Stepping Out of Your Professional Comfort Zone

By: Abbey Pober

Image of ArrowsCom·fort zone / ˈkəmfərt zōn / noun: a place or situation where one feels safe or at ease and without stress.

Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview once, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… in a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” I can think of no better example of a professional who has taken calculated risks in their career which have resulted in incredible professional learning and growth. Stepping outside your “comfort zone” is a risk that is known to lead to big rewards when done strategically. If your goal is growth in your career, professional development is key to your success.

Why do you want to push yourself to do something outside your professional normal? The reason that motivates you is personal, changes based on where you are in your career, and can range from wanting a promotion, to needing to build new skills. Some of the benefits to challenging yourself professionally include:

  • Building your confidence
  • Strengthening your resume
  • Opening doors to new opportunities
  • Gaining new perspectives that change the way you approach your work
  • Discovering something you love
  • Increasing your resiliency

So, how exactly do you step out of your comfort zone? Again, this looks different for everyone.  You should be looking for an opportunity that will push you to try something new, or that will strengthen a weakness you want to work on.  If your work has you sitting behind a computer all day without much human interaction, consider seeking out speaking engagements, or ask to run part of a meeting for your department/team. Or perhaps you are a person who can talk to a crowd all day but struggles to sit down and focus on tasks for a long time? You could ask to take on an important project that will require you to sit down, plan for, and complete tasks individually rather than in a group setting. Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas:

  • Join a professional organization
  • Submit a proposal to present about something you are skilled at/an expert on at a conference
  • Reach out to someone you’ve been meaning to connect with
  • Write a blog/create something to share your expertise
  • Take a class that will challenge you

The important piece to stepping out of your comfort zone is taking the first step and doing it. When choosing what you will do to grow professionally, remember to be reasonable about the time and resources you must commit to it. Want to push yourself this semester? Consider joining a club/organization here at Wentworth, or reach out to your Co-op + Career Advisor to discuss ideas on how you can get involved off campus professionally.

To meet with a Co-op + Career advisor, make an appointment or swing by fall drop-in hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 1:30 – 4:00 PM. Our office is located at 101 Wentworth Hall. Feel free to contact us via email at coopsandcareers@wit.edu, or call us at 617-989-4101.

How to Utilize the Center for Cooperative Education and Career Development

By: Janel Juba

At the Center for Cooperative Education and Career Development, we deliver the necessary resources to be effective in the workplace, provide essential job search strategies and teach students how to find co-ops/ jobs that align with their classroom knowledge, skills and interests. Our mission is to EQUIP you with the necessary tools to EVOLVE your skills and ultimately EXCEL in your industry.

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We offer a range of programs, tools, and services for:

  • Current students seeking cooperative education (co-op) experiences
  • Graduating students and alumni seeking career guidance and exploration
  • Tips on how to effectively navigate Online Career and Job Search Resources

Students/Alumni may utilize the Center to review their resume and cover letter, develop/enhance networking skills, prepare for interviews, find co-ops and jobs in WITworks (our online job database) and other sites, connect with employers at our career fairs and other on-campus events.

We also run Co-op Institute, a seven-week series of workshops which prepares students for their first co-op experience. Below you will find a list of resources and events our office provides.

Co-op + Career Resources 

  • WITworks Job Board
  • Co-op + Career Guides on WITworks
  • Co-op Institute
  • Your Dedicated Co-op + Career Advisor
  • Drop-In Hours
  • WITwear
  • Co-ops + Careers Blog
  • Co-ops + Careers YouTube channel
  • Co-ops + Careers on Twitter

Co-op + Career Events 

  • Co-op + Career Fairs (Fall & Spring Semester)
  • On-Campus Recruiting
  • Mock Interview Day (Fall Semester)
  • Wentworth on the Road
  • Employer Information Sessions
  • Employer in Residence
  • On-Campus Networking Events

Please feel free to stop by should you have any questions or even to say hello, our doors are always open!

A Guide to Personal Branding

By: Hadley Hopkins

Hi there! I’m Hadley Hopkins the marketing intern here at CO-OPS + CAREER. As an advertising student, I am very concerned with branding. Not only of the brands I work for but also my own personal brand. Below I am going to walk you through the steps of how to brand yourself by using my own professional life as a model, so you can learn a little about me and a lot about creating your own personal brand.

You may be thinking, ‘what is a personal brand and why do I need one?’ A personal brand is a combination of your skills and experiences that make you who you are. So technically, you already have one, but by shaping it into a clear message you will be more confident in your strengths and potential employers will easily be able to see who you are and what you stand for.

Find Your Strengths

The first step to creating your brand is to evaluate your strengths. I did this by making a list of my best qualities including character traits as well as industry related skills. I tried to think of traits that are unique to me and would make me stand out:

  • Teamwork
  • Flexible
  • Multi-tasking
  • Teachable
  • Strategic thinker
  • Logo design
  • Making GIFs
  • Branding

Once you have you have your list of attributes it is important to think of evidence to support these claims. Recall situations or experiences that prove these traits are a strength, for example:

Multi-tasking/flexible – At my past internship, I was working on a design project that was interrupted because my supervisor realized a flyer needed to go out to print by the end of the day to be done in time for the event. So, I began working on that project but then had to stop in the middle to go take pictures of an event that was taking place. Although I took on many projects at once I was able to prioritize to give each one the attention it needed to finish everything in a timely manner.

Logo design – I have created various logo designs for different companies, clubs and organizations

Share Your Story

Another aspect of your brand that you will want to focus on is your story. How did you get to where you are? What makes you passionate about your field?  This allows people to know you on an emotional level and not just as a list of your accomplishments and skills. For me, I like to tell the story of how I decided to study advertising:

Advertising and graphic design have been a passion of mine since I created, branded and marketed my own energy drink “Spazz” for my 7th grade technology class.  I found the balance of creativity and logistic to be the perfect mix for my analytical yet artsy mind.

Show Off Your Quirks

An additional way to make your brand seem more personal is by showing off your quirks. These habits make you who you are and can add some “spice” to your brand. For me, the fact that I am a southerner now living in Boston makes for interesting tidbits, as well as my passion for different cultures:

I may be from Georgia, but I have definitely adopted the New England lifestyle. You can catch me sporting my Red Sox hat, and ‘Bean Boots with a Dunkin’ in hand but I will never give up saying y’all. I love all things food, travel and art.

Find Your “Take-away”

Once you have figured out the main aspects of your brand you will be able to create a key take-away that embodies everything you want to express to potential employers:

“I am an analytical, yet creative thinker who is flexible and has a passion for creating meaningful work that helps enhance a brand.”

Although you will probably never be asked in an interview what your mission statement is, this key takeaway can give you direction for materials that future employers will see such as your resume, cover letter, portfolio and LinkedIn profile.  When creating these materials, it is important to ask yourself: ‘does this align with my brand and is my mission statement well represented?’

Another way to strengthen your brand is through the look of your materials. It’s important that your resume, cover letter, portfolio, and LinkedIn profile are cohesive. I suggest sticking with the same font across all materials and make sure you use the same header for both your resume and cover letter. This will help future employers recognize you better across all platforms.

Here is an example of my LinkedIn profile:

Example of LinkedIn Profile

And an example of my resume that I feel represent my brand:

Example Resume

Creating a personal brand takes time and effort but is totally worth it!  With these steps I hope you can create a brand that is uniquely your own and will help you stand out to employers.

As always, we encourage you to stop by CO-OPS + CAREERS to discuss your questions with a Co-op + Career Advisor. You can make an appointment or swing by fall drop-in hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 1:30 – 4:00 PM. Our office is located at 101 Wentworth Hall.

Feel free to contact us via email at coopsandcareers@wit.edu, or call us at 617-989-4101. We look forward to connecting with you soon!

Site Visit Spotlight: Delson Faria Dasilva

Decorative ImageBy : Kristen Eckman

Delson Faria Dasilva ’19, is a Mechanical Engineering student currently finishing up his summer co-op with MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Delson shared with us how he is making design changes to build a sample inlet for the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes (SETG). He is also working with microcontrollers to actuate and operate the instrument.

We had a few questions for Delson about his experience:

How has this co-op impacted your future career? 

This co-op allowed me to look behind the curtain of cutting edge research. I gained the experience of working with MGH scientists and NASA-funded engineers from various backgrounds and fields. This co-op really highlighted the importance of communicating problems and ideas for solutions within the context of ones respective field. The laboratory environment allowed me to practice developing a hypothesis, engineering the tools to test said hypothesis, validating the data, and iterating my engineered solutions to improve the performance of those tools. This co-op has provided experiential context in problem solving, that I will be able to refer to for the rest of my engineering career.

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What have you discovered about your professional self? 

Not so much discovered but heavily reinforced is the reality that classroom room knowledge is the bare minimum a professional has to have. What really shines through more than anything is experience. I don’t necessarily mean work experience but hands on experience. This may just be personally but my projects, the things I have built and worked hands on, have always given me the most context to think critically about any engineering problem I have ever faced.

How did Wentworth prepare you for a field experience? 

Wentworth gave me the opportunity to work with tools, lead projects, collaborate with students and professors to establish that hands on foundation to build my professional career on top of.

Check out more of Delson’s work here!

Creating an All-Star Profile on LinkedIn

By Ria Kalinowski

Bringing your LinkedIn profile to an All-Star (or complete) level is important because profiles that are complete show up higher in search results. If you want to be found by recruiters, fill out your entire profile. It’s important not only to complete your profile but to include key words that recruiters are searching for. Check out the key words employers are using in relevant job postings for some ideas.

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Grab Their Attention!

LinkedIn search results show your name, photo, and headline so it is important to include a professional photo (visit the LinkedIn photo booth at the next Wentworth Co-op + Career Fair!) and create a unique headline to grab peoples’ attention. When crafting your headline, think about where you hope to take your career as well the skills you have to offer. Headlines like, “Student at Wentworth” don’t give enough information or distinguish you from the 4,000 other Wentworth students. Adding your major or target industry helps but use the available 120 characters to take it a step further by sharing your skills or interests. Be careful to avoid spelling errors and stay away from these overused LinkedIn buzzwords!

Sample student LinkedIn headlines:

  • Former NASA Intern. Future Investment Technologist.
  • Electrical Engineering Student, Future Systems Engineer.
  • Computer Engineering Student | Former Systems Engineering Co-op at Vestmark | Laptop Repair Technician
  • Industrial Design Student at Wentworth ● Future Model Maker ● SolidWorks ● Shoe Design
  • Currently seeking full time position in logistics/supply chain or construction project management/estimating.

Tell Your Story

Use your summary to add personality to your profile and tell your story. Use all 2,000 characters to talk about what you are passionate about and how that aligns with your career interests. Recruiters use key word searches to find relevant candidates. Profiles that include the key words recruiters are searching for show up higher in search results, however, an overabundance of repeated words may get your profile filtered out as spam. When writing your summary, keep in mind that viewers only see the first two lines of your summary unless they select, “See more”. Check out summaries of co-op colleagues you admire or look up alumni profiles for ideas.

Here are some questions to get you started:

  • Why did you pick your major?
  • What is your dream job?
  • What are your key technical and non-technical skills?
  • What type of work environment do you thrive in?

Make (and Keep) It Relevant

Now that your dream recruiter has found you and their interest is piqued, show them you have the necessary skills to encourage them to reach out. Include any co-ops or jobs in your experience section highlighting technical and transferable skills relevant to your target industry. Add skills, coursework, and projects. If you have a portfolio or personal website include the link in your summary section. Upload your resume to your summary section as well. Request recommendations from past colleagues, classmates, or professors. Join groups and follow relevant companies. These show up in your interest section. Update your LinkedIn profile every semester just like you would your resume. Add new projects, experiences, and skills you have gained.

Customize your URL

Once your LinkedIn profile is complete, add your URL to the contact information on your resume. But FIRST, make sure to remove that long stream of numbers after your name. Go to your profile and click on “Edit public profile & URL” in the upper right-hand corner. Next, visit the “Edit URL” section in the upper right-hand corner and click on the blue pencil next to your URL. Remove the numbers and make your URL unique to you!

Once your profile is complete, make some connections! Connect with past and current colleagues, classmates, and professors. The number of relevant connections you have will help you show up higher in search results as well. According to LinkedIn, “The more connections you have, the more likely you will have a connection to the searcher” which helps you rank higher in their search. Personalize each connection request to remind people of how you know them or outline why you want to connect. LinkedIn is a fantastic tool so make sure you are taking advantage of it! Meet with your Co-op + Career Advisor to get help creating your profile or making connections.  They can also give you feedback once it is completed. See our LinkedIn Guide for more suggestions.