Dear Women’s Center Community -

Despite the necessary call for physical distancing and our new reality of distance learning, community building, care, and support remain central to the Women’s Center’s mission. We know that, even through physical/social distancing, our students, faculty, and staff may need support and community--and the Women's Center hopes to continue doing what we do best during this time to strengthen our community!

We’re looking for your feedback to help us re-envision what the remainder of the semester can look like to include what you want and need from the Women’s Center. Please take a few minutes to answer the following questions. Your feedback will assist us in how to tailor our services to best meet your needs. 

Please respond using our Google Form: https://forms.gle/8MnHQszywvuz3Q8s7  by the end of this week, Friday, April 3rd

For additional questions and/or to set up a 1-1 virtual support meeting with a professional staff member, please email us at womenscenter@umbc.edu. Fore more information about our current services during this time of distance learning, please visit: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/posts/91324.

Thank you and be well! 

Women’s Center Staff

Graduation for many students is just around the corner. We’re in the second half of the semester and it’s the home stretch. For many of you, the job search has begun. So now, it’s time to polish up that resume and start applying to jobs. But what if you don’t have a whole lot of experience in your field of interest? That’s not uncommon for an undergraduate student looking for their first job out of college. So how do you pitch yourself as the ideal candidate for a job without the relevant experience? You focus on your Transferable Skills.

Transferable Skills are the skills you’ve learned throughout your life in different areas that apply to any job you’re applying for. Skills like adaptability, communication, and teamwork are all great to have not only on your resume, but to emphasize in a cover letter or interview. As long as you can back up your claim with a story or instance where you used that skill, you can 

use it. While the semester and your schoolwork have gotten more complicated thanks to Covid-19, you’re also learning critical skills in digital technology, communication, and adaptability. Learning to articulate your transferable skills will give you a leg up in the job search.

The top Transferable Skills employers look for according to NACE are:

1. Critical Thinking/Problem-Solving

Think about a time where you were faced with a problem that needed to be solved. How did you go about it? For example, did you have to change your spring break plans at the last minute because of Covid-19? How did you solve that problem?

1. Oral/Written Communication Skills

Your resume and cover letters are an example of your written communication skills, and your interview is a good representation of your oral communication skills. Another question employers might ask would include public speaking. Have you ever done a presentation in front of a class or for your work?

1. Teamwork/Collaboration

Think about a time you had to work on a team. How did you handle the situation? Were there conflicts you needed to solve?

1. Digital Technology

Think about what computer skills you have, are they what the employers are looking for? Can you think of a time where you had to learn a new software or application on the job or for a class? For example, did you have to quickly learn how to use Webex for a class because of the pandemic?

1. Leadership

Think about a time you expressed leadership qualities, what did you do and how?

1. Professionalism/Work Ethic

Has there ever been a time where you needed to work with an angry customer or solve a workplace dispute? Or did you need to switch quickly from in-person work to remote work for your job? How did you hold yourself accountable at home?

1. Career Management

Do you have the skills necessary to build and manage your career on your own? Do you have goals and a strategy to achieve those goals?

1. Global/Intercultural Fluency

Talk about a time you worked with someone from a different culture or background as you. Was there a conflict to resolve professionally?

These are skills that you can learn through your classes, at an internship, or through any job you may have held, and many of these skills will come in handy for your classes and jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic. You don’t have to have learned or used these skills in a completely relevant job or internship to your field of interest, these skills are life skills. Of course, if you need any help articulating these skills, the Career Center is here to help!

Campus Life’s Mosaic, Interfaith and Pride Centers Community Members,

This is our third post in our COVID-19 related updates. To check out the content of our first two posts, please click here. This post covers Campus Life resources and how to stay connected to us through our virtual platforms. We encourage you to read this and previous COVID-19 posts in their entirety to answer any frequently asked questions.

Resources

Campus Life Student Diversity and Inclusion Area updates:

Retriever Essentials: Due to our physical spaces being closed, the Mosaic is not currently serving as a Distribution Center for Retriever Essentials. We encourage you to visit the Retriever Essentials myUMBC group page for updates or contact the UMBC Police (410) 455-5555.

Social Media: Brand new!Our area now has an Instagram Account! Be sure to follow us at @umbc_clmosaicinterfaithpride (no posts have been made live yet) for our regular posts starting Wednesday, April 1st!

As our following base grows, we will provide opportunities for UMBC community members to promote their diversity, equity, and inclusion based events, initiatives, and/or resources. Please contact Heidy George, Program Associate for Student Diversity and Inclusion if you have any questions related to our social media accounts.

We also encourage you to use the #UMBCtogether to stay connected with the wider UMBC community!

Other Campus Life Resources and contact information

In the meantime, we also encourage you to “like,”  “follow,” and/or “favorite” other Campus Life related pages below:

• Campus Life

• myUMBC | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Website | campuslife@umbc.edu

• Commonvision 

• myUMBC | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Website | commonvision@umbc.edu

• Events Conference Services and Operations

•  myUMBC | schedule@umbc.edu

• Student Government Association (SGA) 

• myUMBC | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | sga@umbc.edu

• Students Events Board (seb) 

• myUMBC | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | seb@umbc.edu

• For other questions related to Greek Life, Leadership, and Student Organizations, please contact Jen Dress, Associate Director for Engagement at dress@umbc.edu.

• For other Campus resources, please stay tuned to updates in our COVID-19 resources and updates document. 

Community Resources

• For access to health and human services information, visit 2-1-1 Maryland or dial 2-1-1.

• If you would like to include any further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-based resources for students from your department and/or office, please fill out our Campus Life’s Student Diversity and Inclusion Resource Submission Google Form. 

• If you would like to submit any UMBC resource to the wider UMBC community, please email the Community Resilience Workgroup at reachtogether@umbc.edu.

-Campus Life's Student Diversity and Inclusion staff