Career Management - Learning Journey

  One competence I have developed during these three months is collaboration. We have done many group exercises where we had to come up with an agreement, come up with solutions or business designs, and make decisions together. Even on individual assignments, we would collaborate with classmates to receive feedback. This will help with my career management, as my past internships have consisted of mostly individual or partner work, so now I have gained experience working as a team for a business-related project. This has also provided me with insight on hearing and learning about other people's experiences and ideas, to give me exposure to how other businesses may operate. Collaboration is also very important for innovation and maintaining strong company culture, two areas I may have to manage one day. Overall, I have enjoyed working with various classmates within this course, and am looking forward to apply my enhanced collaboration skills to my future career.

  AI has already made an impact on mine and other students' lives. I used AI to help me learn by having them elaborate on concepts I don’t understand. For example, if I do not know how a math equation was solved, I will put it into AI to learn the method used. However, some people are a little too reliant on AI, which I have been guilty of catching myself doing a few times. People will use it to write essays and material, which only makes their content unoriginal and prevents them from understanding concepts they are learning in class. AI still has benefits of enhancing my career, however, by giving suggestions on how to improve my resume, helping me prep for interviews, etc. There are still barriers that come from AI towards my career. I want to work in Human Resources, and there is a possibility of lower HR careers in the recruitment sector, as many companies will replace their talent acquisition jobs with AI. Since we already have AI in our world, I might as well plan to use it ...

  Today we watched a video about the comfort zone and the magic zone. A classmate said she liked it because it reminded her of what her dad always told her, which is to be humble and that there are a million first days we will experience, and we can’t go in with a scared mindset. We then looked at and developed a Vision Board. My vision in 5 years is to graduate from college, to live in a city, have a stable job in Human Resources, working out everyday (have an established routine). I would like to learn to get into the habit of a healthy routine, consisting of working out every morning, cooking healthy meals, and connecting with loved ones. I need to let go of worrying so much. Hopefully I will have a better mental state. I should continue to rely on family and friends, who have always been there for me. We ended our last class together by going around the room saying one word summarizing what we got from this course. I really liked what a classmate said, which was Self-Awareness,...

  Today we went over last class’s activity. We then closed our eyes to think about a moment you felt confident. We imagined we were seeing ourselves through another lens or a little hole, and described ourself in the moment. We then went over the root cause analysis, which involves indicating a problem, determining the causes and what is happening. Taking this new model, we got into groups for an exercise. The task was to come up with a way to improve the University for next year, using autocratic leadership style. Our proposal was that the library is dull, not a ton of natural lighting (bright, artificial lighting), and no Wifi. With 1000 euros, we would put in more windows, more plants, more comfortable chairs, and improve Wifi. When we received a new budget of 300 euros, we prioritized installing windows. It was fun to present and compare ideas with other groups. When asked how we would have enough money for windows with only 300 euros, we developed the idea to prioritize the ma...

  Today we got into groups to define leadership. Our definition was “the ability to guide and influence others to work toward a common goal or vision.” We then went over what leadership is, learning definitions from CEO’s of different companies, all which varied. We then discussed the question whether or not leaders are born or made. In my personal opinion, I think leaders can be both. There are people born with natural traits that are meant for leadership, but there are skills people can practice and obtain to become a leader as well. Two other classmates seemed to have the same viewpoint as me. We then watched a video, where we learned what challenges a leader faces, which includes making tough decisions and deciding between what is right and what is popular. After, we did a group activity, where we were stranded on an island and we could only choose three items. We chose an axe, first aid kit, and radio. Our reasoning was that axes can be used to make shelter, cut food, and buil...

  Today we went over interview preparation, and got into the mindset of being an interviewer. This lesson was interesting to me, as I conducted many interviews myself at my internship over the summer. We went over questions, such as "why are you interested in this job position?” and “why should we hire you over our other candidates.” I learned about the STAR method, which I have never heard of before. It’s purpose is to help you prepare for behavioral questions. First, you lay out the s ituation, then highlight your t ask, after you share how you took a ction, and end with discussing the r esults. Another thing I already knew but I am glad it was emphasized because I tend to forget, is how when you talk about yourself to an interviewer, you should make sure to note what you are doing in the present, what you have done in the past, and your action plan for the future. Overall, today was very insightful.