Samyta Rai introduces herself as the TA for Career Fundamentals COMM 202. She discusses her background and personality type. The course expectations emphasize professionalism and treating it like a rehearsal. Students will complete weekly tutorial assignments worth 10% total. The major skills matrix assignment involves writing 6 positive stories using the STAR method and 2 failure stories, which is due in two parts on October 5th and 13th. Samyta reviews how to structure the positive and failure stories. She concludes by providing contact information and thanking the class.

1. COMM 202:
Career Fundamentals
T05 & T15 with Samyta Rai

2. Today’s Agenda:
1. Get to know your TA
2. Course Expectations
3. Putting together a skills matrix

3. Getting to know your
TA
Hi, I’m Samyta!
1

4. Soooo who
really am I? 1
2
Above Surface
Below Surface

5. Soooo who
really am I? 1
2
Above Surface
Below Surface
1) Professional
Experiences
2) Extracurricular
Involvements

6. Professional
Experiences &
Extracurricular
Activities
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
COMM 202 SAC
Leading with Confidence Program
COMM 202 TA
CPA Recrutit

7. Soooo who
really am I? 1
2
Above Surface
Below Surface
1) Personality Type
2) Interests
3) Stories of Failure

8. Personality
Type and
Strengths
Description
Myers Briggs Personality Type
ESFJ
..which stands for, extraversion,
sensing, feeling, and judgement
Whatthislookslike
• I’m usually quite loud and
expressive
• I focus on details rather than
the ”big picture”
• 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 Personality Type
1. Achiever
2. Responsibility
3. Relator
4. Competition
5. Communication
• I am driven and productive
• I enjoy close relationships with
others
• I take ownership in everything I
commit to
• I enjoy friendly competitions
• I find it easy to put my thoughts
into words

9. Interests

12. Times that I
have failed…
▹ In my first year, I almost switched
faculties and did not think Sauder was
for me…
▹ I completed the entire COMM 101
group project and almost nearly
failed…

13. … and how I
got back up
on my feet
afterwards ▹ In my first year, I almost switched
faculties and did not think Sauder was
for me…
▹ I completed the entire COMM 101
group project by myself and almost
nearly failed…
▹ I pushed myself and got involved in
clubs, which made me resilient
▹ Although my group was not willing to
help, I took this group project as a
learning opportunity and started to
speak up for myself. The following
semester, I had a group project and we
got 95% just because we
communicated well.

14. “
Success is most often achieved by those who
don’t know that failure is inevitable.
- Coco Chanel

15. Course Expectations
2

16. Treat this course like a rehearsal – a safe place to practice!

17. What it looks like in class…
▹ 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 PLAGARIZING
It’s all about
professionalism!
and how it impacts your final grade…
5% of your course mark

18. BUT that
doesn’t mean
you can’t be
yourself!
In fact, you should!
Ø It makes you more relatable and likeable
Ø It helps you build trust and form relationships
Ø You’ll be happier and most satisfied in your professional pursuit

19. 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!

20. Skills Matrix
3

21. 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)
/30

22. Why is the Skills Matrix important?
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 (positive STAR & failure stories)
Week 6 – 8: Cover Letter
Week 6 – 8: Resume
Week 10 – 12: Interview
Professional
toolkit

23. What are positive STAR stories?
A positive STAR story is a structured
example of a time when you
exhibited a personal strength or skill.

24. Step #1: Translating your skills into strengths
Strengths Quest themes
1. Achiever
2. Responsibility
3. Relator
4. Competition
5. Communication
Skills
1. Passionate, determined, driven
2. Dependable, reliable, commitment
3. Empathy, trustworthy, teamwork
4. Determined, work ethic, motivated
5. Inspire, listener

25. Step #2: Communicating your skills with “STAR” statements
Skill demonstrated: Initiative
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?
Fill out the 5 areas for each of your skills

26. Step #2: Communicating your skills with “STAR” statements
Skill demonstrated: Initiative
Situation
•During my
internship at
McKinsey this past
summer, I
participating on a
recruitment planning
call.
Task
•During this call, the
team was
brainstorming more
engaging ways to
market McKinsey’s
internship program.
Action
•I saw an opportunity
to contribute and
suggested creating
a marketing video
•After the meeting, I
created a workplan
detailing the
timeline, steps, and
resources required
•I presented the plan
and outlined the
benefits to the
Recruitment
Manager and got his
buy-in and
proceeded in
creating the video
Result
•After creating the
video, I received
praise from both the
Recruitment
Manager and the
Managing Partner of
the office for taking
initiative and
ownership over the
project, even as an
intern
Link
•I am a highly
proactive individual
and will be
constantly searching
and pursing for
opportunities to
create an impact in
all of the work that I
do.
Fill out the 5 areas for each of your skills

27. What is a
failure story? A failure story is an example of a time when
something went wrong and the lessons you
learned and steps you took to correct the
issue.
These types of questions are very likely to
come up in interviews – and ones that you
definitely need to prepare ahead of time for!

28. 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?

29. How to create a failure story
Situation
• Entered the
National
Consulting Case
Competition with a
team 3 others
• This was the first
case competition
for most of us
Misstep
• Before presenting,
I started to psych
myself out and
loss confidence in
myself, became
very nervous.
• During the
presentation, I
forgot what I was
going to say
Failure
• As a result, our
presentation did
not have a
cohesive story
line and we did
not make it into
the finals
Lesson
• I learned two
things: 1) believe
in yourself is
extremely
important, and 2)
we are all human
and it’s OK to
mess up
Action Steps
• I was resilient and
didn’t let this
experience deter
me from entering
into other case
competitions
• I practiced with
other smaller-
scaled
competitions and
re-entered the
following year

30. What a good failure story will demonstrate:
AuthenticityResilience Ability to learn
ü ü ü

31. Action items for next week:
1. One on one signups (optional) with me
for next week
2. Skills Matrix drafts due on October 5th
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

32. 1. Email: comm202.7@sauder.ubc.ca
2. One on ones: Sign up available here for timeslots next
week
3. Tutorials: Approach me before or after tutorial
4. Office hours: Available throughout the term as
assignments come up (stay tuned)
How to get in touch with me:

33. Thanks!
Any questions?
Have a great day!