Introduction & Skill Matrix

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COMM 202
Career Fundamentals
T23 & T30
Lyndan Lam
Pick up your name tags at the
front and hand in your
assignment!
INTRODUCTION & SKILLS MATRIX

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WELCOME! A small admin task I need you to do 
www.tinyurl.com/202tinder
We need your emails to send you
reminders! Please go to this link
and fill out the information (60
seconds!)
Please bring your name cards to
tutorial, this is how I will be tracking
your attendance and participation!

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Today’s Agenda
1. Getting to know your TA
2. Course Expectations
3. Putting Together a Skills Matrix
4. Activity
5. Action Items

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1. Getting to know your
TA (me!)

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On the surface
Below the surface
1
2
1) Extracurricular
involvements
2) Professional work
experience
Who Am I?

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My Extracurricular Involvements
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Crack the Case
Competition
TELUS Case
Competition
BMMP
&
Co-op

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My Professional Experience
COMM 202
TA!!
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5

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On the surface
Below the surface
1
2
1) Personality type
2) Interests
3) Stories of failure
Who Am I?

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My Personality Type
Myers Briggs Personality Type
ISFJintroverted, sensing, feeling, and judging
• I get my energy from quiet time alone
• I prefer to make decisions based on facts
• My emotions play a large part in my decision
making process
• I like things to be organized and structured in a
logical way
Strengths Quest Assessment
Competition
Learner
Significance
Futuristic
Focus
• I am driven by competition
• I want to be acknowledged for my effort
• I am forward thinking
• I prefer order over chaos
• I like learning and always looking to improve

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A Few Of My Interests

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But if You Want to Talk About Sauder Stuff There’s this Too
Transferring into Sauder
Co-op Program
Brand Management Mentorship Program
Working in CPG
Getting Involved
Case competitions

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Times That I Have Failed…
When my team did not
place at JDC West last
year, I put all the blame on
myself because I felt that I
didn’t present my slides
very clearly
Was frazzled during my
BMMP interview and did not
get into the program when I
applied in second year

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… And How I Got Back Up On My Feet
When my team did not place at JDC West last
year, I put all the blame on myself because I
felt that I didn’t present my slides very clearly
Was frazzled during my BMMP interview and
did not get into the program when I applied in
second year
Learned that it is not about the
end result trophy, but more
about the journey and personal
growth
Landed an internship at a CPG
the following year through my
own hard work and relationship
building, without going through
BMMP

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2. Course Expectations

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Treat This Course Like….
…a safe place to practice

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It’s All About Professionalism
• Contributing and sparking in-class discussions
• Using proper in-class/email etiquette
• Being punctual and prepared for each class
• Not using technology during class
• NOT PLAGIARIZING
10%
of course mark

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But Stay True To Who You Are
In fact, you should!
It makes you more relatable and likeable
It helps you build trust and form relationships
You’ll be happier and most satisfied in your
professional pursuit

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Weekly Tutorial Assignments
Most tutorials, you will have to prepare one
assignment, such as…
• Strengths Quest reflection
• Skill Matrix Draft/Presentation
• LinkedIn Profile
• Job Posting Research
• Cover Letter & Resume draft
Each assignment is worth ~2% for a total of 10%
in the course
Assignments will be collected in the first 5 minutes of class or on
Turnitin (will be specified). All assignments handed in late will
receive a grade of zero!

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Try Your Best and Don’t Stress!
This class will feel like a lot,
but we will get through it
together

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3. Putting Together the Skills
Matrix

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What You Will Need To Do
For the Skills Matrix assignment, you will need to
produce two sets of deliverables:
1. 6 positive STAR stories
2. 2 failure stories
*Rubric can be found on the COMM 202 blog: Assignments > Skills Matrix > Marking Rubric (bottom of page)

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Why Is The Skills Matrix Important?
Skills Matrix
(positive STAR & failure stories)
Week 12: Employment Interview
Week 9: Cover Letter
Week 8: Resume
The Skills Matrix will
help you to clearly
articulate your
experiences and
strengths to employers
during the application
and interview process.
It will act as the
foundation for the rest of
your professional toolkit.
Professional
toolkit

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What Are Positive Star Stories?
A positive STAR story is a structured
example of a time when you exhibited a
personal strength or skill.

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Step #1: Translating Your Skills Into Strengths
1. Competition
2. Learner
3. Significance
4. Futuristic
5. Focus
Strengths Quest themes Skills
• Passion, determination, results-oriented
• Initiative, efficiency, challenger
• Leadership, teamwork, influence
• Visionary, adaptable
• Organized, work ethic, strategic thinking

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Step #2: Communicating Your Skills With “Star” Statements
Situation
• Context
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
Task
• The objective, issue
or obstacle you had
to over come.
• Why is this story
significant?
Action
• The “how”
• What did you
consider/ do to
overcome the
situation
• What skills were
applied
• Your vs. team
actions
Result
• What was the result
of your actions/
decisions?
• How are they
relevant to the
skill/job?
• Needs to be
employer centric
Link
• The Lesson
• How will I use this in
the future?
Skill demonstrated: Strategic Thinking
Fill out the 5 areas for each of your skills

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Step #2: Communicating Your Skills With “Star” Statements
Situation
• During my internship
at Smucker Foods of
Canada Co. I
developed a Power
SKU strategy for the
sales team
Task
• The sales team
needed a resource
that communicated
which SKUs they
should prioritize with
their customers based
on various internal and
external performance
Action
• Using Nielsen Market
Track, I pulled POS
data of over 50 SKUs,
using metrics such as
tonnage, velocity, and
distribution
• I worked closely with
key stakeholders to
Result
• To this day, the sales
and trade marketing
team uses the Power
SKU ranking to drive
their customer
strategies.
Link
• I am able to see the
big picture of a project
and am able to identify
how each piece has
an overall impact in
business performance.
Skill demonstrated: Strategic Thinking
Fill out the 5 areas for each of your skills

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What Is A Failure Story?
An example of a time when something went
wrong and the lessons you learned and steps
you took to correct the issue.
Believe it or not, these type of questions are
very likely to come up in interviews!

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How To Create A Failure Story
Situation
• Context
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
Misstep
• What did I do
wrong?
• How am I
accountable for
the mistakes
made?
Failure
• What
happened as a
result of my
actions?
Lesson
• What did I learn
through this
failure?
Action Steps
• How did I
overcome OR
what will I do
now?

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How To Create A Failure Story
Situation
• I was part of the
Not-for-Profit team
of JDC West last
year
• Competing against
12 other schools,
teams aimed to
place on the
podium to
ultimately win
School of the Year
Misstep
• I was so focused
on winning that I
went into it feeling
that I was above
the other teams
given my training
• I ended up over-
complicating the
recommendation
which made my
presentation
confusing
Failure
• My team didn’t
place (Top 3) in the
end
• Right away
discounted all of
the training and
learning I had put
in the past 5
months
Lesson
• Though having a
trophy is good, it is
more a bonus
• I should change
my mindset to
think about how
much I have grown
through this
experience and
how the way I go
about treating
things affects my
team
Action Steps
• This year I am
doing JDC West
again, on team
marketing
• Regardless of
whether or not we
make Top 3, I will
make sure that I
don’t lose sight of
the value and
learning I’ve gotten
out of the program
and how far my
team has come

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A Good Failure Story Will Demonstrate…
Resilience
Authenticity
Ability to Learn

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Need Help? Find me (and the other TAs) at Office Hours
Office Hours for the Skills Matrix Assignment
1. Tuesday, Jan 23rd
12:30 – 2pm
2. Thursday, Jan 25th
12:30 – 2
3. Tuesday, Jan 30th
4 - 5:30pm
***Locations have not been confirmed, but will be
somewhere in Henry Angus

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4. Activity Time!

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In Your Notebook Answer the Following
1. What is a career path that you have always wanted to pursue, but feel intimidated or discouraged from
actually pursuing it?
In other words – if money wasn’t an issue, what would you be doing?
2. What does success mean to you?
3. I want you to visualize a typical work day that is 5 years from now. Describe your surroundings, who
you’re talking to, and what kind of state are you in? Do not write your job title or the company name.
Keep this piece of paper and we
will revisit it in our last tutorial

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5. Action Items

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Action Items For Next Week
1. One on one signups (optional) with me for
next week: www.tinyurl.com/202dates
2. Skills Matrix drafts due in tutorial on the week
of Jan 22nd at the start of class: 2 positive and 1
failure stories (you will be presenting this in
small groups)
3. Final Skills Matrix Copy due before 11:59PM
on January 31st on Turnitin: 6 positive and 2
failure stories
4. Pay course fee @ HA 443
5. Book your BCC coaching appointment!

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How to Get in Touch with Me
Email: comm202.6@sauder.ubc.ca
1-on-1: sign ups available here for timeslots next week
(www.tinyurl.com/202dates)
Tutorials: feel free to approach me before or after
Office hours: available throughout the term as
assignments come up
Call me
maybe?

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Thanks &
see you next week
(at lecture)