Category: career tips

Posted on

Exclusive Global Career Resource for Students and Alumni

Did you know that as a student or graduate of Columbia School of Social Work, you have free access to GoinGlobal, an international career resource for both domestic and international candidates?

Whether you are interested in pursuing an opportunity across town or around the world, take a look at GoinGlobal, including their country and city career guidesdirectory of employers, H1B visa employer listings, and opportunities in 120 locations worldwide.

With the changed employment landscape due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have recently added a wealth of new resources to support your job search.

Take a look at the links found on their homepage sidebar “Job Search During COVID”:

    • Working During a Pandemic – forward thinking job search and networking tips
    • COVID Career Advice – timely news articles covering a range of topicsGlobal
    • Employment Briefings – areas of job promise in key countries

You can also find new economic information in their country career guides under “Snapshot” and “Job Search Overview.” Note every country guide has a dedicated section under “Finding a Job” about “Telework and Freelance.”

To learn more about the site’s features and resources, take a look at their user training schedule.

Posted on

Asking Powerful Negotiation Questions

Establishing your value and asking for more is not a selfish act, says Alexandra Carter, Director of the Mediation Clinic at Columbia Law School and author of Ask for More: 10 Questions to Negotiate Anything. Instead, it primes others on how to value you and those who will come after you.

Negotiating is also more than asking for a higher salary and includes intangible benefits such as recognition for your achievements and mentorship and training opportunities. Asking questions is the most underutilized practice in a negotiation strategy, notes Carter. Some powerful questions she suggests asking yourself in any negotiation process are:

    • What’s the problem I want to solve and how? This can help frame what you want to ask for and how you ask for it.
    • What do I want from this negotiation? Consider both tangible and intangible needs.
    • What am I afraid of? Air out your emotions and hesitations by writing them down. Once you acknowledge your feelings, you can move forward to creating a strategy with confidence.
    • Where have I successfully advocated for myself or others in the past? In evaluating the strategies you’ve used and simply thinking about a prior success, you are more likely to do better in negotiating.

Remember, whatever you want to ask for, keep it optimistic, specific, and justifiable. Learn additional tips including how to boost your confidence going into a negotiation by listening to this episode on the How to be Awesome at Your Job podcast.

Written by Rawlisha Pena, Assistant Director of Career Services and Leadership Management, August 25, 2020

Posted on

Building a Positive Professional Brand

Whether you’re job searching or starting field, let your professional brand speak for itself.

Your professional brand communicates your core values, strengths, and attitude in and out of the workplace and helps you stand out as a marketable candidate for future roles.

For your brand to be effective, however, the mediums through which you convey who you are and what you offer need to be consistent. This includes not only your job applications, Linkedin, and other social media activities, but also your personal interactions.

In assessing your brand, consider the following questions:

    • How are you presenting yourself and communicating with others online and in person? Do your email messages and nonverbal behaviors, for example, reflect the professional image and reputation you seek to project?
    • How do you respond to feedback, criticism, or conflicts and challenges? Do they demonstrate your willingness and initiative to adapt, collaborate, learn, and grow–attributes particularly critical to the post-COVID world?
    • How are you nurturing the relationships you have with others, such as with supervisors, classmates, professors, mentors, and leaders in your field?

Your professional brand will evolve as your career grows. What impression do you want to leave on others? Use this to guide the steps you need to take to refine your brand, so others can have a clear sense of what you stand for and why they should hire you.

Posted on

To Expand Your Job Search, Consider Your Transferable Skills

If you feel stuck or are having a difficult time finding opportunities in your area of practice, consider expanding your job search to include positions where you can apply your transferable skills.

Transferable skills are adaptable skills that can be used in multiple settings, such as emotional intelligence, problem-solving, communication, and teamwork.

For instance, while you may have experience with policy analysis, your skills such as research and writing may be useful in communications and advocacy work at a nonprofit. Your experience in direct practice or clinical work can transfer over to program development and training, where you can contribute your knowledge of best practices for addressing the needs and interests of specific communities.

To identify your transferable skills, start by taking inventory of the different skills you have used to advance a cause or mission, whether through people, projects, or data; then, brainstorm how you can leverage these skills in other contexts. You can also review skills highlighted in job descriptions and reflect on how you have accomplished similar work. Once you start building your list, you may be surprised by how many transferable skills you have relative to various roles and careers.

Posted on

Applying an Entrepreneurial Spirit to Your Career

With the world of work operating remotely, how do you stand out when the traditional means of making an impression, from networking events to coffee chats, no longer apply? Consider the framework of entrepreneurship.

An article in Forbes describes the entrepreneurial spirit as a mindset: “It’s an attitude and approach to thinking that actively seeks out change, rather than waiting to adapt to change. It’s a mindset that embraces critical questioning, innovation, service, and continuous improvement.”

Here are some ways you can incorporate this framework into your professional identity and brand:

    • Engage in critical discussions: Attend virtual conferences to meet professionals in the field who are having important discussions about the world of work in the COVID-19 era. Use these as opportunities to connect with others, learn best practices in the field, and become a resource for your field or organization. You can also start your own communities of practice.
    • Innovate or influence: Have you been following the latest trends and practices on serving communities particularly impacted by the pandemic? Share relevant thought pieces and articles on LinkedIn so others can benefit from the knowledge. You can also publish your own articles to highlight new ideas or initiatives you have worked on.
    • Embrace the value of service: Remember the personal values that brought you to social work: helping others in need. Wherever you are, look out for the call for volunteers in your community. Contributing your time and skills will help you stay connected and engaged in a meaningful way, and at the same time, showcase your value to others.
    • Seek continuous improvement: If you’re job hunting, this is a prime time to invest in your professional growth. Whether you choose to learn a new language or further develop your technical or clinical skills, taking time to up-skill will show that you are open and able to adapt to changing needs and priorities–qualities that will make you attractive to any employer.

The world needs social workers now more than ever. Leverage your natural ability to lead the way in problem solving and effecting change! Doing so will not only enhance your chances for employment, it will also make you marketable for future opportunities.

Posted on

Expert Advice Shared in the Job Search Forum

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our lives on many levels, leaving many uncertain on how to approach the changing market and job search.

To address these concerns, over the past three weeks, we welcomed members of the CSSW community and other experts in the field to provide insight on how to tackle the search process during these challenging times.

Below are some of the strategies that were shared:

  • Make sure you’re taking care of yourself first and going at your own pace. This pandemic is already emotionally and physically taxing, so don’t feel like you must be going at full speed during the job search. You don’t want to overwork yourself, as we must be able to take care of ourselves to be able to help others.
  • Be flexible and open to opportunities that may seem out of the norm. Take into consideration positions that at first glance may not be your first choice (title, salary, location, etc.), but could lead to better opportunities. Remember, every experience is a learning experience.
  • Be innovative. Build and market your brand to the current needs. Think thoughtfully and strategically about these needs and how you can offer a solution. Think outside of the traditional social work box.
  • Network! Network! Network! Keep in contact with your CSSW community and connect with those throughout the social impact space. Virtual networking platforms like LinkedIn are an easy way to stay connected and build new connections.***Continuing and graduating students currently have access to 1:1 career mentoring with an alum every Thursday from 6:00 to 7:00 PM until May 28. For more information, check your email or review this program overview (UNI login required).***

If you missed the series or any of the individual sessions, feel free to refer to our notes and handouts from the sessions (UNI login required).

Thank you to the Office of Field Education for collaborating with us on this event, to all our guest speakers, including last week’s guests, Andrez Carberry, Head of Global Talent Supply and Diversity and Inclusion at John Deere, Cassandra Walker, Human Resources Recruiter at Henry Street Settlement, and Iris Groen, Talent Acquisition Manager at the Jewish Board, students who attended the series, and Pam Picon for providing the comprehensive synopsis and notes!

Posted on

Collaborative Care Information Session Recap with Concert Health

 

Last week, we welcomed Concert Health to present on the core principles of the Collaborative Care model and to share their experiences on providing behavioral health care remotely.

If you are interested in telehealth or opportunities at Concert Health, here are some steps you can take to be marketable for these roles:

    • Learn how to engage in all kinds of clinical interactions. Telephonic care requires a different set of skills for rapport building and demonstrating that you are present and listening.
    • Develop communication and facilitation strategies that make up for the inability to assess non-verbals in person, such as asking clients to describe their body language and how they are feeling.
    • Be flexible and open to using technology and varied modes of communication.
    • Get exposure to different populations to diversify your clinical expertise.

Thanks to Allison Kean, Virna Little, and Kathryn Sacks-Colon for their insightful presentation!

If you missed the event, you can review the presentation slides and audio recording are posted in Career Connect within our Document Library under the Presentation/Workshop folder.

Posted on

Interviewing Skills Workshop Recap

Getting called for an interview is a positive sign in the job search process. With the focus on virtual interviews, our workshop last week covered tips and strategies on how to prepare for an upcoming interview and questions to anticipate. Tips included:

    • Connect with alumni who either worked at the organization or are in similar roles to gain insights into the organization’s culture and challenges
    • Test your technology ahead of time, choose a quiet, well-lit space to conduct your interview, and limit any distractions (learn more about video interviewing here)
    • Anticipate behavioral and situational-based questions and prepare answers that show how you’ve demonstrated pertinent skills

If you missed the event, you can review the presentation slides posted in Career Connect within our Document Library under the Presentation/Workshop folder.

Proudly powered by WordPress