Key Terms: 

• Hard skills: concrete or objective abilities that you learn and perhaps have mastered.
• Soft skills: subjective skills that have changed very little over time.
• Career Development: a lifelong process in which we become aware of, interested in, knowledgeable about, and skilled in a career.
• Networking: the process by which people build relationships with one another for the purpose of helping each other achieve professional goals.
• STAR: one such technique that quickly helps you present the stories of your career in a way to demonstrate skills to the interviewer. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Activity, and Result.
• Résumé: a document that summarizes your education, skills, talents, employment history, and experiences in a clear and concise format for potential employers.

Study Questions: 

SQ1 – What are the two specific skills necessary for your career? Explain how to acquire the necessary skills for your career goals. 

Hard and soft skills reflect your personal abilities for your career. Hard skills are concrete or objective that you learn and perhaps master, while soft skills are subjective that have changed very little over time. Ways in which to acquire skills for your career goals include:

• Learn how to write clearly.
• Learn how to speak.
• Be reachable.
• Learn about computers and computing.
• Build relationships within your community.
• Attend conferences and events.
• Find a project and make your mark.
• Collaborate with people all over the world.
• Keep your LinkedIn profile and social media profiles up-to-date.
• Keep learning.

SQ2 – What are the stages of career development 

Growing, exploring, establishing, maintaining, and reinventing.

SQ3 – What are the strategies for networking? Describe effective strategies to prepare for an interview. 

Some strategies include having a plan for who you would like to know, using all available tools, utilizing business cards, establishing your own web domain name, attending networking events, a well-developed LinkedIn profile, and creating an world you would want to live in. Some strategies to prepare for an interview include:

• Reviewing the job description
• Researching  the company or organization
• Practicing answering common questions
• Planning professional dress
• Coming prepared
• Being confident

SQ4 – What are the different types of interview situations? Describe various question types in interviews. 

Screening, phone/web conference, panel, serial, lunch and group interviews are all the different styles of interview situations. Some questions that may be asking during these could include elements of goodwill, and questions that are interest gauging, include your experience, the future, situation based, behavioral based, and overall challenging questions.

SQ5 – Describe the differences among functional, reverse chronological, combination, targeted, and scannable résumés. 

Reverse chronological, functional, combination, targeted, and scannable all have highlighted advantages and disadvantages to their use. Reverse chronological demonstrates a consistent work history but does not highlight skills and experience well. Functional shows skills that link to job duties, but it associated with people who have gaps in their employment history. Combination pulls together reverse chronological and functional qualities, but some employers may wish to view a chronological order résumé. Targeted points out your qualifications early on, but take time, preparation, analysis of the job posting, and may not fit the guidelines. Lastly, a scannable résumé is used mostly for search and retrieval to reduce physical storage costs, the résumé may not be read correctly.