LET’S TALK ABOUT adapting to a remote work environment:

The Covid-19 pandemic unexpectedly propelled much of the world’s population into a sheltered workspace that required nearly everyone to shift from in-person to virtual learning, work, and socializing. While adapting to remote work has been a challenge for our society as a whole, it has provided us with the opportunity to develop new skills that may not otherwise have been obtained. The following skills are relevant to almost any profession.

LET’S TALK ABOUT the transferable skills acquired:

1. Critical Thinking/Problem-Solving: Pivoting quickly to a remote learning and working environment requires you to constantly think on your feet about how to quickly learn a new software package, create a functional home workspace, remain connected with professors, peers, and College staff members, and manage your time to study, complete course assignments, and maintain a healthy social life.
2. Career Management: You have taken the time to reflect upon your time at K to determine what skills you are still lacking. You have sought out support like the Center for Career & Professional Development to map out your professional journey while in college. You have sought out a mentor. You have enrolled in online
   courses to upskill to give yourself a competitive advantage in the job market. You have participated in virtual internships, externships, and civic engagement
   activities and reflected upon how they connect to your life after K.
3. Oral/Written Communications: Speaking in public can be anxiety-inducing, but having to give presentations in an online environment can be even more challenging. Learning to speak louder, maintain eye contact with your computer’s camera, share your screen, and engage a remote audience are skills
   that employers are seeking. You have probably also experienced an influx of emails, both received and sent: prioritizing which emails require immediate attention and how to respond professionally and effectively are especially relevant now.
4. Professionalism/Work Ethic: Online etiquette is nothing new, but in a time when ‘Zoom pants’ are a thing, it is important to recognize how you have maintained professional standards, even in virtual: you have managed your time to allow for any time zone differences that impact your ability to arrive on time to class, work, or meetings; you have identified which areas of your home are most conducive to studying, attending class, and doing work; you have increased your communication with professors, your boss, and your College support systems; and you have taken the time to identify mentors who can help connect you with success skills along the way.
5. Global/Intercultural Fluency: The world has been thrown into a pandemic and as such, we are all experiencing this shift together. You have had to discern health, political, and lifestyle information from a variety of national and international sources, which requires a strong focus on information literacy and a recognition that global citizenship is important, now more than ever.
6. Digital Technology: You have learned how to install new software, navigate Microsoft Teams, engage with Moodle (a learning management software), create a professional (or fun) virtual Zoom background, send meeting invites using multiple videoconferencing platforms, and use course- and work-specific computer
   programs to digitize and share your work with your professors, peers, and supervisors.
7. Teamwork/Collaboration: You have completed group projects online, which requires not only an ability to manage conflict, communication, and productivity, but also necessitates the use of diverse scheduling and videoconferencing platforms to meet regularly, check in on each other’s progress, and share your work orally and/or in written form.
8. Leadership: You have served as the leader of a student organization, as a student employee offering insight to your supervisor on the student experience, and
   as a member of a group project. You have demonstrated the ability to rise above barriers to inspire your peers to perform a task successfully and share your
   insights in thoughtful ways.

LET’S TALK ABOUT sample resume action statements:

• Managed time to prioritize schoolwork, studying, and on-campus employment successfully.
• Earned a certification in Microsoft Office Suite through Coursera.
• Facilitated 5 online classroom presentations using multiple online videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex,
GoToMeeting, and Google Meet.
• Curated content for a blog focused on assisting international students in understanding and navigating the United States political system.
• Used Slack to communicate daily outreach numbers for prospective students.
• Led a committee of fellow student employees to develop specific health and safety protocols for returning to in-person work on campus.

CCPD TIPS

Behavioral Interview Prompts:

Employers often ask questions about how you responded to specific situations. For example:
• Tell me about a time when you experienced a conflict while working on a team.
• Describe a time when you had to work well under pressure.
• Give me an example of a time when you showed initiative and took the lead.
• Tell me about a time when you made a mistake, and how you handled it.

S.T.A.R. METHOD

You can use STAR as a framework to structure your response to behavioral
interview questions.

• Describe the context and background for a situation that’s relevant to the question.
• Explain the Task that needed to be completed. What was the goal?
• Outline specific Actions you took. How did you exhibit transferable skills?
• Share the Results of your actions. What was the outcome? What did you learn?