A great big thank you to the Slippery Rock University students in the ASSP Student Chapter for the invitation to participate in their November monthly meeting with Pam Walaski and Aaron Cameron. It was great to meet so many students who are so enthusiastic about the safety profession.
As I was driving to the meeting I thought (it was a 5-hour drive, so I had plenty of time to think), what could I share with a group of college students that might help them prepare for a full-time job in the safety profession? That thought quickly became, what would I want to know if I was just entering the safety profession knowing what I know today? Here are the 3 things that I shared:
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Networking – The importance of a network in helping to find jobs, solve problems, etc. and more important, how to build one.
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Soft Skills – Technical skills are the price of entry into the profession. They establish our credibility. It’s the soft skills like presentation and speaking, influencing without authority, and relationship building that helps us succeed.
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Why we do what we do – Knowing why we do what we do leads to a fulfilling career. It’s what get’s us up in the morning (and maybe sometimes keeps us awake at night.)
Being involved in your ASSP local chapter accomplishes all three. There is no better place to network with other safety professionals than at a chapter meeting or regional professional development conference. You can sharpen your presentation skills by speaking at a meeting and you are sure to be surrounded by other extraordinary safety professionals who know why they do what they do.
I’m still working on #1 and #2.
Feel free to add to the list.