As many of you know, last month I talked about how I was attending the SEAHO conference at the end of February. I had an amazing time and enjoyed all of the time I got to connect with different professionals in my new housing region. On the way home, I began thinking about all of the ways I was going to take back all of the things I learned and utilize in my professional career. I thought a lot about my professional development and here are a few things I am doing until conference season returns.
Have conversations with my supervisor.
At the conference I learned all about this awesome company call Crisis Text Line. It’s similar to a national hotline that individuals can call in for help. I realized that by volunteering for this company, I can gain more experience in crisis management and ultimately be better with responding to mental health issues in my on call life. My supervisor was very supportive of this opportunity I could utilize to grow and develop even more.
Keep a professional development plan.
I went to a conference last year and was given a binder with a variety of professional development tools. Later, I came across a document on the Student Affairs Professionals page that discusses various years of your entry level position and how to incorporate the competencies into a pro Devo plan. I began to reflect on my goals and how I want to grow over the next few years. I truly spent some time reflecting over this binder.
Look at other job descriptions/interview questions.
Like most institutions currently hiring, we are in the interview process. I began to reflect on the different questions we are asking candidates. I worked to evaluate how I would answer the questions based on my experiences thus far in my role. For some questions, I had a plethora of responses. Meanwhile, others I had very few. It was in these areas that I knew I needed to work into my goals for the following school year.
Professional development is all about constant reflection. Truly think about where you currently are in your career and where you want to go. I am passionate about Professional Development. I love finding ways to make the most of your position and truly working to grow and learn as much as you can. Reach out to me, I’d love to chat more with you about this!
This post is part of the Emerging SA Pro series following 4 awesome people: Aracelis, Emalie, Felicia, and Patrick, as they blog monthly about 1 year of their journey as either a new SA Pro or SA grad student. We are proud to help them share their stories as they break into our field.
