Career Services at UNC has provided these seven professional competencies to help us students prepare and succeed in the workplace. The career that I am strongly considering is a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit. I may go even higher and do a nurse practitioner. I am undecided on that specific part right now. In my personal opinion, I feel as if all of these competencies would be necessary in order to engage in or strengthen the career I am interested in. The dynamics of team collaboration are important within the goal of improving the outcomes of infants and families. It is especially important for neonatal nurses to foster strong ties with physicians, while helping the families cope with the trying experience of having an ill child. Your work ethic and professionalism is extremely important because you must be able to engage in the professional exercise of nursing. Having a role in leadership makes you realize how much of an impact you as a nurse could have on the health care system and the care received by patients. Global perspective plays a role because it is good to address certain issues from a global perspective being in a hospital setting. Creativity and problem solving plays a HUGE role in nursing because you definitely have to be able to know how to solve a problem with the many that arise in an intensive care unit. Sometimes you have to be creativity too, especially with the little tiny babies. Communication is key! Communication between parents and NICU staff is an essential part of the support offered to the support offered to the parents and can reduce their emotional stress. Said by an interview study with the NCBI, “Parents’ experience of communication with the staff during their infant’s stay at the NICU can be described by the main theme ‘being given attention or ignored in their emotional situation’.” From doing some research, technical skills are needed for a neonatal nurse. Intensive care units require a lot of skills to succeed in the workplace. You want to be the best that you can be. With all of this being said, I do not think that I am fully career yet, but I am getting there. This class has helped me a lot to become career ready and I feel as if the more I get into these college classes pertaining specifically to my major I will get a better understanding. It is important to be familiar with skills employers like. I think more shadowing and volunteering experience in the hospital will help with this and help me become more career ready. Just keep asking yourself the question: Are You Career Ready? Then do a reality check and assess yourself according to these competencies. You will get there. It will take time. Just breathe.

[kaybroblogs]

Week 9 Reflection

An informational interview is an informal conversation with someone working in an area that interests you who will give you information and advice. So, I just decided to do my interview with the NICU registered nurse that I shadowed at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. For my shadowing experience in the NICU, I was placed with Crystina Marwitz, an RN in the neonatal intensive care nursery. During the experience, I really enjoyed shadowing her and learned a lot while there. If I had a child in the NICU, she is the type of nurse that I would want taking care of my baby. So, doing an informational interview with her was a great deal of help and encouragement. Lately, I have been a little unsure on whether I want to stick to being a registered nurse or go higher and become a nurse practitioner in the specific field. I was going to try to interview a nurse practitioner to get more information, but that did not work out, so I just did Crystina since I knew her. After shadowing her, I really found to love more of what the registered nurses did rather than the nurse practitioners. The RN’s seemed to be more hands on and that is the kind of person I am. So, with this interview here are some questions I asked and the responses that I got:

·      How did you become so passionate in neonatal rather than the general nurse?

The environment in the NICU is one like no other. We see and hear all of these babies and these little patients are just growing and wanting to live.

·      What specific skills are needed for the work that you do?

Many skills are essential for work in the NICU. You need critical care skills and be able to be an effective communicator when you have the parents coming in wanting updates and such on their child. Charting and medication calculations are also very important. If you do not like to untangle things, this is not the job for you. You must be able to work with very tiny bodies-and sometimes quickly!

·      How do you process the challenging times that come your way?

When you have to keep interventions going, there can be a lot of strain and pressure I will say. You see them struggling and sometimes you don’t want to see them going through such pain and suffering anymore. I think my coworkers help a lot because this is an opportunity to talk to others who are in the same place and you can do things to get it out of your head.

·      How are the families and do they come in all the time?

Yes, we see families come in all the time and usually they are terrified that their child could be close to death. I try to ease them and tell them what is going on and why they are attached to so many different things. Mostly, I try to get them to stay positive. We do get a lot of Spanish families that come in, so we have to get interpreters in order to effectively provide the families with the information that they need.

     So, these are just some questions that I asked. But, overall Crystina loves her job and she is good at what she does. The best advice I was given was to probably: do not take college for granted and just to get experience of what I really want to do. Like she suggested even looking into the healthy babies to make sure I wanted to do the sick versus the healthy ones in Labor and Delivery. There is also pediatrics, but she really helped me a lot and was more than happy to answer any of my questions. The greatest takeaway I can build upon is to get into shadowing other fields that I could be interested in, or even if not interested just do it to see!

[wnorowski-liam-blog]

Week 8 Reflection

I personally would like to interview one of the Entrepreneurs in Residence here at UNC. Bernard Bell is one of the people that are associated with the minor that would really provide depth and information into the field and how I can prepare myself. He is one of the leading faculty members that deal with the minor of entrepreneurship here at the university and would be one of the most informative people that would help me realize my entrepreneurial potential in an academic environment. I plan on doing the semester in Silicon Valley and he would help me and educate me along the way.  He would be a great advisor as well as someone I can go to when I am in need. I think surrounding myself with faculty and students like him would do wonders for my own professional development as well as create profound relationships with the community of like-minded people.

             When I go to interview him I am expecting to receive a lot of general information in regards to the minor itself. There will be an inside perspective into the world that I wish to dive into. The fact that he educates people like me will be greatly informative as he will know how to guide and lead me into the direction that I need to go. There is no better advice that can be given than from someone who is already doing what you wish to be doing. While it may not be exact and I do not expect to follow the same path as him, I would love to learn how he got to where he was. I will be happy hearing the stories and the hardships that come from his path but they will be able to aid me when I make my own decisions. I am hoping that this interview does not end with a professional relationship but also with a mentor/friendship that will allow for me to grow into a very knowledgeable and passionate entrepreneur.

             I think that at the end of the day as a result of my questions and general interest in the field I will see an overall improvement and focus on what I want to do. I would consider the main point of shadowing and interviewing someone in a profession that you would like to get an insider’s perspective to see if that is the right career path for you. I more than likely would benefit from this and would do my best to get the most out of the experience. Normally, there would be some sort of shadowing but I believe that after interviewing him and getting a feel for the program here at UNC I will be the one that benefits from a top of the line education filled with opportunity. Professor Bell will more than likely open the doors to this new idea of entrepreneurship and can truly change the way in which I will go about my career goals. While it may be intimidating, I believe that interviewing Bernard Bell would greatly guide me into the career path that I will be passionate about and truly feel like my potential is unleashed.

[kaybroblogs]

This all seems like a great plan! Good post!

[kaybroblogs]

Week 8 Reflection

The specific industry that I am considering is a neonatal nurse. I do not quite know whether that’s going to be just a registered nurse or a nurse practitioner, etc. I have done some research and it says: “The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted a growth rate of 31% for this profession of nurses by the year 2022. This is a much higher than average rate of growth, and surpasses other nursing growth rates such as registered nursing, and even just the average nurse practitioner role. The median salary for a neonatal nurse is $89,960, but this rate can increase with experience and additional academics.” Now, within the state of North Carolina, average neonatal nursing salaries for job postings are 5% lower than average neonatal nursing salaries for job postings nationwide. “The average salary ranks 22nd among states in the country.” It says there were job openings from an employer that I am considering working for: Carolinas Healthcare System. It also says that the minimum education requirements are your Master’s, but that also depends. For instance, a registered nurse is just a Bachelor’s degree. Neonatal nursing also requires the NCLEX-RN examination during the beginning stages of advancement into a graduate program. So, in other words neonatal nurses must go through the process of becoming an advanced practical nurse by first completing the initial training for a registered nurse. In simple terms, this means obtaining a degree in nursing through the Associate or Bachelor level. After that, two years of practice must be obtained before applying for and completing a graduate level degree such as a Master of Science in nursing degree. “During this time the NCLEX-RN license examination must be completed with a passing grade in order to work in the U.S. as a registered nurse.” Then, more such things after that can come upon to better prepare for career.

I would say experience would probably be one of the most important things with nursing or working in a hospital in general. Employers in this industry want to see that you have had volunteer and shadowing experiences I am sure. Like for example, when I apply to the nursing school I have to have volunteering experience after high school. A number of NICUs require nurses to gain experience working with children or infants prior to being hired. Opportunities can include working in pediatrics or a hospital’s nursing before applying, getting into an internship through a nursing school, or undertaking an on-the-job training program offered by select NICUs. These are all tools that I can use to conduct this and further research. I am sure the more you have on your application and the more experience you have, the better chance you will have of your employer hiring you.

Career or job satisfaction has and can be defined in many different ways. Some believe it is simply how content an individual is with his or her job, or whether or not they like the job as an individual. Career satisfaction is something very important to me because I do not want to obtain a job that I am not going to be happy doing. I do not want to dread going to something for the rest of my life or find a way to just get through it. I want to enjoy my job and WANT to go to work. There are so many advantages that come along with employee satisfaction. I believe becoming apart of the neonatal field and working with newborns will satisfy me in my career.

Source: http://nursejournal.org/neonatal-nursing/nicu-nursing-careers-salary-outlook/

[kaybroblogs]

Week 7 Reflection

Coming into the career fair, I will admit that I was a little nervous. Everyone was just so dressed up and professional, so I knew I had to make good impressions. At first, I was being a little shy and was just walking around not knowing who to go to and what to say until someone came up to us. She started talking about her company to us and to be exact this company was Optum, the UnitedHealth Group Company and she helped us out a little bit. We then stopped at the CVS booth and talked to them about what they do as a whole and their internships. CVS is a huge company and one of my favorite pharmacy stores to go to so I enjoyed listening to what they had to say. He talked about the Minute Clinic and how that is becoming such a big thing because it can be so much easier these days. With CVS being a health care company, I was super interested in what had to be said about them. Well, after that one of my friends that I rode with had to leave to go to class and I decided to stay to get more scope on things. That is when I started to open up and stop at every booth that I found interesting to me. Of course, I tried to find some relating to the career that I am exploring. But, with Target being one of my favorite stores to just shop for literally anything at I HAD to stop at that one. Mostly, the guy at this one gave me advice on my career exploration. He kept asking me all kinds of different questions and since he knew I was in this Career Explorations class, he talked about the University Career Services and what they have to offer and how I could benefit from scheduling an appointment. I found it interesting how he talked to me more about the UCS than Target as a company. He said he is very close to the Career Services and I also think that since I am a freshman, he knew I wasn’t in such a hurry to know about obtaining a job within Target. That one confused me a little but, but I did get some good information. I then stopped by the Vidant Health Nurse Residency Program because knowing me I saw the word NURSE and had to stop! This was definitely my favorite one that I had stopped at and I got some great information! At first, the lady I talked to thought I was an upperclassmen and was trying to get me to go on their website and schedule an interview. I explained to her my situation about being a freshman, but coming in with an Associates degree and hoping to apply to The School of Nursing next fall. She then said in quote, “We are waiting for people like you.” This got me really excited and interested in the program she was talking about. The hospital is a teaching hospital of course and when I told her I wanted to do neonatal, she said they have a big NICU with it being a teaching hospital. This Nurse Residency Program says it gives you the opportunity to choose from nearly any clinical area to find the best fit for your professional goals. So, lastly I stopped at the Health Credit Services booth to learn a little bit about them. The purpose of their company is to simplify the way people pay for healthcare. Cool thing I learned is their company is held in Charlotte, which is where I live! Overall, I would say that I had a good first experience at the Career Fair. A lot of the employees there when they heard that I was a freshman were like “Wow, so you’re really getting a head start on things.” I am very pleased with the information I got from the fair and I learned a lot of things that I did not know!

[wnorowski-liam-blog]

Week 6 Reflection

Networking as defined by the Miriam Webster Dictionary is “the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically:  the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business”. There is something that pertains to networking that can be a result of a person’s personality and ambition. It is not something that passively occurs, it is the result of being open to meeting new people and putting yourself out there. I did not realize how many opportunities I have had to network not with established people who have careers but also people my age who may know people who can help me. There is an old saying that I choose to live by and it goes “Sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know”. This does not mean you should use people exclusively for your benefit but if they can help you get to where you want to be there is no harm in taking advantage of your resources. It is quite impressive to see people nowadays that are unemployed because there are so many outlets in which you can network and find employment opportunities. A specific instance in which I have failed to network was with the many events the Honors program hosts for its students. I had never thought to meet the many professionals in the program in the hopes of using them as a valuable connection. I am always concerned with networking and looking for opportunities to accelerate my career forward but I have not been using the most prevalent resource available to me in college. The career fair that is being held will be a great way to network in person. I am fairly confident that this is the most traditional and easy form of networking as you are present and able to engage in conversation with the potential employers. This is not something that is present through social media platforms such as LinkedIn. This is a new age form of networking that may seem convenient on the surface but has a complex set of rules and etiquette. I prepared an elevator pitch to break the ice and encourage conversation in person. This is not an option when using social media platforms that deem it necessary to already have met the employer in person. The good this about that, though, you are open up to a world of networking that would be inhibited by the traditional means. I currently am trying to start my own business and along the way, I am sure to gather the contact information and network with all who I come in contact with. If I could do things differently I would have tried to begin networking at a younger age, but I feel starting as a freshman in college is still gives me an advantage over my peers.

Overall, networking to me is an important part of any college career. It is crucial to take advantage of any resources and to open doors that may have been previously closed had you not made the proper connections

[kaybroblogs]

Networking is indeed about opening up and putting yourself out there. Who you know seems to be very important in getting jobs these days. The career fair will be a great way to network and look for opportunities. This is a good post and I enjoyed reading. 

[kaybroblogs]

This week’s topic is NETWORKING. 

[kaybroblogs]

Reflection: 2/23/17

Networking your way into a new job? Yes, this is a thing and some people are very successful at it. Networking can be defined as different things and in different ways. “Networking is defined as the act of making contact and exchanging information with other people, groups and institutions to develop mutually beneficial relationships, or to access and share information between computers.” Some examples of networking can be: handing out business cards, exchanging contact information, or sharing and acquiring information. In the case that we are talking about, networking is almost like a business activity in which businesspeople meet to form business relationships and to recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities. People network to obtain internships or jobs. So, you may think networking sounds a little intimidating. Well, it does not have to be. It can be as informal as you make it to be. Sometimes all it takes is talking to someone in the same field that you are interested in. You’d be surprised to see how easy networking can be. Various forms of networking can be things such as emailing, searching on websites such as LinkedIn, or even talking to someone sitting beside you on an airplane, for instance. This person could work in a field that you are interested in and you get to talking and earn yourself a job.

I honestly cannot think of a good enough opportunity that I have had that I did not seize to network. I feel as if I am just now starting to get old enough to know what networking is and how important of a role it plays. But, one thing that I do wish I had done more networking was at the Fall Fest. I was/am a freshman and did not know what was really going on or what I was doing, so I just walked around Fall Fest. I wish I had used that time to network myself into some clubs or other organizations on campus. When these opportunities come around to me, I need to seize them and take advantage of the great opportunities because they do not always come around.

I have actually networked just recently in order to be able to shadow in a field that I am very interested in. It started with my mom knowing someone who knew someone in the department. I got a hold of this persons’ email and starting emailing her back and forth saying a little bit about me and what I wanted to do. The first time I emailed her, I was still a senior in high school and they do not really let you shadow until you are enrolled into college. So, once I got into Chapel Hill I emailed her again to touch base with maybe scheduling something during my winter break. She got me set up for a day and time, assigning me with a Registered Nurse in the NICU nursery at Carolinas Medical Center. It was as easy as that. All I had to do was contact this person. It is all about finding that person. I got to work the whole 12-hour shift that day and experience “a day in the life of a NICU RN.” This experience was one I will never forget or regret. When I left the hospital that night, I already wanted to do it again! So, now this is one immediate network activity I can engage in because I now know people in the department and I can go back and shadow or ask any questions I have whenever I want to. Even when I volunteered in the hospital, I feel as if that was networking because I was getting my face in the hospital and engaging in so many things. Communication is key when it comes to networking. In my opinion, I believe that who you know is what gets you where you want to be these days. Maybe not in all cases, but that’s just how it has become. It is all about whom you talk to. Successful networking does not require a physical balancing act. It just helps you to understand networking’s important role in job searching.

[kaybroblogs]