StAMP - Professional Development | California State University, Northridge

We want you to enjoy your work experience and to use this time to grow both personally and professionally. Begin to build the foundation of the future employee, supervisor, or CEO you will become.

We strongly encourage the utilization of the plethora of resources available to you on campus. Whether for research, career, counseling services and so forth, each of these campus and online resources are there to aide in your development, allowing you to get the most out of your experience at CSUN. Researching, learning, and innovating are a few of the skills that are essential to learning the discovery of your work style for future professions that seek the ability to conduct various manners of these talents.

In the following section, you will also be given various tips and suggestions that will allow you to strengthen the content on your resume and understand and think about how to maintain a strong log of your work.

Developing Your Skills: Oviatt Library

READ
People who read more are more likely to be better writers.

RESEARCH
In a growing information world, the library is a great place to start learning about information sources, research, and become an expert on a particular subject.

LEARN
With study rooms, collaborative spaces, and even quiet spaces the library provides a space for you to excel.

INVESTIGATE
The library holds over 1 million books. 53,000 online journals, over 12,700 film and video recordings, laptops and tablets to check out, computer workstations and research consultations with professional librarians to help you with your papers.

INNOVATE
Creative Media Commons will provide students with access to specialized hardware and software that aid in creation of videos, digital recordings, and other multimedia projects.

For more information visit http://library.csun.edu

Developing Your Skills: Lynda.com

As a student, you have access to a collection of numerous video-based tutorials on a variety of topics and software. You can access these training videos from your tablet, smartphone, or desktop.

MOST POPULAR VIDEOS FOR STUDENTS

HTML Essential Training
Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access and Publisher)
AutoCAD Essentials, Adobe (Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
PHP with MySQL Essential Training
Windows 8
iPad Tips and Tricks

Start developing new skills today! http://www.csun.edu/it/lynda

Developing Your Skills: The Career Center

The Career Center offers a wide variety of resources for both undergraduates and graduate students at CSUN. Your student assistant position is a great start and the Career Center on campus can provide guidance.

DISCOVER YOURSELF

Identify your skills, values, and career options
Learn about your working style
Find direction and a sense of purpose
Make decisions

DISCOVER OPTIONS

Research majors and careers
Investigate career trends, industries, and employers
Clarify your career and educational goals

CAREER PREPARATION

Access resources for writing a resume and get it critiqued
Do an internship
Build skills employers want
Learn to interview successfully
Search for job opportunities
Meet employers – get hired
http://www.csun.edu/career | 413 Bayramian Hall

Developing Your Skills: University Counseling Center

University Counseling Services (UCS) wants you to fulfill your personal and professional dreams and get the most out of your experience at CSUN. UCS has a remarkable team of professionals who promise ethical, respectful, and professional care.

SUCCEED IN COLLEGE
Counseling can help you set goals for college and your future career. It can also help you understand your strengths and areas of growth as a student, how stress and emotional difficulties may interfere with your ability to focus on your studies, and how to develop better ways of coping.
In addition, UCS can help you:

Discover personal strengths
Progress toward when you feel stuck
Figure out problems
Develop a more positive, hopeful outlook
Learn more about habits that lead to problems
Regain a sense of control and pleasure in life

http://www.csun.edu/counseling

If you need emergency assistance for a life-threatening situation, dial 911 or the campus police at (818) 677-2111.

Resume Log

It is never too early to begin to build a resume. Keep track of the work you do as a student assistant at CSUN. Use a similar worksheet to the one below to keep track of projects by date, name, your role, and even the number of people that benefited from your work.

Instead of using phrases such as the following in your resume:

Helped plan a retreat
Shelved books

Try detailing/expanding your duties to highlight the work you have done, as such:

Assisted the Director of Student Affairs with an annual retreat for student clubs. Responsible for keeping track of reservations, ordering food, and organizing materials to be distributed to over 200 attendees.
Participated in larger library reorganization project during the summer. Responsible for moving 1,000 books to make room for renovation.

A running worksheet can capture details that will help you appropriately build your resume.

Brainstorming

In the space below, write down all areas that you could improve in your professional life. While reviewing this, make use of the questions below to help you:

1. What skills do you want to learn?

2. What character traits do you want to develop?

3. Which contacts could you approach for a recommendation?
How could you improve or initiate new professional relationships?

4. Imagine yourself five years after graduation, what do you want to be doing (graduate school, travel, working, etc.)?

After writing all goals, share with your mentor/supervisor to see how they can help you develop your plan for the future.

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