This week I’ve been working my way through a career guide called “You Majored in What?
Taking stock of my skills ties in with one of the choices that I didn’t want to make when I first graduated from university: taking a part-time job (or two) while I search for the “real thing”.
A lot of graduates believe that taking a part-time job during your job search will just get in the way of finding something more permanent. I just want to point out one thing: it’s your job search! If you lose momentum because of a part-time gig, that’s on you! As a part-time worker, you’ll still plenty of time on evenings, weekends, and even full days for your job search. Besides that, you’ll learn better time management skills.
More importantly, a part-time job will teach you new skills – as long as you’re open to seeing them as such.
Fashion has always been one of my side interests. My experience as a fashion show planner/stylist helped me to secure my part-time sales job despite my lack of retail experience. Check out my bff @tianafeng all styled out for an environmentally-friendly show a couple years ago (note: needs a statement necklace)
What kind of skills am I talking about? Let’s take a closer look at my current part-time jobs:
Retail Sales Associate
I know what you’re thinking – retail is the worst. It’s undoubtably hard on the body, but in terms of job-based skills, retail experience is a gem. Here’s just a smattering of job skills that I’ve managed to nail down in just a few short months:
- Approaching people: be it on foot or on the telephone, people no longer intimidate me.
- Problem solving: I know this might sound like a stretch, but problem solving is everything in retail. Customers want solutions – be it to serious problems that are dealt with at the corporate level, or finding the perfect blouse to match a business suit. You’ve got to be willing to hang in there and think outside the box.
- Adaptation: My retail job has certainly taught me to roll with the punches! Retail is all about speaking, listening, and adapting.
- Positive thinking: this is a job skill as well as a way of life. Positive thinking is exemplified in our conversations with others – it’s the difference between telling someone that a pair of pants looks terrible on them or telling them that “we can do better”. Positive people are much easier to approach and interact with.
- Collaboration: I wouldn’t be anywhere without the help of my co-workers. We work as a unified team to guide each other – playing off each other’s strengths.
Tomorrow I’ll take a look at the skills that I’ve gained from my job as a part-time research assistant.
Have you taken a look at the skills you’ve earned from part-time employment/summer jobs/volunteering? It’s a pretty good exercise to get into the interview mindset. All experience has some value!
Elle
Filed under: Career, Inspiration, Underemployment
