Are you Career Ready?

Ideas for Action:

• Take the CliftonStrengths assessment and discuss with an LAS career advisor on ways you can build and leverage your talents.
• Meet with a career advisor to discuss career goals and interests.
• Consider applying to internship opportunities aligned with your career goals; earn academic credit for your internship.
• Gain skills and experience through student involvement, research, student employment and/or volunteer work.
• Attend a UIC Career Fair to learn about opportunities and network with recruiters.
• Build your network and connect with alumni through the UIC Connected platform.

Ideas for Action:

• Display professionalism and etiquette in all forms of communication. Refer to the professional communication guide for ideas in connecting with professionals.
• Employ active listening, persuasion, and influencing skills through experience serving in a student leadership role.
• Reach out to professionals in your field of interest to conduct informational interviews.
• Communicate with respect to diversity of learning styles, varied individual communication abilities, and cultural differences.
• Consider presenting during UIC Impact Day where students can present on service, study abroad, internships, student employment, career development, leadership, and/or involvement.

Ideas for Action:

• Make decisions and solve problems using sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment.
• Gather and analyze information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem.
• Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps.
• Develop your research skills and work closely with a faculty member to propose, design, and complete research projects through LASURI or UIC Undergraduate Research.
• Recognize the problem-solving skills you have acquired through your service, retail and customer service jobs.

Ideas for Action:

• Solicit and use feedback from multiple cultural perspectives to make inclusive and equity-minded decisions.
• Participate in Student Leadership and Civic Engagement service opportunities.
• Advocate for inclusion, equity, justice, and empowerment for historically marginalized communities through volunteerism and community outreach.
• Consider travel abroad to experience global cross-cultural interactions and  enhance your understanding of people from different demographic groups.
• Learn about the different UIC Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change and identify ways to get involved.
• Demonstrate flexibility by adapting to diverse environments.
• Address systems of privilege that limit opportunities for members of historically marginalized communities.

Ideas for Action:

• Inspire, persuade, and motivate self and others under a shared vision.
• Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction.
• Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods; enhance these skills by participating in a UIC student organization.
• Serve as a role model to others by serving as a student panelist, a peer mentor and/or a peer success coach.
• Motivate and inspire others by encouraging them and by building mutual trust.

Ideas for Action:

• Act with integrity and accountability to self, others, and the organization.
• Maintain a positive personal brand and establish your online presence via LinkedIn.
• Be present and prepared – ready to learn, take notes, and contribute your ideas.
• Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals.
• Get real world experience through an internship and/or student employment to familiarize yourself with organizational cultures.
• Show a high level of dedication, ask for feedback and strive to do quality work.

Ideas for Action:

• Listen carefully to others, take time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting.
• Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect diverse personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience.
• Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables.
• Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others.
• Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
• Collaborate with others to achieve common goals.
• Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisor and team members/coworkers.

Ideas for Action:

• Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies.
• Identify apps and digital programs to increase efficiency and productivity.
• Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective, and timely decision-making.
• Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies; build your skills and take online courses through LinkedIn Learning 
• Be versatile in all social media channels.