LASC 197P Unit Four: Engaging with your Major

1. Unit Four: Engaging With Your Major

2. • Create a list of potential engagement opportunities
associated with your interests
• Identify competencies and skills that you can develop
through your engagement opportunities
• Articulate how your competencies and skills align with
those desired by an employer
• Analyze the relationship between values, undergraduate
experience, and career
Learning Objectives

3. Remember, employers are looking for transferrable
skills. Want to be a doctor? Yes, you must take some
science courses and then go to medical school. But can
you major in English? YES!
Let’s review mythbusting- again!

4. The top five skills employers are looking for are:
• Ability to work in a team
• Ability to problem solve and make decisions
• Communication skills
• Planning and organizational skills
• Ability to obtain and process information
Remember, according to Forbes
magazine in 2014…

5. • Speaking, Oral
Communication & Presenting
• Writing
• Leading & Working in Teams
• Research, Investigative Skills
• Tenacity
• Organization
• Time Management
• Multi-tasking
• Project Management
• Critical Thinking
Regardless of your major, you will
develop these skills through a
particular major lens.
What does that mean?
Both history majors and
biology majors can
conduct research, but
HOW they conduct
research might be
different.

6. This isn’t an exhaustive list of skills
you’ll need…You’re working on skills
for jobs that don’t even exist yet.
Think about it- do you remember when
Instagram didn’t exist? Your parents
do!

7. What does that mean? There are soooo many jobs out there you probably
don’t know about, and with the development of new technology, there are
jobs that will be available to you that aren’t even created yet.
Check out these links to see what sort of jobs you might have in the future:
• 11 really cool jobs that don’t exist today, but will soon
• 85% Of Jobs That Will Exist In 2030 Haven’t Been Invented Yet: Dell
• 7 unbelievable job titles that will actually exist in 10 years
And here are jobs that exist now that didn’t in the past:
• 10 jobs that didn’t exist 10 years ago
Careers are like onions (they have
layers)

8. Compare the following two job
postings
What do you notice about the qualifications in each of these job postings?

9. Neither job asks for a SPECIFIC major.
Both ask for “experience” and “skills.”

10. How do we develop these skills and
experiences?
Clubs and organizations
• There are over 20,000 registered members in 600 recognized clubs
and organizations at UA
Your major
• You get to select the “lens” in which you learn skills
Your classes
• Learning, applying and analyzing the knowledge from your classes

11. Think about what you are learning in each of your classes and other
experiences (jobs, internships, clubs, etc.).
Pick one of these things and start listing what you do in it. For
example, select ESOC 150. What do your assignments look like? Do
you analyze relationships between texts? Review your syllabus and
assignments- this will give you an idea of what skills you are learning.
Next, find a job you would like and outline some of the specific skills
they request in the job description.
Finally, compare! Do they ask for critical thinking skills? Writing skills?
Analytical skills? How are you already doing this?
How do you translate your skills into
traits employers want?

12. Here are some articles we found that can help you start
translating your skills.
Check out these tips:
• How to translate your skills into a new career
• How to translate your skills on your resume for a
career change
Finally, do your own research!

13. Check out the Office of Student Engagement and Career
Development. Like major exploration, figuring out your
direction in life begins with self-exploration.
Also, set up your Handshake profile- this is a great way
to get connected with internships and other
opportunities!
Where can you begin here at UA?

14. • Help you explore potential careers
• Help you identify areas of interest
• Give you valuable experience for future employers
• Couple internships with courses to further build competencies
needed to get you where you need to go
What can internships do?

15. “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 70 percent of all jobs are found through
networking.”
The importance of networking

16. Vera Wang
American Fashion Designer
Examples of Engagement to Practice
What can you find about each of these
individuals’ engagement experiences while in
college?
Chris Berman
American Sportscaster
Kenneth Chenault
American Business
Executive/Lawyer

17. Check out these resources, which will list the type of
skills employers are looking for as they relate to certain
positions and provide salary information:
• Monster.com
• U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics
• O*Net Online
Additional Resources