A few testimonials from our 2020-21 Career Development Coaching Circle:
~Seeing the overall outcome of the Developing Your Career Profile Worksheet was impressive. There is so much information packed into those few pages and the corresponding handouts/articles could tell that they were intentionally and carefully developed. The assignments forced me to be reflective and to think outside of the norm.
~I found the Coaching Circle (Career Development) program to be invaluable, and highly recommend it to all Rice staff for their professional development. For younger employees, Coaching Circle provides a toolkit for finding your “why”, job crafting, networking and lateral transfers. For someone further along in their career, Coaching Circle was an affirmation that I chose the path that best suits my personality and talents. It also provided an opportunity to mentor people in my accountability group by sharing experiences.
~Due to my participation in the Career Development Coaching Circle, my relationship with my supervisor has improved dramatically with the tool-set I’ve developed through the Career Development Circle. I also am finding my position more personally fulfilling-not because of any change in my description, but my perception of my impact and the value I add to my division.
~The circles have really made me realize that it is on me to be accountable for myself and my career – something that should be obvious, I guess, but it wasn’t to me. It really hit home that I need to be my own advocate. To be a good advocate for myself, I realized I need to make sure I continue to grow my skills, grow my knowledge base, and produce quality work, so that I am confident when I’m talking about my work or advocating for myself. I think the coaching circle provides you with a toolkit to reach into to help you progress professionally. I also think it broadens your perspective on life at Rice. I hadn’t in the past met many folks outside of my division. Now, I think I could reach out to any of the people in the circle for advice, and they would be willing to meet with me or talk through an issue.