My Experience with COL 98

Last semester, I took the COL 98 Career Explorations course as a sophomore.  I was not expecting to learn much from the class, but I was interested in gaining interview skills, and resume help.  A lot of students in the class had not declared a major, or were unsure of what they want to do in the future.  I am a Nonprofit Leadership major, and I have always been sure that is what I should go into, so I was not looking at possible careers.

The first assignment we had to complete was the Focus2 career assessment.  I was honestly dreading having to go through and take a test about my preferences.  The results listed personality types and occupations that could match me and it even took values and skills into consideration.  I scored extremely high in both artistic and social. It made me feel good to score high on social, because Nonprofit Leadership would be considered a social major.  Even though I had a set major, I found these assessments to be interesting and helpful in figuring out my best work environment and what type of job I would be happy at.

In COL 98 we also did a mock interview.  We had to dress in business attire and go in for an actual interview with the teacher; fortunately the interview was private and not in front of other students, so that helped with nervousness.  I found that the feedback the teacher gave me after my interview will be helpful in the future when I go into an actual job interview.  This assignment also helped me figure out what parts of my resume and life experience I want to try and feature in a future interview. 

One of the most helpful parts of this process, for me, was that we had to prepare and bring in a resume to our interview.  I had been putting off making one, and this class gave me the push I needed to go in and finally create my resume and also a cover letter.  We got our resumes back with tips and corrections that are helpful in having a solid resume.  About a week after I got my edited resume back, I was asked to send one in for a prospective internship.  It would not have reflected well on me to not have a resume prepared, and I am thankful I could send mine in promptly.