Career Choice & Change: Job Hunting, Internship Seeking & Discovering Your Career Path: Career Readiness Passport Activities

Do you want to hone your existing skills and knowledge? Learn a new ones? This section is for you.

Doing so can make you more marketable in the workplace and prepares you to contribute to your organization. Not to mention building your confidence and effectiveness!

There are a lot of resources available to you.

AT THE UC SAN DIEGO CAREER CENTER:

Check out the Assessment Tools page. In particular, you might complete the Clifton StrengthsFinder and/or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Kiersey Temperarment Sorter (free, very similar to Myers-Briggs)

Next, explore the supplemental resources in the Library collection and beyond. Below on this page are highlights to get you started, about how to identify and build your skills.

Think about skills that are not organization-specific: they often are called "transferable skills" because they can apply to many settings. They are a part of what you bring to the table, no matter where you work or volunteer. There are always ways to get stronger or cultivate new areas. Most of us consider developing them is life-long learning.

Business Communication

Look for the most recent books in the UC Search:

• Business communication
• Business presentations
• Business writing - handbooks
• Communication in accounting
• Communication in organization
• Communication in management
• Communication in marketing
• Digital communications
• English language - business English
• Interpersonal communication
• Interpersonal relations
• Storytelling
• Business etiquette
• Corporate culture
• Intercultural communication
• Conflict management
• Public speaking
• Persuasion (rhetoric)
• Body language
• Electronic mail messages

Facilitation, Working with Groups

Look for the most recent books in the UC Search:

• Teams in the workplace
• Group facilitation
• Project management

Browsing for Other Topics of Interest: DEIA-Related and Business-Related Skills

Diversity and Inclusion Topics

Diversity in the Workplace is a great starting-point link to use

• Discrimination in employment
• Diversity in the workplace - case studies

How do you settle in quickly at a new job or setting?

ANSWERING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

• O’Reilly e-books on Interviewing for a Job
• Materials on Employment interviewing in our collection (e-books, print, video)
• Guide to Job Interviewing Resources and Tools - This page provides guides for interview questions and other tips for navigating the job interview. Questions are grouped by types of jobs in many fields.

What about answering tough questions (gaps in resume, lack of experience, etc)? Here are a few items in our collection to browse:

• The Interview Q&A Book
• Great Answers to Great Questions for Your Job Interview
• What to Say in Every Job Interview: How to Understand What Managers are Really Asking & Give the Answers that Land the Job
• The Very Quick Job Search
  this classic has an in-depth section on fielding difficult questions and answering them well. 

KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THE COMPANY & PEOPLE YOU’D WORK FOR

Researching the company interviewing can help you make a better impression at your interview. For links to look up companies and answer some of the questions below, click here. 

• How does your job fit in the overall function of the department and whole organization where you’ll be working?
• What is the company’s mission and vision?
• What are its key products/services? Who is the competition? Who are the customers?
• Who are the key leaders of the organization, how big is it and how is it structured?
• What is the news and social media coverage like for the organization and its leadership
• Are there any mentions about your company on ‘insiders’ sites like Glassdoor and Firsthand?
• What is the company’s culture like?
• What is its history?
• What are the latest developments for this organization?
• Can you find anything out about the interviewer or key leaders of the organization?

This section is a starting place for you to find sources for help starting and running your own business.

VETTING A BUSINESS IDEA:

• Templates to help you think through your idea from SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives),
  • SCORE's Startup Roadmap, https://www.score.org/course/startup-roadmap-defining-and-validating-your-idea
  • SWOT analysis https://www.score.org/resource/template/swot-analysis-worksheet
• Use the Library's resources for researching industries and companies, and following business news
• Protect yourself:
  • Brooklyn Public Library's guide on Avoiding Pyramid and MLM Scams
  • Library of Congress' guide to Avoiding Scams for entrepreneurs and small businesses

BUSINESS MODELS & BUSINESS PLANS

• Business Model Canvas
  This widely-used tool for creating your business model. Original source: Strategyzer. See also the e-book Business Model Canvas: Let Your Business Thrive with this Simple Model
• Value Proposition Canvas
  Another tool from Strategyzer, this one helps you define your market by prompting you to think through your customers in a methodical way.
• If you need to create a pitch deck, business plan or marketing plan, these are helpful:
  • Library resources for creating business plans and marketing plans
  • SBA's business plan writing tool
  • Bplans.com business plan template
  • SCORE business plan creation and pitch deck template materials
  • The Only 10 Slides You Need in Your Pitch (Guy Kawasaki)
  • Canva's Pitch Deck Templates helps with free templates so you may create a deck with strong graphics.

LAUNCHING & REGISTERING A BUSINESS

• Do I need to register my business?
  The answer is yes, but it depends. Where you launch and what type of business structure determine what you need to do to start. Also, you need to register your business name, and determine if you need additional licenses. Other tasks are possibly getting a federal tax ID number and business insurance. The Small Business Association (SBA) has a great overview page on these topics called Launch Your Business.
  • Local Business Registration: "It depends" on whether you are in an incorporated are or not. See this SD county page for details. The City of San Diego requires you to register.
    • See their helpful Start a Business guide for helpful resources like 10 Key Steps to Starting a Business and other helpful resources.
  • State of California Business Registration: Yes. Details at the state's Small Business Portal
  • You will need to get a federal tax ID number, called an EIN, from the IRS if you are going to employ others. If you are a solo entrepreneur working for yourself or as a consultant, you don't need one immediately (you can use your SSN and your individual tax filing). Here's more detail about that decision: Apply for an EIN Online.
  • Still confused? Try the Small Business Association - San Diego District's very clear page on doing business here
• What about financing my business? Here are Resources with links to background info on the major types of finance
  • Raising Capital for Your Small Business (Brooklyn Public Library)
  • Types of Financing (Library of Congress)
  • Financing Workshop (UC San Diego's Office of Innovation Video)
  • Small Business Grants
  • Nonprofit Startup Resources
  • SoCal Veterans Business Outreach Center (SBA)
  • San Diego & Imperial Women's Business Center (SBA)

RUNNING & IMPROVING YOUR BUSINESS

• See the e-books listed below for general background. Check the UC Library Search on any of the following topics to find even more:
  • New business enterprises
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Solopreneur
  • Business consultants
  • Business consultants - fees
  • Small business
  • Small business and (Excel or QuickBooks)
  • Growing your business
  • Business negotiation
  • Design thinking and business
  • Internet marketing (all forms of social media included)
  • Business communication
    • want more? see the Skills Building section of this guide for info on public speaking, decision making, business etiquette, group facilitation, executive ability, diversity in the workplace, international business, business English and much more.
• Entrepreneur Magazine

UC SAN DIEGO RESOURCES

• Office of Innovation and Commercialization (OIC) Startup page has tons of materials for anyone on campus working on a startup. Its pages are a clearinghouse for entrepreneurship support, including workshops, resources, consultants and spaces available to students, faculty and staff.
  • The Basement's YouTube Channel. The Basement is a campus incubator and community space under the OIC umbrella that provides community for start-ups on campus. This channel has advice for local budding entrepreneurs. For example:
    • How to Succeed as a Student Entrepreneur
    • How to Get Funding for Your Startup
  • OIC's Startup Toolkit: Startup Educational Resources
  • OIC's YouTube Channel
  • Current Programs
  • Check out the news and social media channels to keep up to date on the latest offerings. Use the Contact page to get on their email updates.