Simon Liu:
I attended the Computing Science Grad School Information Session in
March. During this one hour information session, the presenter pointed
out that the importance of going to graduate school. He stated that
the jobs that used to require only a bachelor degree now ask for
people to have a master degree. The salary for those who have a masters
degree is almost twice as much as the people who have a bachelors
degree. However, the presenter also stated that going to the graduate
school is more than that. Graduate school is a place for people to
seek for knowledge in order to equip themselves. The students during
their undergraduate study are learning the tool of trade and learning
how to apply these tools. For student in masters studies, they are
learning how to solve problems. For the people who are in their
doctorial study, they are learning how to find problems that are
solvable and to solve these problems. Graduate school is not free and it
is expensive. Fortunately, most schools that offer graduate study
usually provide scholarship, financial aid and job positions, such as
TA and research assistant, for their students. After this information
session, I am very interested in going to graduate school.
Tom Ng:
I attended a career workshop at SFU career service center. We
discussed the critical skills that are required in a workplace.
Academic, personnel management, and teamwork are three types of skills that we need for a successful career. We can learn academic skills by taking courses or reading technical reference books, which have many standard guidelines or rules. However, personnel management and teamwork are interpersonal skills that are more abstract and can only be learned by experience.
The workshop had suggested for us to develop our communication skills, attitudes, and responsibility. From this, I realized that if I want to have a successful career, I need to understand, speak, and write the languages in which business is conducted. Also I need to think critically and act logically to evaluate and solve problems, and respect the thoughts and opinions of others in the group.
Daniel Chao: html
In terms of career development, I attended career workshops at
LOT career forum for my experience. One of the workshops I attended
talks about career navigation, which in summary, it just tells you
that getting a career is cycle of life. Basically, you would follow
this four steps as part of your career planning process.
1.Self Assessment - it is helpful to set specific, measurable goals for defined period of time.
2.Reality Check
3.Career Plan - Goal Statements and Milestones. An effiective goal is
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time framed
4.Development Plan - Learning new information/expertise, finessing a
strength or gaining hands-on experience in an area of weakness.
Pezh Samimi: webpage
For this semester's career development activity, I decided to go to
the resume workshop at the career center. It was well presented and a
lot of valuable ideas were given. Resume writing is too formal to
mention any details of the workshop but some helpful hints included:
tailoring the resume for each company, avoiding self references as "I,
me, my?", and it is important to use action words like "developed,
organized?" in describing previous experiences. Furthermore, it should
include two forms of skills, the technical (specific to the job) and
employable (universal traits like team oriented, communication
skills). Most importantly however, there is no hard structure or
sequence to a resume because it is meant to be personalized. So there
is perhaps no such thing as a perfect resume, but simply that there
are some generic sections to be included and other aspects of it are
to be changed to be applicable to the job and to reflect your
personality.
Gordon Choi:
After attending the one-hour "Thinking of Grad School?" information
session, I realized that continual study becomes a necessity in
today's competitive society. Higher education is needed for a better
chance of getting better jobs, because of the intense competition in
the job market. The session has brought out the questions about "Why
grad school?", "Where to go?", "How to get in?", "Financing", and
other related issues that I have never thought about. For example, the
differences between different degrees. At the
link are the main
issues summarized from this information session.
Tam Nguyen:
As a Science and Environment Co-op student, I had the opportunity to
attend many workshops that prepare co-op students, not only for
finding co-op employment, but also future employment after they
graduate. One of the workshops I found very useful and interesting
was the Interview workshop.
During the workshop, the co-op coordinator presented many helpful tips in
preparation for an interview session.
1. Know yourself
2. Know the job and the company
3. Know the interview process
4. Anticipate questions
5. Consider points to stress
6. Preparation questions to ask
7. Practice
More importantly, as more and more interviews are behavior-based, the co-op
coordinator carefully outlined the importance of this type of interview and
how to prepare for it. I found this quite useful - when thinking of an
answer to a BBI question, use the STAR: S = situation; T = task; A =
action; R = result.
This workshop definitely helped me greatly in getting myself ready for interviews. I would recommend this workshop to future MSSC students since interviewing is one of many essential elements of landing a job.
Diana Wong:
I know that to be successful in my career, I should learn more about
myself and start building my own people network. That is why I
attended the workshops on Emotional Intelligence and Networking at the
beginning of this semester (Spring 2002).
All the participants were given a brief introduction to Emotional Intelligence (EQ). While it might not be possible to work on one's IQ, it is certainly possible to work on one's EQ. The workshop reinforced my belief that developing one's EQ is a continuous process. EQ has an effect on both your work life and personal life since it is related to one's personality, which affects one's behaviour. For example, a person who has empathy for others is likely to excel in positions that require dealing with clients, and to have a lot of friends.
At first, I didn't understand why people would be willing to spend their time chatting with someone, who was just seeking more information about their area of work. After attending the Networking workshop, I now understand why. People like sharing with others their experience, insight, and knowledge in their area of expertise. A point worth noting is that the relationship can go both ways. The person who is looking for more information now, might be able to offer help back to the other person in the future.
Quentin Kok:
Career planning is like a matchmaker that tries to match someone to an
occupation according to the prospect's skills and attitude. And then,
it shows the way to finding and gets hired into an appropriate position.
An objective self-evaluation was a critical first step to understanding our own strengths and weaknesses. Then, a brief analysis of the current job market's demand, income and growth illustrates promising opportunities. However, not all industries have a positive future. This process helps target most suitable positions and companies to make job-hunting more efficient.
The next subject was a resume-writing workshop. We learned that the resume gives an employer a first impression about ourselves, thus it is important to utilize the most out of the conventional limit of two pages. Important elements to consider: gain attention with resume's physical attractiveness, use verbs to describe responsibilities and accomplishment, and have absolutely perfect grammar and spelling.
Finally, the session adjourned. Meanwhile, some people were already in queue for one-on-one interview practicing. We were taught how to answer typical questions, to lead interviewers to preferred information, and to maintain eye contact. After attending a career planning session, I have higher confidence in finding a suitable career upon my graduation. It was a very useful two-hours experience that I would recommend to anyone joining the labour force.
Ada Ling:
I attended the Networking workshop offered by the SFU Health,
Counseling & Career Center. In today's work world, networking plays a
key role in both getting a job and securing the job. This workshop
taught me not just how to initiate contacts, but how to re-establish
contacts (i.e. people whom I haven't contacted for some time) as well.
At the end of the workshop, we got to try out our newly acquired
networking skills by networking with other attendees at the workshop.
The workshop is well-organized and the materials are current. One
of the best parts of the workshop is that we are able to apply the new
skills right away. Networking is not important for career
planning, but also for self-development.
Johnny Yeung:
On April 3rd, I attending a speech held at the Hyatt Regency downtown by
Canada's Minister of Industry - Allan Rock. His speech was entitled
"Achieving Excellence - Investing in People, Knowledge and
Opportunity". During his presentation, Mr. Rock outlined Canada's
innovation strategy for the next 10 years. It was exciting to hear the
plan for our country's future which also identified the goal for Canada
to be one of the world's leading contributors of intellectual knowledge
by the end of this decade. As you can imagine, this event was attended
by some of BC's premiere leaders in business and politics. At my table,
I rubbed elbows and chatted with the CEO of Xantrex Technologies, the
Director of Sport BC, executives from several engineering firms and also
several managers from a headhunting agency.
Johnny Young:
Recently, there was an event in Vancouver called Comdex. This is a
trades show which is run every year. I attended this show, and
participated in a workshop for interviewing. Comdex, being a trades
show for innovative high tech naturally had this interview workshop
geared towards finding jobs in the high tech sector. I have learned
that when companies are hiring, it is not the content of the education
that gets you the job. Your diploma only gets you in the door, and
from your interview they can see how much you truly know. Also through
the interview, your ability to adapt to different situations is most
important. What I have learned is that they want someone who can think
on their feet, not just a bookworm that can remember everything. This
workshop has helped me develop a new perspective in my job search
efforts.
Bob Chiang: html
The Computing Science department provides lots of workshops for people
interested in IT fields. I found some of them quite useful. They are
open to all people interested in working in fields related to
computing science.
I attended a seminar for working at Microsoft. The following are the highlights of what I learned from it. First of all, they are still recruiting despite the economy slow down and pending lawsuit with US government. Expect long, but flexible working hours. Finally, there are different questions during interviewing based on position you are seeking. If you are looking for position in software engineering, you are likely be asked questions related to one particular programming language.
Since I am a international student, I have also talked to the International office with regards to working in Canada as an international student. I learned that during your studies, you can only work on-campus. You can't work off-campus even if you are working as volunteer for a non-profit organization. After you graduate, you have 3 months to look for a job. If you are thinking of applying for residence, you need to have a masters degree (and a job). Before Sept. 11th, only a bachelors degree was required. Canadian Immigration has changed some rules (more strict, of course) since then. Therefore, the rules you have learned may not apply anymore. Advisors in the International Office are very knowledgeable on these immigration rules (one of them is involved in drafting these new rules) and there is no charge.
Sean Amundsen:
In February, I attended an all-day career forum held by the Leaders
of Tomorrow Program. Attendees could choose one of three
workshops over two sessions. For the first workshop, I sat in a
session held by David Nichols of Inventa Sales and Promotion entitled
Be an Entrepreneur. During his speech, Mr. Nichols outlined
how important it was for everyone to embrace Entrepreneurship. He
compared a person's career success to that of corporate performance.
You are your own CEO and you need to know these principles to be
successful.
For the second session, I sat in on a talk given by Brenda Plowman of Synaptuit on networking. Mrs. Plowman is a very interesting person with a powerful personality. This is a person who leads by doing. Her message outlined how networking was a partnership between people. Don't expect the benefits of networking to be one-way, both parties must have something to contribute to the relationship.
The forum concluded with a speech by Peter Legge, President, CEO and Publisher of Canada Wide Magazines and Communications Ltd. He was by far the most impressive public speaker I have ever seen. His topic was centered around a kind of self-help method of searching for work in tough times. But it wasn't so much the content that impressed me (although all of it was very good advice), it was his delivery. Very articulate, funny and relevant, Mr. Legge held the audience's complete attention for over an hour.