Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!


Home-Grown Spotlight: Katie Spencer

Career Guru Advice of the Day #1:
“Do something you enjoy. Feel good about it and don’t take it with you when you leave at the end of the work day.”—Katie Spencer, Training Analyst, Geisel Library

Katie Spencer is a leader in planning and implementing training and development programs in support of UC San Diego Libraries’
strategic organizational goals. She has over 6.5 years of experience in the training and development career field, and accepted her most recent position at the Libraries in May 2006.

As the Training Analyst, Katie has been designing customized staff education and professional development workshops including new employee orientations, health and safety training, supervisory training, and technical training. She is a critical part of the human resources team at
Geisel Library, anticipating training needs, creating curriculum, and providing instruction.

Taking advantage of the vast resources available at UC San Diego, Katie has also partnered with other campus departments to meet the needs of the Libraries’ large group of staff, working with Career Connection, Staff Education and Development, Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor, Police Department, and Environment, Health, and Safety among others.

The road that Katie has taken to her current position has consistently been filled with teaching, learning, and exploration. Her first job in the field was as a fourth grade teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and she went on to work in the private sector developing curriculum for a financial investment firm. Katie took a break from the hizzy tizzy working world to explore the sights and sounds across the Pacific and, luckily for us, she landed at UC San Diego.

For more information about Katie, ask her questions at the November 19th Career Information Panel.

In the meantime, here are some more fun facts:
#1 When asked how she was qualified for her first UC San Diego job, Katie replied that she got training through work experience and then applied, that she had transferable skills, and that she got lucky—and so did UC San Diego!
#2 Katie was the
2007 Winner of Staff American Idol for her performance of Aretha Franklin’s “Think”
#3 No Surprise! If Katie could experiment or moonlight in any other non UC San Diego job, she would definitely choose to be a musician.
#4 Katie is the youngest of four kids, comprised of two boys and two girls
#5 That last book Katie read:
The Girls by Lori Lansens
#6 Birthday: July 29th

Friday, October 24, 2008

And then there were 5...

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you for completing the Survey Monkey about the MBTI Debriefing led by John Gates.

There's just a handful of five folks who haven't yet responded, and I'd like to give you a friendly nudgeroo.

*nudgeroo* *nudgeroo*

Also, for your convenience, the link to the survey is: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oz3H3hY1rMIxpQKhyl6d_2fg_3d_3d

We're ahead of the curve

Talk about UCSD being forerunners and on the cutting edge?

While you were in debriefing last week with John Gates for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the anchors of Good Morning America took their own personality inventories to find possible career matches...

From the ABC website:
"The 'GMA' anchors took the Self-Directed Search test, which matches personality with possible careers. The results so far have been surprising.
Sam Champion a judge? Chris Cuomo a hair stylist? Robin Roberts a lyricist?..."

Go figure!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Monkey What?

We've adopted Survey Monkey!
Wait--not this monkey:
Yes! this monkey:


Why?

Because we care about designing a program that meets your needs and expectations!

So what?

Be on the lookout for a survey about our MBTI Debriefing early next week!

*Rah* *Rah* John Gates *Rah* *Rah*

Thank you, John Gates!
As the first official guest presenter of UExplore, we appreciate your knowledge and instruction! Thank you for energizing us!

A Collaborative Effort

"MBTI is one of the frameworks every professional should be exposed to," John stated to the groups of participants, "It's powerful."

Knowing thyself was a key objective of the MBTI Debriefing led by
Staff Education and Development Principal Consultant John Gates, as were:
* building on our understanding of MBTI
* gaining clarity of personal perferences
* putting initial thought into "type and career"

Over the course of the 3.5 hours to follow, our group of
25 UExplore participants learned about the foundations of MBTI and participated in small and large group exercises to digest the nuances of "type and the individual," "type in the group," taking "type to career," and "type and the hierarchy of function."
Kimberly Bondad, Christina Knerr, Kesha Miller, and Michelle Viernes had a few laughs in coming up with descriptions that would illustrate the lighter side of their personalities. In this case, a picture is probably worth a thousand words.
Meanwhile, (l-r) Cheryl Wills, Jane Peterson, Crystal Warning, Sheila Manalo, Rick Baran, and Taylor Haglund get down to business in brainstorming what types of careers would be appealing for their personality type. Analytical-type jobs seemed to be an immediate hit with this group of thinkers.
This group skipped over the first two questions and went on to attack the third: "What are some careers that you feel drawn to (or at least intrigued by)?" Scott Paulson (center) dived right in, along with his teammates Cindy Hsu, Josie Alaoen, and Tehseen Lazzouni. They came to a consensus that student services and event planning would take good advantage of their personality types.
(l-r) Maissha Stewart, Macy Huynh, Jill Hartmann, and Alexis O'Banion tackled the same set of questions, and the sky was the limit for jobs that could take advantage of the imagination, resourcefulness, open-mindedness, and adeptness at verbal planning and short-range projects.

It was a day of collaboration and of nuggets learned. For one participant, she vocalized that reading the evaluation of her personality type helped her gain clarity about her preferences. For another, she saw that even though she has clear preference for keeping deadlines open and flexible, she had an enviable and highly-admired skill for making deadlines and being prompt.

Go figure!

Another nugget: We are working together here as part of a collaborative effort. UExplore will supply the expertise, and you, as the participants, supply the essential information about yourself. Together, we'll be successful in finding the best possible career match for you.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Customized MBTI Debriefing for UExplore Participants

Thanks to everyone for registering!

Only a handful of UExplore Pariticipants haven't yet registered for next Wednesday's debriefing.

Please sign up for this customized class via this link:
https://enrollmentcentral.ucsd.edu/sed_course.cfm?e&cdcrs=TRNUXPLORE

Cheers,
Linda & Wes

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

UExplore T-Shirts

Compliments of Alexis O'Banion's talents, we've come up with this design for the UExplore t-shirts. More information to come soon...







Monday, October 6, 2008

October 15th MBTI "Mmmmmm"

Who doesn't love a snack, right?

For next Wednesday's MBTI Debriefings, Wes put in the order for our light breakfast and afternoon snacks! It sounds mighty "mmmmm".

He recommended the French Country Breakfast from UCSD catering for the morning, and he selected the Half Cheese and Fruit Tray for the afternoon. We ordered a little over the minimum, figuring that many of you would've already had breakfast in the AM and just needed a bit of a pick-me-up for the afternoon. Who doesn't love a snack right?

Remember that UExplore participants are meeting in the mornin' and the UExplore panelists and guest speakers are comin' in the the afternoon. The meetings are in the Geisel Library, Seuss Room.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Be the first to know!

Want to be automatically notified each time there's a new post to the blog?


Email umailto:uexplore@ucsd.edu, and we'll ...



"Make It So!"

SCOOP! Career Connection unveils new staff enrichment programs!

Wow! Career Connection--creating opportunities, and it rocks!

Two new staff enrichment programs will be coming to UC San Diego within the next 4 months. Director of
Staff Education and Development Grace Balch had the honor of announcing the exciting news At Career Connection's 12th Annual Recognition Event on September 30th.

On schedule for a November 2008 rollout is the Mid-Level Professional Career Development Workshop Series.

Just around the corner--in January 2008--Career Connection will be opening the door to a special Career Development Series for Baby Boomers too!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Seuss Room Location

The Seuss Room is the go-to meeting place for most of our monthly sessions.

The red arrow is right where you can find us every third Wednesday of the month (except November and March)

See y'all here on October 15th for the MBTI Debriefing!
8:30-12:00 Participants
1:00-4:30 Panelists and Facilitators

Customized MBTI Debriefing for Panelists and Facilitators

Dear UExplore Guest Speakers,

A special class, MBTI Program for UExplore Panelists and Facilitators, has been created for UExplore’s volunteer guest speakers.

Please click on the link below to enroll in the class.
https://enrollmentcentral.ucsd.edu/sed_course.cfm?&cdcrs=XMBTIPFCL

At the class, you’ll also get a copy of
Do What You Are. If you can’t wait you can pick it up anytime.

Enroll in the class if:
1) You took the MBTI on September 18th and would like your results
OR
2) You did not take the MBTI on September 18th, but you are curious to:
*Get an overview of how various personality types are drawn to, satisfied by, or excel in certain career fields;
* Learn about the composition of personalities of the UExplore participants;
* Use the language of MBTI principles and theory in your career panel discussions and career track overview presentations

The class will be held on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 from 1:00pm – 4:30pm, in the Geisel Library, Seuss Room.


If you are unable to enroll via Enrollment Central, please attend the class, add your information to the sign-in sheet, and complete an Application for Enrollment Form which will be available from the instructor.

Thank you,
Linda