COMM 202
Career Fundamentals
T27 & T32with Tessa Yin
Let’s get some admin stuff out of the way
www.tinyurl.com/202tinder
We need your emails to send you reminders!
Please go to this link and fill out the information
(60 seconds!)
Please bring your name cards to tutorial, this is how I will
be tracking your attendance and participation!
Agenda
1. Attendance
2. Getting to know your
TA (aka me)
3. Course expectations
4. Putting together a
Skills Matrix
5. Activity
6. Action items
Who am I?
Extracurricular
involvements
Professional work
experience
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 NOW
Skool Life
Werk Life
Career Peer Advisor @
UBC Centre for Student
Involvement & Careers COMM 483 Leadership &
General Management
Brand
Management
Mentorship
Program
Interests
Failures
My interests & background
SoulCycle
(but so $$$$$)
Game of Thrones
Brooklyn 99
Exchange!
Coffee
How I Met Your
Mother30 Rock
Basically any show available
on Netflix
(if you have recommendations
let me know)
Global issues
Travelling
Sustainability/Environment
ComedyFashion
Chef’s TableGeography
Podcasts
My failures
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.”
In first year, I wasn’t sure if
UBC/Sauder was for me and I
came very close to quitting…
Was too focused on minute
details during a case
competition that hindered my
performance because I failed to
see the bigger picture…
My failures
In first year, I wasn’t sure if
UBC/Sauder was for me and I
came very close to quitting…
Was too focused on minute
details during a case
competition that hindered my
performance because I failed to
see the bigger picture and we
didn’t win…
I pushed myself to try different
things that would challenge me,
and during this process I became
resilient and strayed away from the
“status quo”. I did things that truly
meant something to me!
Failure isn’t a bad thing, and I
learned a lot about my own work
habits in a team setting. I managed
to land an internship in Toronto
where I was recognized as a top
intern from the summer cohort!
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.”
Course Expectations
Treat this course
like a safe place
to practice
I know
nothin’
It’s all about professionalism
Contributing and sparking in-class discussions
• Using proper in-class/email etiquette
• Being punctual and prepared for each class
• Not using technology during class (unless needed)
• NOT plagiarizing
What this looks like in class:
= 10% OF YOUR
COURSE MARK
I want to take
COMM 202!
BEFORE AFTER
… but that doesn’t meant you can’t be yourself
In fact, you should!
It makes you more relatable and likeable
It helps you build trust and form relationships
You’ll be happier and most satisfied in your
professional pursuit
A girl is no
one…
Jk, a girl is
Arya Stark
Are you here to fit a
certain kind of mould?
Or are you here to be
the best version of
yourself?
Weekly tutorial assignments
For most tutorials, you will have to prepare one assignment, such
as…
• StrengthsQuest reflection
• Skills Matrix draft/presentation
• LinkedIn Profile
• Job Posting Research
• Resume & Cover Letter draft
Each assignment is worth ~2% for a total of 10% in the course
Assignments will be collected in the first 5 minutes of class.
All assignments handed in late will receive a grade of zero!
This class will feel like a
lot, but we will get through
it together
Putting Together Your
Skills Matrix
What you will need to doFor the Skills Matrix assignment, you will
need to produce two sets of deliverables:
1. 6 positive STAR stories
2. 2 failure stories
*Rubric can be found on the COMM 202 blog: Assignments > Skills Matrix > Marking Rubric (bottom of page)
30
Skills Matrix
(positive STAR & failure stories)
Week 12: Employment
Interview
Week 9: Cover Letter
Week 8: ResumeThe Skills Matrix will
help you to clearly
articulate your
experiences and
strengths to
employers during the
application and
interview process.
It will act as the
foundation for the rest
of your professional
toolkit.
Why is the Skills Matrix important?
Professional
toolkit
What are STAR stories?
A positive STAR story is a
structured example of a time
when you exhibited a
personal strength or skill.
Step 1: Translating your strengths into skills
Individualization
Input
Arranger
Learner
Restorative
StrengthsQuest themes Skills
• Observant, personalization, empathetic
• Inquisitive, data-focused, informative
• Organized, flexible, open-minded
• Process-driven, collaborative, initiative
• Problem solving, critical thinking
Step 2: Communicating your skills with
“STAR” statements
Situation
• Context
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
Task
• The objective, issue, or obstacle that you had to overcome
• Why is this story significant?
Action
• The “How”
• What did you consider/ do to overcome the situation
• What skills were applied
• Your vs. team actions
Result
• What was the result of your actions/decisions?
• How are they relevant to the skill/job?
• Needs to be employer centric
Link
• The lesson
• How will I use this in the future?
Skill demonstrated: Initiative
Fill out the 5 areas for each of your skills
Step 2: Communicating your skills with
“STAR” statements
Situation
•Canadian Tire summer internship
•Brand Marketing department, specifically Innovation
•Tested for Life in Canada consumer program (Tested, for short)
Task
•Tested program was a convoluted process that involved 27 steps with several internal and external stakeholders, I saw an opportunity to help speed up the process
•Never been done before, my manager was on the fence about implementing a project management tool
Action
• I asked my manager to give me the green light on initiating this project
• Evaluated the current process, lag time between different communication channels from various stakeholders
• Shortlisted potential project management tools by creating a criteria that was suitable for my team
• Reached out to TrelloSales Team and they walked me through several demos
• I presented this solution to my senior manager
Result
•Trello was implemented in my team, and I helped other team members
•The Tested team is now using Trello as an interim tool solution as they build a tool from scratch
•Other marketing teams began using Trello as well
Link
•Be observant in the work place, especially as a newcomer
•Looking for fresh solutions can propel team productivity
Skill demonstrated: Initiative
What is a failure story?
A failure story is an example of a time when
something went wrong and the lessons you
learned and steps you took to correct the issue.
These types of questions are very likely to
come up in interviews – and ones that you
definitely need to prepare ahead of time for!
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles
develop your strengths.”
How to create a failure story?
Situation
• Context
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
Misstep
• What did I do wrong?
• How am I accountable for the mistakes made?
Failure
• What happened as a result of my actions?
Lesson
• What did I learn through this failure?
Action Steps
• How did I overcome OR what will I do now?
Situation
• Entered the National Consulting Case Competition with a team 3 others
• This was the first case competition for most of us
Misstep
• Before presenting, I started to psych myself out and loss confidence in myself, became very nervous.
• During the presentation, I forgot what I was going to say
Failure
• As a result, our presentation did not have a cohesive story line and we did not make it into the finals
Lesson
• I learned two things: 1) believe in yourself is extremely important, and 2) we are all human and it’s OK to mess up
Action Steps
• I was resilient and didn’t let this experience deter me from entering into other case competitions
• I practiced with other smaller-scaled competitions and re-entered the following year
How to create a failure story?
What a good failure story
demonstrates…
Resilience AuthenticityAbility to
learn
RSVP for office
hours on COOL
1. Tuesday, Jan 23rd
12:30 – 2pm
2. Tuesday, Jan 30th
4 - 5:30pm
***Locations have not been
confirmed, but will be
somewhere in Henry Angus
ACTIVITY TIME!
Take out your notebook/piece of paper and
answer these following questions…
1. What is a career path that you have always wanted to pursue, but feel
intimidated or discouraged from actually pursuing it?
In other words – if money wasn’t an issue, what would you be doing?
2. What does success mean to you?
3. I want you to visualize a typical work day that is 5 years from now.
Describe your surroundings, who you’re talking to, and what kind of state
are you in? Do not write your job title or the company name.
Keep this piece of paper, and we
will revisit it in our last tutorial.
Action items for next week!
1. One on one signups (optional) with me:
www.tinyurl.com/202dates
2. Skills Matrix drafts due in tutorial on the week of Jan 22nd
at the start of class: 2 positive and 1 failure stories (you will
be presenting this in small groups)
3. Final Skills Matrix copy due before 11:59PM on Jan 31st on
Turnitin: 6 positive and 2 failure stories
4. Pay course fee @ HA 443
5. Book your BCC coaching appointment!
6. Next week is lecture!
Call me
maybe?
How to get in touch with me
Email: [email protected]
1-on-1: sign ups available here for
timeslots (email me if you can’t
make these times:
www.tinyurl.com/202dates)
Tutorials: feel free to approach me
before or after
Office hours: available throughout
the term as assignments come up
Questions?! Thanks for a great first tutorial!
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