I’ve uploaded the Powerpoint slides from the April 2011 round-table sessions, with participant comments added from both sessions.
The sessions generated lively discussions and provided good input for me and the rest of the UWSA Exec. We will use this information to help guide our discussions at Staff Relations and other staff-related committees.
Your comments are welcome.
posted by Liz Koblyk, Staff Career Advisor
Some aspects of our jobs energize us; others deplete our energy. This is one of the central assumptions behind the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Staff can learn more about what drives their career satisfaction through a two-part MBTI workshop, held in the Tatham Centre on February 15 and 22, from 3:00 to 5:00. Registration for “Exploring Your Personality Type (MBTI)” is required at least 24 hours in advance (http://careeraction.uwaterloo.ca).
Why take the MBTI? In addition to helping you identify what motivates you at work, it can draw your attention to your likely strengths. Knowing your main areas of competence not only helps you compete for jobs, but it also helps you identify what sorts of positions you might want to work towards in the long term, and how you can capitalize on your strengths in your current role. If you like focusing on areas for improvement, the MBTI also suggests strategies for challenges you may face. Finally, if you’re a bargain hunter, you might be interested to know that the MBTI is free to regular staff, if you take it through the Centre for Career Action.
The “Exploring Your Personality Type” workshop gives you the chance to talk with people who have different personality types about their preferred communication style, and about ways you can improve your working relationship with different personalities. If you would prefer to review the MBTI in a more private setting, however, you can schedule an individual appointment with me in the Centre for Career Action.
The UWSA January newsletter is now available: Staff News January 2011
More than 170 workers are out on strike as picket lines went up at McMaster University on Friday January 6. Food service workers overwhelmingly voted to go on strike the previous day after rejecting the administration’s “Settlement Offer”.
http://www.foodserviceworkerstogether.org/2010-01-07-workers-walk-out/
A current director, Robert Bernard, retired from the university of Waterloo effective January 1, 2011. As such a director position became available, and was filled by a majority vote cast during the regular exec meeting held January 11, 2011. This appointment will last from Jan 11, 2011 until the annual general meeting to be held in October 2011. The appointee is Monika Bothwell, a Faculty Financial Officer in the Faculty of Science.
Congratulations Monika.
GUELPH — There appears to be little consensus on the University of Guelph campus on how to fix what’s been described as an underfunded pension “crisis.”
Posting from Liz Koblyk, UW Staff Career Advisor
You likely recently received an email about myCareer@uWaterloo, the University’s new electronic recruitment system. Unless you’re currently actively searching for a job, you may have quickly skimmed the message before getting on with the rest of your day. Before you do the same with this blog post, keep in mind that the time to familiarize yourself with a recruiting system is before an interesting opportunity comes up.
There are easy ways to do this. If you learn best by online tutorials, check out the online resources HR has put together. If you learn best by asking questions, log into myHRinfo, and “request training enrollment” once you’re in the “Learning and Development” section. That will allow you to attend an in-person training session provided by HR, and to ask any questions you may have about the system. By the way, if you want to understand what your hiring manager will see, check out the online tutorials for hiring managers called “Creating a Job Opening” and “Review and Interview Applicants.”
The new recruiting system has at least one major implication for you: you will have to throw modesty to the wind and provide a clear, accurate, and evidence-based report of your skills, knowledge and other job qualifications. This is always wise in the job search process, but when you apply through online recruiting systems, it is essential. If you tell the computer that you don’t have experience making presentations because that skill only makes up a small portion of your job, or if you don’t mention the courses you took in Excel because you can’t remember the course dates, the computer assumes you don’t have that knowledge or experience. It doesn’t read between the lines or ask probing questions.
While questions about the recruiting system are best addressed to your Human Resources Advisor, over here in the Centre for Career Action, I am happy to help with questions related to your career and job search. Regular postdocs and regular USG staff can schedule confidential appointments at www.careeraction.uwaterloo.ca.
June round-table slides and notes
I’ve published the Powerpoint slides from the June round-table sessions: http://uwsa.uwaterloo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/UWSA-roundtable-June-16-annotated.pdf
There were important ideas brought forward at the sessions, and several people who could not attend provided comments in email (see the slide near the end).