Exploring and sharing career resources including certifications and internships

ENMT495 Global Environmental

Week 8 Discussion

DQ1 Exploring and sharing career resources including certifications and internships

Now that you have signed up for CareerQuest as part of this week’s work (if you have not done so prior to this class), explore what is available to you and report on one activity or resource you explored on CareerQuest or any of the other resources you saw in Week 8 content.

Make sure to read what your classmates have said so that you add to what they began.  Please tell me if you have heard of CareerQuest prior to this course, and if so, where.

Alternatively, feel free to post a career resource to share!

For example, what do you think of this 3.8 minutes advise for looking for your first job in your new career?

https://www.candidcareer.com/video-job+searching+101,70b6c547ce09aa59abd5,UMGC

On the topic of certification, have you heard about any of the certifications covered under course content this week?

Do you have any of those certifications?

Please share any certifications you think would be helpful towards your career goals and explain why that certification would be helpful.Another aspect of moving into a new career is networking and internships.  Of course, internships are a great way to network as well as gain experience to increase your marketability after graduation.

UMGC’s InternPLUS has focused on nontraditional ways that students can obtain experience outside of the traditional, full-time summer internships that are rather inaccessible to our nontraditional student population.  As a result, UMGC has partnered with organizations to promote alternative ways to get experience such as:

Parker Dewey: https://info.parkerdewey.com/umgc

Paid micro-internships designed for students and recent grads that can often be completed from home often in a matter of hours

CatchaFire: https://www.catchafire.org/

UMGC also has career resources for military students and their families: https://careerquest.umgc.edu/hub/umgc-careerquest/resources/military

In addition, here are thee articles about how Volunteering, Staffing and Temp Agencies and Virtual Internships can be valuable ways to gain experience and some resources for how to find these opportunities.

Take a look at this interview with MDE wastewater permit head, Paul Hlavinda:

https://www.facebook.com/326156741869/videos/372397210000561/

They are looking for good interns.  Would you like to intern there?

Share your experience in gaining internship or other “real-life” experience related to ENMT. Or provide your thoughts on which of these resources were most helpful to you and why.

DQ2 Practice with cover letter

As with all things in life, effective practicing will help you achieve your goal.

To help you prepare for interviewing for a position you desire, please share a job posting that is attractive to you and then share a cover letter from you for that job. You should demonstrate in that letter that you have the experience needed and know how you fit into the company/organization you are applying to.

Students should gently critique at least one other cover letter.

DQ3 Practice demonstrating applicable concepts

Now, using that same job or career description you provided under Topic 2, list the skills and knowledge that job or career requires and share how you will demonstrate those skills and knowledge in your resume and cover letter and interview. 

What projects have you worked on in your ENMT program that you could bring to the interview or at least explain in the interview that you have the knowledge and skills needed for that job?

In addition to the “hard knowledge” that should be part of any rigorous program, there are also the “soft skills” that are often difficult to teach, especially online where we feel isolated. We try to see applications of soft skills through discussions forums and group work, and sometimes, the hangouts are helpful towards working on soft skills and connecting with others.  Many organizations realize the importance of soft skills and hence, have begun to ask behavioral interview questions, which focus on how you handled various work situations in the past. Your response will reveal your skills, abilities, and personality.  Below are two questions that might be used in behavioral interviews:

(1) Describe a stressful time in your life and what you did to manage the stress.

(2) Describe a time when you did not meet a goal at work or at school and share how you handled it.