Create-a-thon Workshops (Saturday, February 25th)

A few Tips to Manage Professional Development & Career Security

Workplace habits and expectations have changed significantly in the last several years. Surviving and thriving depends on your ability to grasp the broader picture and hone some essential skills.

 In these days of extreme competition, what is it that makes you get that job or assignment that you are very good at? The invariable answer: when someone like a professor, manager, or peer makes a recommendation or provides a reference, the likelihood of success is much higher than going it alone. Making sure that professors/managers/peers are familiar with your work and personality attributes is crucial to getting desirable results. Consider, for example, starting early on and offering your help or services to professors/manager/peers, and follow through with it—and when the time comes, make a request for a recommendation. The resulting recommendation is much more beneficial just because of your approach to networking. Thus, in order to get something from a network, you are contributing or investing in the network upfront, for a much better outcome. This presentation discusses the why and how of networking internals to increase your chances of success and the quantity and quality of returns.

Likewise, if we do not manage relations with managers and peers in the workplace, we will not have the resources to get our jobs done.  Communication—of all kinds—is an essential part of this management. Can we ask better questions? How do we work with difficult people? Do we always say nice things, but carry a stick? Have we tried talking-up? Are we deadline-passionate, and how do we manage that?

Do you believe that conflict holds creative potential, conflict is unavoidable and common, and conflict and negotiation are central parts of workplace life? If you do, you are already ahead in the game. For most of the remaining folks who get stressed out dreading conflict in the workplace, this presentation offers perspectives on conflict in the workplace and practical approach to handle conflicts or differences. We include discussions on topics such as handling criticism, and how important it is for us to deviate from our comfort zones once in a while to set different expectations for everyone—including ourselves.

We will discuss all this and more with examples and anecdotes.

You’ll walk away more aware to train yourself to be relevant and successful in today’s workplace.

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