Pushing the Sky’s Limit:Advancing Your Career

at uWaterloo

Liz Koblyk, Staff Career Advisor

Centre for Career Action

» Emotional Intelligence

» Feedback

» Connectedness

» Accountability

4 Keys

Emotional Intelligence

» Anticipate impact on others

» Manage own emotions

» Treat others better than they expect to be treated

Emotional Intelligence

» Yelled at by panicked people

» Ideas rejected by people with little technical knowledge

IT Challenge

Direction of career growth

» Manage people?

» Keep customer contact?

» Keep hand in tech work?

IT Career Growth

» Reading: Goleman, Bar-On » Training: OHD, CEL, Counselling workshops for staff» Career advising: MBTI Step 1 or 2

Secrets of Success

Feedback

» Request frequently » Thank without defending » Act on it» Ask about progress

Feedback

» No feedback = good

IT Challenge

» Feedback from supervisor outside PA

» Free 360 tools

» LinkedIn recommendations

Secrets of Success

» What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

» MBTI

» Careful requests (specific or start – stop – continue)

Secrets of Success

» What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

» MBTI

» Careful requests (specific or start – stop – continue)

Secrets of Success

Connected

» Connected people: many people know key ways they can help» Sustained effort spent on relationships over time

» Cross-campus volunteering » WatITis, Staff Conference, Staff Association, Keystone Campaign Events, Committees

Secrets of Success

» Training workshops: OHD, CEL»“Networking is Not a Dirty Word” » Willingness to follow up! » Coffee = continued relationship

Secrets of Success

» Discuss career development » Identify skills gaps » Fill skills gaps » Articulate skills & their value to specific employers

Accountable

» Some roles have clear career paths; others don’t» Opportunities presented may not appeal

IT Challenge

Secrets of Success» Plan for discussions with supervisors » Collect postings of interest» Write “ideal” job postings

Secrets of Success» What do you have? What are you missing?» How can you get what you’re missing?» How will your skills solve employer’s problems?

Trouble Articulating Skills?

» Career Development eManual » Sell Your Skills workshop» Skills identification 1:1» Mock interview 1:1

From the Mouths of Waterloo Hiring Managers “The manager’s job is to give good feedback, provide opportunities and have frank discussions. The employee’s job is to take ownership of their job performance and their career advancement.”

From the Mouths of Waterloo Hiring Managers “Assess your own performance. Know how you’ve done AND how you know how you’ve done.”

“None of us is perfect at everything. None of us is even good at everything.” Find your weakness, then “learn.”

From the Mouths of Waterloo Hiring Managers “Come into performance reviews talking about the future. Say ‘Here’s where I need to focus my development.’”

Questions?

Appointments and workshops: www.careeraction.uwaterloo.ca

Twitter: @UniCareers

Liz Koblyk: lkoblyk@uwaterloo.ca, x31003