Perspective is everything when you are experiencing the challenges of life. -Joni Eareckson Tada
There are few places in the world like New York City during the holiday season. The City generates an emotion that I can only describe as magical. This year, I made my way to Midtown to experience the full effect of the buzz. There were people everywhere and from everywhere. The weather was brick but it definitely did not deter the crowds from taking in the experience. Living in a tourist area makes it easy to become numb to all the landmarks, shows, and sporting events. I have often described the City as ‘a backdrop of 8 million people to my daily life’ when asked about living here. However, this experience was different. I chose to experience the City as a tourist – and it was fantastic!
As many of you know, I am a strong advocate for PENCIL, Inc. and the work the organization accomplishes. As a Board member, I have been grateful for the opportunity that it has provided me to share the lessons I have learned through my career journey. Pencil connects businesses with educators to:
- Enhance the student experience by helping them develop the skills essential for their growth and success,
- Connect students to opportunities and experiences they didn’t know existed, and
- Connect students to professionals they would not meet otherwise
The opportunity to engage in real and candid discussions with students through a curriculum designed to provide them with skills they will use throughout their careers is my purpose for partnering with this great organization.
Over the last 2.5 years, I have visited many schools including Hudson High School, Manhattan; George Westinghouse High School, Brooklyn; and Information Technology High School in Long Island City. During the 2024 holiday season, I donated my time to the Martin Van Buren High School in Queens along with other volunteers, facilitating two separate sessions on Resume Writing and Interviewing to a classroom of Sophomores.
Back to Basics – Resume Writing
I don’t quite remember when I learned to write a resume, but I do know that it wasn’t in high school. I remember walking into a Barnes and Noble bookstore and looking at the resume books. Each book had a wide array of resume styles by industry and there was little to no guidance on which one was ‘right’ for me. I learned by trial and error. Can you relate?
At the schools, we also shared our experiences in preparing for interviews for our first roles BLI (Before LinkedIn) or Google existed. I wonder, how did our generation ‘wing it’ for so long? To this day, I still don’t know exactly what I did right to get my first job.
Students today must interview for so many things. High school programs, special interest groups, job opportunities, college/university prep programs. The list is enormous, and so is the pressure, I’m sure.
As I walked through the different sections of a high school resumes and helped the students with identifying achievements and drafting meaningful bullets for their achievements, it was pretty cool to see how their confidence grew once they saw their accomplishments displayed this way. They started to demonstrate stronger interviewing skills and they were able to clearly articulate their skills and achievements.
Confidence builds character.
Seeing the students transform their views reminded me of my own change of perspective walking in NYC during the holidays. Since this time, some students have emailed me their resumes for review. I can only hope that the students learned as much from me as I did from them on these days. Up next in my Pencil journey is Mock Interviewing and Career Day. I am looking forward to learning more about this generation of students while returning my focus to the workforce and resuming my executive presence within the cybersecurity space.
0 Comments