Everything Begins with Self Motivation

Keeping life interesting takes being able to tap into your inner being and revisiting the things you are passionate about. Learning and achieving new skill is a great way to update or reinvent your career.

To help you reach this goal, I came across a series of websites that focus on motivating yourself to learn. This website is generally for students, but I find that the information is applicable for anyone. This website explains the importance of incorporating new skills in your life in order to keep your career vibrant and fresh.

So think about what it is you want to learn. What are some of the things you want to accomplish in your life? See if you can achieve them in a small time frame (2-3 months). Let me know what it was you learned and how it applied to your career at Camille1619@aol.com.

WHICH GRADUATE SCHOOL DID I CHOOSE.........

WAIT FOR IT........WAIT FOR IT........

YEAH!!!!!!!! WHOOOO HOOO!!

INFORMATION INTERVIEW #4

DATE: 2/25/2010

COMPANY: Duke University
TYPE: Private College
LOCATION: Durham, NC
TITLE: Career Advisor
EDUCATION: M.S in International Affairs from Duke University/ B.A in Psychology from Georgetown University
INTREST: Sushi

WHAT DID I LEARN OVERALL FROM THIS INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW?
I learned that Duke University has the best medical and engineering programs on this side of the U.S. I was quite impressed with the university and its many historical buildings. Albeit al of the glorious history, I found the interview to be quite life changing for me….I know I can be a bit dramatic. However, I really enjoyed the interview and I loved the description of the job. The career advisor is not just sitting and waiting for students to come through the door but they are working on projects, teaching courses and mentoring students.

WHAT WERE THE POSITIVE’S AND NEGATIVE’S OF EACH INTERVIEWEE’S JOB?
Positive – I love this job!! I love that 60% is counseling students one-on-one 30% is programming and teaching and 10% is recruiting.

Negative – I see that in this role you are working with a variety of students with varied backgrounds and with majors that you may not have much experience in. I can see this as a difficult process for you as a counselor and for the student as well. In this role I will just have to spend extra time studying each major.

COULD I HAVE DONE ANYTHING TO IMPROVE THIS INTERVIEW?
This interview was unique because it was a lunch interview. We went to a sushi restaurant and I was a little uncertain if my etiquette skills were on par or not. I have to revisit my grandmothers old etiquette books to see how to politely and with style, to have a dinner interview. I feel overall that I did well, I was just am paranoid of getting food stuck between my teeth, LOL!!

ASSUMING THAT I STILL WANT TO PURSUE MY ORIGINAL CAREER DIRECTION, WHAT IS MY STRATEGY FOR SEEKING A JOB IN THIS FIELD?
This job is the one I want. I could happily work as a Career Advisor for the remainder of my career. So I have thought about how I can build my resume up to fit a job like this. I know that counseling is the main role of this job so I would like to build my resume by working for job/career firms, vocational government offices or work as an entry level Career Advisor for a community college. I know I will get there; I just have to be patient and choose my jobs wisely. (More on my plan later)

INFORMATION INTERVIEW #3

DATE: 2/25/2010

COMPANY: UNC – Chapel Hill
TYPE: State College
LOCATION: Chapel Hill, NC
TITLE: Assistant Director for Career Exploration
EDUCATION: M.S in Counseling from California State University/B.A in Sociology from same school
INTREST: Soccer

WHAT DID I LEARN OVERALL FROM THIS INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW?
The college saw a need to respond to an overwhelming amount of students whom did not know what career they wanted to pursue. Therefore the school made a position called Career Exploration that I find refreshing and much needed.

WHAT WERE THE POSITIVE’S AND NEGATIVE’S OF EACH INTERVIEWEE’S JOB?
This position may not be such a good fit for me. I feel that as a Career Exploration assistant, one is too distant from the student. Once you help the student find their direction that is the end of the counseling. This aspect does not appeal to me.
In this role, one will need to teach resume improvement courses as well as group counsel students that need more vocational help. I believe doing this would appeal to my need to teach and really “walk” with the student on there journey.

COULD I HAVE DONE ANYTHING TO IMPROVE THIS INTERVIEW?
In this interview, I was a bit late arriving there. This to me, would have been a deal breaker for me but the interviewee was so kind to me about it. I appreciate her kindness but I am upset that I was late. I hope this never happens again.

ASSUMING THAT I STILL WANT TO PURSUE MY ORIGINAL CAREER DIRECTION, WHAT IS MY STRATEGY FOR SEEKING A JOB IN THIS FIELD?
If I were interested in this position, I would first try to find jobs as an advisor for different undergrad programs in order to build up my resume. Doing this will give me a diverse perspective on other careers and it’s corresponding majors, so that when you counsel students who need help identifying a major/career that fulfills there interest, you can administer more efficiently. As important as this position is, this career path is not as appealing as a Student Counselor, Career Counselor or Retention Counselor position. However, the information was good to know.