Peer Corner

Evaluating your Skills

One of the best ways to seek different career options is by assessing and evaluating  your own skills. By doing so one can explore various careers while at the same time learning more about yourself. You may be surprised when you realize that you actually have developed certain skills which you didn’t know you already possessed! These surprising discoveries can open the door to different industries and jobs.

There are a few ways to begin assessing yourself. One of the first is to:

**Identify Accomplishments
We all have numerous accomplishments which we have gained through jobs, clubs, hobbies and even classes. Do not forget that these accomplishments can be both educational and extracurricular. Reflecting on our accomplishments allows us to possibly see where we were headed and where we might want to go. When attempting to find these accomplishments one should also list responsibilities, identify tasks, and mention awards. If you are not satisfied with your initial list, think of opportunities where you can gain new accomplishments. It is never too late to join an on-campus club, begin a project at work, apply for a conference, or find other opportunities which will allow you to develop skills and enhance your resume.

By reviewing your resume you may be able to discover many of these accomplishments. If you do not have a resume, list your volunteer and community involvement in reverse chronological order, starting from your most recent job and working backwards.After composing this list one can log onto the Career Center website  and take one of our very own Self-Assessments. Keep in mind that these resources are not “tests” with right or wrong answers, and they are not meant to tell you what you should be or what career you would be “good” at. However, they are meant to give you some direction, to narrow down your choices, and to help you explore different career options. These assessments include:

Interests - Strong Interest Inventory
The Strong Interest Inventory measures your interests in a wide range of jobs, work tasks, leisure activities and school subjects. It includes information on how your interests can be linked to majors, campus activities, internships, and part-time jobs. It also provides tips for choosing a:

• Major
• Graduate program
• First job out of college

Skills - SkillScan
SkillScan helps you identify your inherent strengths and skills that are transferable across careers. It will help you to:

• Identify career options that utilize your skills and talents.
• Prepare strategies to move your career in the right direction.
• Gain a skill-based language that will help you market your strengths on a resume and in interviews.

Values - Career Values
Career Values enables you to explore factors that are important to you in your work life. Working in a career field that conforms to your preferences for such things as time freedom, prestige, service to others, etc. will increase the likelihood of satisfaction with your job. Career Values will help you:

• Identify your work values
• Explore the intensity of your feelings about some values
• Determine if there are any conflicts between your values that make career choices difficult

These Self-Assessments will help you think about your interests and skills, some of which you may not have thought about before. These assessments can allow you to consider new goals which will ultimately broaden your career opportunities. When you begin to think about new occupations, you might want to begin researching them and further exploring different positions along with the skills and tasks provided in the job description. One great place to start is O*Net, a career information database managed by the US Department of Labor. Experiment with different options before settling down with just one career goal. Remember that the best way to familiarize yourself with a profession or career is by taking a class, job shadowing, volunteering, or setting up an informational meeting, or even interning!

By Peer: Ariana Torres: 2nd Year, Interdisiplenary Studies Field and Dance

Work-Life Balance

Now, let’s take a minute to review your day-to-day schedule.  Does it involve class, studying into the wee hours of the morning, tons of meetings, work, and maybe a few hours of sleep? Despite the fact that this schedule looks like the ordinary college student schedule, its time to reflect on whether or not this type of lifestyle is balanced and healthy. Have you ever heard of the term “work-life balance”?

First let’s define what work-life balance is NOT.  Work-life balance does not necessarily mean that you MUST try to maintain an equal balance at all times between all of the many parts of your life; this may be impossible. Attempting to have an equal amount of time for each of your daily activities is unrealistic and may actually increase your stress.

However, what you must do is realize that we are all unique individuals whose work-life balance is and should be different. We each have distinct forms of relaxation which may require different amounts of time. Now keep in mind that our schedules and ability to “relax” and have a clear balance can change from week to week depending on events, projects, etc. The purpose of an effective work-life balance is to seek a balance in your daily “achievement and enjoyment”, which leads to a sense of overall well-being and happiness.

Finding work-life balance is vital to any college student’s career. Work-life balance allows us to gain a clear mind and reduce stress.  If your personal life and your work life are not balanced, you may be headed towards a high-stressed life which may interfere with your ability to work up to your potential. Although some of us may be engulfed with school work because it remains one of our top priorities, you may want to reflect on whether it is invading in your social/personal life. Whether your problem is too much work, or too much of a personal life, finding a balance can be negotiable.

Let’s take control of the situation and reevaluate our lives. What is it that we need in our lives and what we are avoiding can allow us to develop options for a healthy balance.

Here are 5 easy steps we can follow to seek this mental and physical balance that is critical to any college student’s fast paced life:

1) Figure out what really matters in your day/life (i.e. your personal VALUES): Personal coach Laura Berman Fortgang, author of NOWWHAT? 90 Days to a New Life Direction, says getting your priorities clear is the first and most essential step toward achieving a well-balanced life. Fortgang says a typical top-five list might include some of the following:
Children
Boyfriend/Girlfriend
Satisfying career goal
Community service
Religion/spirituality
Health
Sports
Art
Hobbies
Adventure/travel

2) Drop any activities that are unnecessary such as those that may not be career related, those which are not enhancing your personal growth, or those that do not serve as a form of relaxation. By reviewing your last list you may notice that you are making certain activities your priority despite the fact that they are not promoting a healthy and balanced life which may be keeping you away form things that actually do matter the most to you.

3) Respect your “me time”: Do not let your work life interfere with your personal life and vice versa.  Maintain your boundaries and realize that both are equally important and deserve your respect and attention. You will feel a greater satisfaction if you know that you have satisfied both of these elements. A healthy mind equals a Healthy body!

 4) Seek others to assist you in creating a greater balance your life: Getting a friend or family member’s opinion and allowing someone to help you reevaluate your schedule and various time commitments can allow you to view things from another perspective. We tend to overlook things and may need a second opinion to help us realize what other alternatives and options exist in order to restore or enhance our work-life balance.

 5) RELAX! This is an essential part of living a healthy well-balanced life. Whether your form of relaxation is going to the gym, taking a yoga class, going on a date or having a night out with some friends, you can ALWAYS seek out activities which allow you some work-free time. Realize that the most important thing in college is to be happy! So make it a habit to stop, think and ensure yourself that you are making time to participate in some stress-free, enjoyable activities.

 Lastly, remember that YOU are the only individual that has total control of your own schedule—it is all entirely up to you to take initiative and implement necessary changes to help you achieve work-life balance!

By Peer: Ariana Torres: 2nd Year, Interdisiplenary Studies Field and Dance

Cal Transitions Blog!

Cal Transitions, UC Berkeley's WorkAbility IV program, represents a select group of students and recent Cal graduates who have disabilities. Cal Transitions connects qualified, experienced and diverse candidates with employers interested in enriching their workforce by hiring the best.

Check out this great blog run by our colleague peer Katherine who works with the Cal Transitions Pro gram!There's also a Facebook page to look at if you're interested.

Katherine's Corner!