On Saturday April 21st, PYD’s Mentor Match and C3 programs collaborated with several youth on how to find the career that’s right for them as well as how to market themselves to employers within those fields. The Career Pathways and Marketing Yourself Workshop combined topics from American psychologist John L. Holland’s RIASEC model, including personality and value assessment guides in finding how our strengths, values, personal self, and interests contribute to how we look for careers that make us happy and ready to make our own individual brands!
The event was graciously hosted by Capital One Cafe in Somerville, the perfect location in terms of helping us talk about marketing and finding careers in a creative and progressive space. presenters Amy Doherty and Jordan Lome shared their career pathways as well as networking and pre-employment pointers for attendees. One theme discussed was how employees have more equity than they think when applying for jobs as they are also observing their interviewers and employees. Finding a job is a two-way street after-all!
The RIASEC model was developed as a theory for careers and vocational choices based upon an individual’s personality, interests, and values as to what type of work would best fit them. Holland created 6 categories that form the basis for the model: Realistic (Doers), Investigative (Thinkers), Artistic (Creators), Social (Helpers), Enterprising (Persuaders), and Conventional (Organizers). You can learn more about these types and the jobs covered by them here!
Once attendees learned where they may fit on the RIASEC model, the workshop then dived into how marketing and branding play a role in aiding individuals to in making themselves noticeable for their career pursuits.
Marketing is a form of communication for promoting a message, idea, or brand to wider networks and/or audiences. Attendees learned how one uses marketing within organizations and as a job. This included how to use social media as both a professional and personal platform to share stories, events, and achievements. Attendees learned what someone in marketing does and the resources they use to help communicate their organization from Canva for graphic design, Constant Contact or MailChimp for email databases, Giphy for making gifs, WordPress for blogging and e-portfolios, and Vistaprint for making business!
Attendees tested how brands can make an impression through various activities during the workshop. This then turned to how social media can help promote personal brands on how Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram each contribute differently to marketing.
One social media platform mentioned was LinkedIn and how as a resource, the website can serve as a professional networking tool and online resume creator. A major point discussed was tracking performance and numbers for your resume to show employers what you have done and can do!
Feel free to share your career pathways or RIASEC results to us using the #illumentors on our social media @PYDBoston!
Are you interested in seeking more career advice and job readiness skills? Join C3 today!