Catherine's Reflection
Keywords:
During these past 2 months, what were your major duties and how did they relate to your academic studies?
In the past couple of months I have really taken on a lot of different HR tasks. My major duties were application screening, interviewing and providing opinions on final hiring decisions. Here I’ve really been able to use my knowledge on social psychology and the ability to understand people’s behaviours to my advantage. Understanding people’s body language allows me to evaluate peoples preparedness for a job opportunity and also show them more compassion, such as giving more time and reassurance when the candidate is nervous. Another major task was grant writing. During these two months I have collaborated on and written 10 grants. This is particularly important for psychology as I plan to pursue graduate studies in psychology. In my graduate studies I will need to write grants for my research, so having this experience in a wide range of grants has prepared me for my continuing education.
In May you were asked to envision how U+ would contribute to your growth. How has your time here contributed to your personal and professional development? Were there any unexpected challenges or benefits?
I think my time at U+ has made me more flexible in my personal life and in the professional sphere. Before working here, I was a very by the book person who likes rigid structure, however U+ has proven to be a fluid and flexible work environment. This has opened me to be more accepting of going with the flow. In my personal life, this new flexibility will allow me more freedom to try new things. Professionally, being flexible will allow me to adapt with the ever changing workforce and become a well-rounded employee. This is especially useful with my plan to enter the psychology field where every patient is different and should be treated as such.
Describe 2-3 projects from your co-op that you’re particularly proud of, and how they have helped you grow academically and/or professionally?
One project I’m proud of are these Uni Blogs. These blogs have been a great way for my fellow co-ops to reflect on their experiences thus far. Between the last co-ops and now, I have revamped the Uni blogs starting with the website. It has been fun redesigning the websites to be more vibrant and fun, featuring more photos that make the blogs more personalized. I have also introduced an employee of the month award into the blogs, which has really given the co-ops and opportunity to express their gratitude to people who have been especially helpful this month. This has really helped me reflect as well on my growth, allowing me to improve my performance at U+ each month. A second project is interviews. I have taken a lot of pride in my efficiency and trying to make my interviews welcoming so as to not invoke nervousness in candidates. Being on the other side of recruiting has helped me refine my own job search and interviewing skills, preparing me for my future.
Please nominate someone who deserves the employee of the month award and explain why briefly. You can nominate more than one person.
I would like to nominate Christina. Not only has she been an amazing friend, she worked extremely hard on the flyer distribution project. In this project the co-ops collectively handed out thousands of flyers and we improved camp registration. This would not have been possible without her.
I would also like to shout out Zhenyan, they have been a great support, offering to help anyone at any time, even when off work.
And finally I want to shout out Ina for offering to help anytime she has time.
Share photos of fond memories you made while at work.
