Week 9: Personality Types=Career Match?

I first got introduced to the whole personality test idea as an undergraduate student at Sacramento State University. I visited with the career counselor and she suggested I take a test to determine my personality type so I could find a good career. My results ended up being Introvert, Intuitive, Thinker, and Perceiver. Then I went to this week's discussion--many years later, another personality test--and got the same results. There's something about the networking-with-others idea that keeps popping up, basically saying that I'm afraid to ask for help, which, I'll admit, I am. I remember one thing from the undergraduate test that said "people will enjoy helping you." Really? I always thought I was coming across as a nagging dummy when I asked a lot of questions. In the words of my mother: "you can't get a job unless you learn how to communicate with people." Blah, blah, blah. Coming from her, it was annoying and frustrating, but when a friend or a mentor tells me that, my reaction changes; I'm calmer and more willing to let them walk all over me. It's true what I've heard: your relationship with your classmates and friends is different from that with your family.

As for finding virtual work, which is obviously the type of career I will excel in, all the job searches I've performed through apps and the Internet have led me to jobs suitable for engineers and computer science majors. My post for the week 9 discussion says a little more about this, and all I can say is that I keep thinking I chose the wrong major for virtual employment. (I've told my parents a couple times that I should have majored in business or engineering so I could get a job).

Week 8: Self-Motivation

I'm really liking the topic for this week's discussion. As I told a friend of mine yesterday, I'm currently taking virtual work very seriously at the moment, and when I say 'virtual work,' I mean virtual employment, not just an internship. I believe I am somewhat self-motivated, since after taking the quiz, I found I scored in the 'okay' department. Turns out I can achieve more than what I am doing, and surprisingly, I believe it with everything that's gone on in my academic life right now.

Last night, I met with Dr. Simmons, my ePortfolio advisor, in her online Collaborate office hour, to talk to her about the comment she made on my Comp N. I had to revise it because my explication was nowhere near being related to the library science field, and it sounded like I had just done a general Internet search for a few keywords in the comp and wrote a mini research paper on it. The real idea is to use my own knowledge from the program, use outside sources to back up my ideas, and apply what I have learned in the evidence section. As of yet, I have 9 passed and submitted number 10 (Comp N), so I've got 4 to 5 more to turn in and pass. After speaking with her, I motivated myself to go back and look at all the PDF files I had downloaded from past semesters and read through them. I also logged into the King Library website to use the EBSCOHost database and look into some articles there.

One thing I did mention last night, too, was the Ken Haycock Portable MLIS. I found it on Amazon, but I was thinking more along the lines of borrowing it from somebody so I don't have to buy it. Just wondering if anyone has it...

Week 7: Networking

I was able to attend the Collaborate session last week on networking, which is the first one in a long time. I've been stuck on my ePortfolio lately, having to write 14 comps by Nov.18, and that's all that's been on my mind. So far I've passed C, D, E, F, G, H, L, and M, and recently submitted K. Now all I have left are A, B, I, J and N, and I think those are going to be the hardest. For K, one of the artifacts I submitted was a Thomas the Tank Engine fan fiction that's supposed to educate children about drinking and driving, so maybe that will count as teaching...?

For this week's topic, I noticed that the content contained something about LinkedIn being associated with networking. I actually have a LinkedIn profile, which I've updated recently to include my current work experience as a Student-at-Large on the SJSU Programming Board Committee and as a virtual intern with VCARA in Second Life. Some people might believe that the definition of "networking" means face-to-face contact and finding employment through word of mouth, but I believe it extends beyond that. Networking can take place anywhere, virtually or not. I've connected with previous supervisors and volunteer coordinators through LinkedIn and Facebook, and I've sent out requests for recommendations to many people on LinkedIn. Right now, I have about 6 people who have responded, so now I have 6 recommendations displayed on my profile.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/humanitiesgrad2008/