STRENGTHSQUEST - University of Pennsylvania · • Borrow language from the StrengthsQuest...

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STRENGTHSQUESTSharon Fleshman, Senior Associate Director

Joseph Barber, Senior Associate DirectorCareer Services

A Personal Wellness Career WorkshopIn collaboration with CAPS

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ASSESS your work related values, skills, abilities, interests and personality

It is never too late to know yourself a little better

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1. Introductions

2. Defining your strengths

3. Thinking about you at your most positive best

4. Taking action and overcoming challenges

5. Career challenges you are facing

6. Job applications and interviews

Today’s agenda

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University of Pennsylvania

Do not copy or distribute without permission

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Self-assessments

Career exploration & research

Networking & branding

Effective job & career

path search

Applying and interviewing

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• Your name, degree, program, and possible career goal.

• Why did you want to take the assessment?

• How did you feel taking the assessment?

• What surprised you about the assessment or results?

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Exercise 1Defining your strengths

1. How might you define your identified strengths in language that makes more sense to you?

2. How do you definitions differ from others in the room with the same strength?

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Exercise 1Defining your strengths – discussion

1. Is there only one way to define each strength?2. What are some examples of your definitions for one of your

strengths?3. Why might my definition of a strength differ from yours?4. Create your own language – adapt as necessary.5. Think about these definitions and descriptions as you think

about your actions and activities.6. How can you use them to describe your experiences?

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At my best…

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Exercise 2At my best – focusing on the positives

1. Pair up, or make a group of 3.2. Interview each other by asking the following questions:

• What was a time when you were at your best?• What is the best thing about you? • What do you enjoy doing the most?• What was the best time in your life?• What has been your most fulfilling experience?• When have you earnt your best grades as a student?• What was the best job or project you ever had?• What are the things you like best about yourself?

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Exercise 2At my best – discussion

1. Is it easy to talk about yourself at your best?2. Would it be easier to talk about someone else at their best?3. Did strengths play a role in you being at your best?4. Could they have played a bigger role?

Takeaways:• Take ownership of your identified strengths• Borrow language from the StrengthsQuest descriptions and

your definition, but adapt it depending on your goal (e.g., job)

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Taking Action

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Exercise 3Talent connection – taking action

1. Rearrange yourself to form small groups.

2. Pick 1-2 of your strengths and describe to your group where you have used them recently to take action. What do they allow you to do?

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Exercise 3Talent connection – taking action

Strength What this strength allows me to do

When/where I recently used this theme

Restorative I listen well and can provide suggestions that help others solve their problems.

A friend was having a disagreement with her boyfriend. I was able to understand the situation and give her advice on how she should handle the situation.

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Exercise 3Talent connection – discussion

1. The best way to demonstrate your strengths is to tell stories, give examples, and provide illustrations.

2. When might others have noticed that you were strong in specific areas?

3. Have your strengths benefitted others?

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Overcoming challenges

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Exercise 4aOvercoming current challenges

1. Stay in your groups.

2. Identify a specific task in your life with which you currently have difficulty (e.g., academic, a problem at work, or a challenge in your relationships).

3. Identify which of your 5 strengths could be used to approach that difficulty in a different, more productive way.

4. Discuss with your group what specific way could you use these strengths to deal with this situation.

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Exercise 4bOvercoming future challenges

1. Stay in your groups.

2. List some academic or career-related challenges that are coming your way over the next few months (e.g., research, studying, networking, finding info about careers, advisor issues). Share challenge with your group.

3. Share with your group what concerns you have about these different challenges.

4. Discuss how you might use a combination of your strengths to address your concerns.

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Exercise 4Overcoming challenges – discussion

1. Are all your strengths equally helpful in each case?2. Could some of your strengths actually be detrimental?3. How are some of your strengths also your weaknesses?4. Do you have a “go-to” strength for each issue?

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Career Challenges

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Career Challenges

Self-assessments




path search


Finding the right ways to talk about yourself

Using the right tools/approach to complete this research

Building/maintaining a productive network of contacts

Making career decisions

Demonstrating that your skills and strengths “fit”

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Career Challenges

Self-assessments




path search


Demonstrating that your skills and strengths “fit”

Making career decisions

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Career decision making:some homework…

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Career decision making:some homework…

Complete checklists in your own time

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Decoding the job ad

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• Company culture

• Roles of the position

• Qualifications needed

• Type of person sought

• Data for Applicant Tracking Software

• Other ways to gather insight – informational interviewing

How to read a job ad:Do you fit?

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Job Ad 1

Strategic Analyst, President’s Office, University of the MidwestSchool/Center Overview

The mission of the President’s Office is to support the President, the trustees, and the University’s senior leadership; to aid the faculty, students, and staff in their teaching, research, and service activities. In addition to the Office of the President, the position also works in conjunction with multiple high profile departments on campus.

Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff, the Strategic Analyst will support decision-making and strategic initiatives by utilizing policy knowledge, facility with data analysis, and communications and project management skills in furtherance of institution-wide goals and projects. They will have an interest in the development, implementation and evaluation of policy, an understanding of higher education issues and trends, and the analytic abilities to advance the University’s mission and priorities. Using information and data from various sources and by partnering with colleagues and key stakeholder groups, the Strategic Analyst will identify trends and opportunities, and provide analyses and recommend strategies for furthering the aims of the University’s mission.

Qualifications

-A Master’s Degree (or higher academic degree) and 5 years to 7 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.

-Strong understanding of the higher education landscape, emerging trends, and higher education policy issues; demonstrated experience in policy analysis and development.

-Experience integrating, analyzing and reporting in a strategic policy context on data from a variety of sources, including institutional data and data prepared by others.

-Experience and expertise with quantitative and qualitative research analysis, and appropriate tools.

-Excellent written and oral communication skills; ability to convey information clearly regarding complex matters to diverse administrators, faculty, and stakeholders to convey understanding of both the issue and the proposed action/response.

-Ability to create and edit reports, presentations and other documents that evaluate and clearly support recommendations on important issues.

-Self-starter who is excels at working with a broad group of stakeholders around complex and sensitive topics in a decentralized environment.

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Job Ad 2

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Digital Marketing CoordinatorOverview

-Reporting to the Digital Marketing Manager, the Digital Marketing Coordinator will work out of the New York City Office. The planning, execution, day-to-day management and analysis of integrated digital marketing campaigns & partnerships. Heavy focus on the utilization and growth of the brands social media platforms.

-Make significant contributions to the growth and success of the businesses’ initiatives with direct oversight of marketing channels and processes. Executing digital/social media marketing campaigns, tracking results, and reporting. Monitor conversations while collecting and analyzing data for ongoing campaigns.

-Communicating and coordinating with potential partners to help develop strategy, collect digital assets and manage a calendar. Develop relationships with press and writers in the wellness lifestyle space. Serve as a content producer (curator, writer, editor) to create editorial stories and opportunities to inform, engage and inspire our consumers.

-Responsible for keeping the group informed and up-to-date with current events within the health/wellness industry as well as trends in the social media marketing industry.

Qualifications

-Bachelor’s degree in Business, Communications, Marketing; 2 - 4 years in social media and/or digital marketing

-Experience in and passion for Digital/Social Media marketing; notable experience using social media (both paid & unpaid) campaigns to drive traffic/sales

-Strong interpersonal skills and a strategic thinker that see's the whole landscape; comfortable interfacing with C-suite executives

-Ability to create content for social media platforms and blog

-Strong analytical experience, ability to use data to create, implement, and execute a digital campaign.

-Understanding of SEO, keyword research and Google Analytics; Proficient in MS Office Suite programs (Word, PPT, Excel, etc.) Familiar with InDesign/Photoshop or a desire to learn; experience with WordPress as well as social media management tools, like Buffer and Hootsuite

-Strong desire to work in a hyper-growth fast-paced environment with a sense of urgency and able to manage priorities without oversight

-Organized, self-motivated, resourceful individual with a can-do attitude and ability to think creatively and holistically.



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Informational interviews are:

• Easy, low stress interactions where you ask professionals about their job, company, career path, industry…

• Not a one-way street

• Something you can set up specifically with individuals you meet at programs and events

• The best use of your time during career exploration

• A great way to get comfortable with the idea of networking

• Read this: www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/05/22/how-make-job-contacts-want-help-you-essay

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5 Key Questions for Informational Interviews (out of many you could ask)

1. I’ve read a lot about your position, but I would love to hear more about the role you play in doing…

2. What led you to doing work in this field? How did you know this was a great fit for you?

3. What are some of the skills/strengths that are most valuable in this role, and which one do you tend to use the most?

4. What advice would you have for someone interested in pursuing a career in this field – especially someone who enjoys X or cares about Y

5. It has been so great hearing your perspective; I would love to learn more. Is there anyone you can recommend who would be good for me to chat with? Can you introduce me to them?

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http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/05/22/how-make-job-contacts-want-help-you-essay

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The job interview

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5 Questions Always Asked in an Interview

1. Tell me about yourself; walk me through your resume**

2. Why do you want this job?**

3. What do you know about us?

4. What are your strengths; what value do you bring?**

5. Do you have any questions for us?

**Skills-focused answers required

Structuring Answers

Answer the question and illustrate with examples

• USE EXAMPLES & Situation-Task-Action-Result (STAR)

• Name the situation

• Describe the task/challenge at hand

• Explain the action you took

• Conclude with your positive results

“How would your co-workers describe you?”

• A not-very-good-answer:

• “They would say I am a good problem-solver, I take initiative, I’m a team player, I’m easy to get along with, well organized and highly motivated.”

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“How would your coworkers describe you?”

• A good answer:

• “They would say I am a good problem solver and I take initiative. Recently, I was asked to use a database of department alumni contacts that hadn’t been updated in a while. Because the database had been created by merging 3 overlapping sources of information with different data fields, it was taking a long time to get through the information. To increase search efficiency, I reorganized and aligned the data fields so that they all matched, and at the same time deleted duplicate records I came across. As a result, the database is a lot more accessible, and we are all using it more frequently, which will help us keep the information much more up-to-date. And I was actually asked train my colleagues in using some of the advanced features of Excel because of this work”

Structuring Answers cont’d

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Exercise 5 Interviewing with confidence

1. Form a pair or group of three.2. Identify a type of job each person is interested in.3. Take turns asking each question.4. Listen for effective story-telling techniques.5. Provide feedback to your partner on how well they talked

about their strengths and how clear their illustrations were.

Common interview questions:• Tell me about yourself• What strengths do you bring to us?• What is your greatest weakness and why?

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Questions?

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STRENGTHSQUEST - University of Pennsylvania · • Borrow language from the StrengthsQuest...

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