How to have fun with career development
“A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” – Mary Poppins
Are you feeling a bit stressed about your career? Play may be a good antidote to ward off the negative attributes of stress while helping you feel productive. Finding a job does not have to feel like a full-time job if you take advantage of these different activities and resources:
1. How a pile of LEGO can help you ideate about your career
Honoring MIT’s motto of mens et manus, sometimes you might need to bring your mind and hands together to tackle even your career problems. CAPD hosts events throughout the year bringing together LEGO® Serious Play® to help you with self-reflection, developing your strengths, and meeting goals.
2. Activities to help you find your purpose
If you are struggling to find direction or meaning, sometimes it helps to think about the big picture for your career. These activities are pulled from a variety of sources to help you identify areas that are important to you.
3. Three activities to start networking in a flash
Whether you are proficient in growing and developing your network or not, this collection of activities will help you develop your skillset around introducing yourself, finding connections, and making the most out of your network. For a primer on the essentials of networking, check out our resources on networking and informational interviews.
4. Have fun with major exploration
While these activities are designed with the undeclared undergraduate student in mind, anyone can take advantage of these activities to reflect on what they could do to connect their academic studies to potential career paths and goals. CAPD hosts a variety of resources to help with both choosing a major and career exploration.
5. Creating your five year plan
Even resume writing can be a little fun! The Five-Year resume by Laker and Laker (2007) is a wonderful way to ideate about your future career–think of it as crafting a vision board for your career. Take some time to think about what you want and then develop a SMART strategy for how you might achieve it.
CAPD’s career advisors are here to help–and can help add a little bit more fun to the mix. Meet with a career advisor to discuss some of your thoughts and get connected to additional resources.