COMM 202 Tutorial 1

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COMM 202
Career Fundamentals
T02, T07, & T17
Lyndan Lam
Pick up your name tags at
the front and hand in your
assignment!

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WELCOME!
Please fill out this quick form
tinyurl.com/202tinder

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TODAY’S AGENDA
1. Getting to know your TA
2. Course Expectations
3. Putting Together a Skills Matrix

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1. Getting to know your TA

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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

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MY PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
BMMP
&
Co-op
COMM 202
TA!!

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

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WHO AM I?
Personality Type My Interests
Times that I’ve
Failed

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MY PERSONALITY TYPE
Myers Briggs Personality Type
ISFJ
..which stands for, introverted,
sensing, feeling, and judging
• I get my energy from quiet time alone instead of from large groups
• I prefer to make decisions based on facts instead of instincts
• My emotions play a large part in my decision making process
• I like things to be organized and structured in a logical way

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MY PERSONALITY TYPE
Strengths Quest Personality Type
• I am driven by competition
• I want to be acknowledged for my effort
• I think ahead and am inspired by the future
• I prefer order over chaos
Competition Learner Significance
Futuristic Focus
• I like learning and always looking to
improve
• I think ahead and am inspired by the
future

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A FEW OF MY INTERESTS

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OTHER THINGS WE CAN TALK ABOUT
Disney
Food (especially sushi & poutine)
Greek Mythology
The Flash
The Bachelor Franchise
Riverdale / Archie Comics
Swimming
Board Games
Jackbox.tv Games
Transferring into Sauder
Co-op Program
Brand Management Mentorship
Program

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TIMES THAT I HAVE FAILED..
I got rejected from
Sauder in grade 12
Was frazzled during
my BMMP interview
and did not get into
the program

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… AND HOW I GOT BACK UP ON MY FEET
I got rejected from Sauder in grade 12 Was frazzled my BMMP interview and
did not get into the program
BMMP

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2. Course Expectations

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TREAT THIS COURSE LIKE A….
…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
5%
of course mark

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BUT STAY TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE

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WEEKLY TUTORIAL ASSIGNMENTS
Most tutorials, you will have
to prepare one assignment,
such as…
• BCC coaching
appointment
• LinkedIn Profile
• Job Posting Research
• Cover Letter draft
• Interview Stream
Each assignment is worth
~2% for a total of 10% in
the course
Assignments will be collected in the first 5 minutes of class. All
assignments handed in late will receive a grade of zero!

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3. Putting Together a 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?
Cover
Letter Resume
Interview
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.
Skills Matrix

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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
metrics.
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
develop a plan
that would align
with the price and
promotion
strategy
• I presented my
recommendations
to a sales and
trade marketing
team of around
30 people.
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
• Wanted to
pursue a
career in brand
management
• Saw BMMP as
a way to open
the door for me
Misstep
• Leading up to
the interview, I
got into my
head and
started
overthinking,
thus becoming
very nervous.
• During my
interview, I was
not concise
and rambled
on for too long,
losing the
interviewer’s
interest
Failure
• As a result, I
was not
accepted into
the program
• Lost
confidence in
myself and
doubted that I
would be able
to land an
internship at a
CPG
Lesson
• I learned three
things: First I
have to always
believe in
myself, Second
a rejection
does not define
me, and lastly,
the obvious
answer isn’t
the only
answer
Action Steps
• I pushed
myself forward
and applied to
attend a
prestigious
marketing
conference at
Queens
• Met a recruiter
at Smucker’s
and landed my
internship
• Applied to
BMMP again
the following
year and was
accepted

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A GOOD FAILURE STORY WILL DEMONSTRATE…
Resilience
Authenticity
Ability to Learn

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ACTION ITEMS FOR NEXT WEEK
1. One on one signups
(optional) with me for next
week: tinyurl.com/202dates
2. Skills Matrix drafts due week
of October 2nd (your tutorial
time) at the start of class: 2
positive and 1 failure stories
3. Final Skills Matrix due
October 13th on TurnitIn: 6
positive and 2 failure stories

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CONTACT ME!
Questions for TA
comm202.6@sauder.ubc.ca
General Questions
comm202@sauder.ubc.ca
Office Hours
Sign up on COOL
QUESTIONS?
Call me
maybe?

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THANK YOU &
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!
(at lecture)