What skills do I need to make my experience shine? How can I better articulate my value to an organization leveraging the experience I have today?
These are just a few of the questions that SAP volunteers helped answer at a career development session with participants from the Stride Center, a non-profit organization that helps people gain the skills and experience for jobs in technology.
The participants came to the SAP Dublin campus with eyes and minds open to understand the skills they need to join a technology company. We conducted 1:1 mock interviews where SAP volunteers from many areas of the organization (HR, marketing, M&A, development, and sales) helped students articulate their elevator pitch, craft their resumes to highlight results over skills, and help them define their tremendous strengths.
While the goal of the day was to benefit the students, SAP volunteers also learned. We were reminded that we never know when conversations in our daily work-life could lead to new opportunities, and we should approach them with confidence and put our best selves forward. At an organization like SAP where change is continuous and there are many growth possibilities, it’s key to keep learning. Each day is a learning experience, and especially at an organization like SAP, where change is continuous, it’s key to continue to keep learning. In addition, we were reminded how important it is to brand ourselves well and articulate our strengths and successes in results based ways. For example, instead of saying in a resume that one “helps with a feasibility study”, it’s more important to state the results of the study. This can be done by highlighting how it led to the opening of a new manufacturing facility in China, monetary savings, etc. We also helped the students articulate the value they bring, which is always more than their current skills and knowledge. One of the participants described himself simply as an IT professional, but had done far more in helping three companies save money by consolidating IT systems.
We helped the participant understand and articulate his capability for problem solving and project management.
Helping others see their potential and reach their goals is tremendously satisfying. I too gained as much from the experience and was reminded of the importance to keep learning to be ready for the next exciting opportunity. The day was summed up nicely by Leyla Ghaffari, the Corporate Project Leader from HandsOn Bay Area "This event was a wonderful learning opportunity for the Stride students. They were able to receive invaluable feedback on their resumes and interviewing skills from SAP employees. It's wonderful to see SAP employees engage in these type of events and be a part of building a well-integrated community." Through this engagement, we were all able to learn how to shine in our careers, as both coaches and lifelong students.
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