- April 29, 2016
- 3:47 pm
- no comments
“You Matter” Program and Workshop Series
I would like to introduce myself. My name is Hassan Akmal. For a living, I help build dreams and witness their impact.
I have been career coaching for 7 years both independently and at higher education institutions all over the country. I am launching a new workshop in the fall entitled, the “You Matter” program, open to undergraduates, graduates, as well as alumni. Before getting into what it is all about, I want to know about you.
Wait, before reading any further, tell me something, what gets you up in the morning, in other words, what’s your passion? You don’t exactly know? Coffee? Well, yes, me too, but deeper than that. Alright, then, what’s your purpose? Think about it for a moment. Wait, no, wait, don’t tell me, first I want you to watch this video.
Ready? Now tell me, what motivates you?
I will tell you what motivates me. My background might surprise you. My first job was teaching tennis. At that time I didn’t know I would go on to play for the University of California, Los Angeles Men’s Tennis team that was ranked #1 in the nation, play on the professional ATP Tour, serve as an Athlete Ambassador for 5 years to the United States and attend a Sport for Development training at Columbia University while I began my Master of Public Health. All I knew is that I was driven to succeed. As I traveled the world as a professional tennis player and saw so much poverty, I realized that I wanted study public health and start my own non-governmental organization. I did.
My second job was a barista, however, little did I know that I would get to know hundreds of people with that position. I worked at Espresso Roma, the café the center of the University of California, San Diego’s La Jolla campus. There, I met Deans, the Chancellor, the Provost, scholarly professors, athletic coaches, you name it. At first, I thought I was working too hard for what I was being paid, especially, when I was the only one on shift with a line out the door each morning. Little did I know this was a blessing in disguise. I learned the early value of building relationships and that would later help me as a Financial Advisor and Business Development Manager later in life.
When I was first interviewed for the position of a Director of Career Services 7 year ago, the President of the university asked me about my passion. I knew it was motivating others, but didn’t know any more details that that. He, having been once upon a time a Director of Career Services, said if I could motivate a refugee as the CEO of a not-for-profit, I could motivate a student to get out of bed and interview for a job. My decision process wasn’t clear, I didn’t know what I really wanted to do. But what I did know was that I loved motivating people and helping others and was hired because of those transferable skills and qualities.
Since my first day on the job in 2010, I have had some pretty extensive training in resume writing, cover letter creation, job search and job development. For me, the training actually started many years before that, with my older brother. He used to ask me, “Why should I hire you?” And if I took more than 5-7 seconds to answer, he would ask me to come back in two weeks. Tough coach, but little did I know, he was helping me build a sound 30-sec commercial.
Alright, I am going to be your Career Coach. Now that means a few things:
- 1st. I am going to learn as much about you as I can. I am going to ask you a lot of questions. Some of which may sound odd at first. Some may not be questions that you are used to having people ask. But I want to assure you that I am not being nosy. What I do want is to learn as much about you as possible so I can advocate for you as best I can. By knowing your salary, I can develop an understanding of what types of job leads will best meet your needs. I don’t want to ever waste your time with job leads that are beneath you or temporarily out of your reach. Same with your GPA, I want to make sure I can appropriately advise you to take an offer or to try to negotiate a better offer. I want to know all about your network of friends and associates so I can advise you on how to utilize your network to maximize your chance of finding a position and to speed that process up if possible.
- 2nd. Once I know a lot about you, I am going to use my experience and give some advice on improving your resume, cover letters, portfolio, and thank you letters. Now, I am going to warn you every person you meet will have a different opinion on what a resume should look like. Don’t be surprised if I contradict what someone else has told you or even that another career advisor contradicts me. It’s your ultimate job to listen to these differing opinions and come up with a set of documents that you own and are responsible for. I will say, that I routinely review dozens of resumes and have a good feel for what works. I have also received specific training on aspects of cover letter and resume writing.
- 3rd. I will also give you specific feedback on your interviewing skills. We may do a mock interview, we may do many mock interviews. Often I meet people who believe they have really strong skills, but only the mock interview can reveal the sometimes one or two bad examples that can derail an interview. Again, I do this a lot and want nothing more than to help you realize your career goals.
- 4th. I am here to help you do these things quickly. In today’s economy, every dollar of income that goes to you is immensely important. I will be sourcing job leads every day. Some will apply to you and some will apply to other graduates. But when one does fit your background, we need to move fast. So I may ask that you work on a resume tonight, call me tomorrow, or drive by an employer’s office the night before the interview so you know where it is, how long it takes to get there, and you don’t risk being late. If an applicant doesn’t move quickly, we run the risk of losing a job to someone who moved faster. I don’t want to have that happen, so speed is of the essence. From our end of the spectrum, we call it speed to referral.
Last thing, I am going to ask that every time we meet, you treat it as if it were an interview. Here’s why. I sometimes have graduates who believe that dressing up means dressing like you do to go out on Saturday night. But that’s not quite right. If you treat this as an interview and I see evidence that you dress appropriately, bath daily, are well groomed, sit professionally, open the door for others, etc. At that point, I know that you are aware and do these things in a manner that benefits you. If I don’t see these things, then we have to have a discussion and we may waste your time covering things that you already know.
Does that sound OK?
Alright, let’s learn more about you:
- What do you do for a living now?
- What is your current job? What do you like about it? What don’t you like?
- What is important about your next job?
- Size of Company: Small, midsize, big?
- Type of position: Generalist, specialized?
- Are you willing to travel? How much? Locally, regionally, nationally?
- I always look locally first, but would you relocate? What would make you relocate? Salary, job type?
- How much of a commute are you willing to do?
- Do you have reliable transportation?
- What do you earn?
- If you are not working, how are you getting money? Is someone supporting you? How is that person responding at the moment?
- If you make ______ now, how much do you need in your next job?
- What was your approximate GPA?
- Who were your favorite faculty members?
- What were your favorite classes?
- Tell me about your social network? Church, friends or family at different companies, volunteer activities, current promotional opportunities at work?
- What else do I need to know about you?
You may be wondering why I went into so much depth. The answer is simple:
“Why? Because you matter.”
For a couple minutes, I want you to stop worrying about interviewing with employers. I know it has been while and you are a little rusty. An integral component of our Business Career Services’ Mission and Vision is focusing on the value of self-exploration and connecting passion to purpose. The “You Matter” program is deliberate in helping students “innerview” themselves, with the important message of finding your true ambition.
The program is not only for you, but it is for my team. After all, it is a professional development series. Thus, the goal is that it benefits everyone. We are currently building the modules for each workshop that will highlight everything from exploring your limiting beliefs to the question of, “What keeps you up at night?”
The program aims to inspire each student to ask questions, challenge assumptions, take risks and use each experience they encounter at the university as sounding boards on their journey. It helps student understand that each job title he/she has is a living laboratory, helps identify limiting beliefs, and embedded in this challenge is the ability to understand yourself, your understanding of happiness and meaning. It also re-directs students towards more critical thinking that is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking.
The goal is that students become mindful in shaping and designing their educational experiences to better understand themselves and evolve a world view forward, that will help them make the right decisions in the search for career alignment.
Stay tuned! I can’t wait to explore this with you further at the workshop. Until then, I leave you with these words:
“Everyone has a purpose. It’s developed from their passion. And when one is on point with their purpose, it can help change the world for the better.”
-Hassan Akmal, MBA, MPH
Hassan Akmal is a Career Thought Leader, Career Strategist, Director of Business Career Services at Quinlan School of Business and Adjunct Professor at Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago