With so many hours spent in the classroom and laboratory, graduate students are pressed to find time to build their soft skills and prepare for a first job. But finding time to develop soft skills and knowing how to market those skills are essential to launching a successful job search and career. Soft skills often involve developing leadership qualities, knowing how to communicate effectively, and working productively with a team,. These skills are important to highlight during the job application process.
Stacy Schnieber, head of Human Resources for Camargo Pharmaceutical Services recently emphasized this point during an AAPS webinar titled Resume Writing 101. The live webinar was available to all AAPS members on October 13, 2017. (The webinar is still available on-demand for AAPS members.) Schnieber noted that recruiters are looking for candidates who not only have technical skills but also work well with other people. When conducting a job search, these soft skills can often be shared effectively through a LinkedIn profile.
To assist students with building soft skills, AAPS periodically offers workshop and training opportunities specifically for student chapters. Recently, at the AAPS Annual Meeting, student chapter chairs attended a workshop titled Strengthen the Bonds: How to Improve Teamwork and Chapter Success led by Erica Forrest, a human resources professional.
Forrest guided the students through a series of exercises and discussions focused on making purposeful decisions as chapter leaders, identifying recruitment strategies to get quality not just quantity of members, retaining members and fostering engagement, and communicating effectively with chapter members. Workshop activities included students developing their chapter’s “elevator” speech as an effective marketing and communication tool, as well as learning how to conduct a chapter SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. All of these skills apply to not only student chapter growth but also career development. One of the benefits of joining an AAPS student chapter is that students can practice their soft skills in a neutral setting on campus before entering the workforce.
If you have any suggestions for workshops to assist chapters in building their professional development skills, please send Stacey May an email.