Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the ability to identify, articulate, and develop one's values, interests, skills, strengths, knowledge, and experiences relevant to personal growth and professional success.

Assessing Your Level of Competency

This is the time to really reflect on yourself and where you are at with this competency. Ask yourself the following questions to dive deep into your self-assessment:

Can I identify areas for continual growth, and pursue and apply feedback?
Do I seek and embrace development opportunities?
Can I professionally advocate for myself and others?
Do I consider other perspectives as related to my journey?
Can I answer interview questions such as "What is my biggest strength?"
Can I provide examples of experiences where my skills have been used successfully?
Can I introduce myself in ways that connect my interests with my career goals?
Do I seek the perspectives of people from different backgrounds when making decisions?
Do I have mentors who help guide various aspects of my life?
Do I reflect on different situations and how I handled them? Can I apply those lessons in future situations?

Examples:

I have completed assessments to identify my Values, Interests, Personality, and Skills (VIPS).
I reflect on my experiences to identify ways to improve in the future.
I am aware that the people around me influence my life's journey.
I analyze the actions of others to learn from their decision making process.
I have a mentor who can help me recognize my areas of strength and weakness.
I can articulate how my VIPS relate to various career paths of interest.
I seek opportunities to apply my skills and develop new ones.
I help others recognize their own areas of strength and weakness.
I incorporate various perspectives into my decision-making process.

Building Your Level of Competency

Build on your level of this competency through the following:

Take the Values, Interests, Personality, and Skills (VIPS) assessments found on the Major & Career Discernment website page.
Exploring the skills and development opportunities via the Center for Career Development's Career Path pages.
Perform online research into career paths through Center for Career Development resources like Vault, etc.
Conduct informational interviews to discover how VIPS are integrated in various career paths.
Speak with your RA and Rector for their analysis of your strengths and weaknesses.
Seek a mentor to help guide your professional development experiences.
Develop a professional introduction ("elevator pitch") that ties together your VIPS and experiences.
As a junior or senior, become a mentor for first year or sophomore students to help them build their self awareness.
Reflect on a recently successful project. What contributed to your success? What skills did you use? Did you enjoy this project? Could this project relate to potential career options down the road?

Communicating this Competency

There are many opportunities to communicate your self awareness skills to others; through your resume, cover letters, interviewing, 30-second professional introduction, networking, etc. Start with statements like the samples below to build upon:

During a conversation with a Mentor: I have not yet developed X skill. Can you help me develop it? Can you help me identify my other areas of strength/weakness?
During an informational interview: My summer internship led me to understand I want to seek opportunities to collaborate with a team in my next role. How are teams integrated into the work you do at XYZ company?
During a job interview: One area of growth is X, and I am currently doing A, B, and C to develop those skills.
During an interview or networking conversation if you switched majors: Why? How did you know? How did you incorporate your skills/interests into the decision process?

Career Ready Competency Tracking Tool

Download the Career Ready Competency Tracking Tool one time from the main Career Competencies webpage, and utilize one document to track the development of all your competencies.