February 24, 2025 • 34 mins
This episode is the first of eight in a series devoted to career readiness competencies.
In 2022, the result of many of years of work, The National Association of Colleges and Employers developed a list of competencies that illustrate whether someone is career ready. For more information on how they came up with their list of competencies, I have shared a link to their report in the show notes.
The competencies illustrate different aspects of ourselves that need focus as we become professionals and maintain a professional career. Each competency has its own individual characteristics but they are very intertwined. In the following series of episodes, we are going to take a closer look at the competencies individually.
In this episode, we are going to discuss the competency- Self- and Career Development. To aid in this discussion, I was lucky to have Dr. Gregory Peterson join me. He is currently a Professor of Philosophy and Religion and the Director of the Ethics lab here at South Dakota State University.
Further exploration:
NACE Career Readiness Competencies
SD State Office of Career Development
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
[Auto-generated transcript. Edits may have been applied for clarity.]Welcome to Career Connections. I'm your host, Kevin Fullerton.
This episode is the first of eight and a series devoted to career readiness competencies.
In 2022, as a result of many years of work, the National Association of Colleges and Employers,
or Nace, developed a list of competencies that illustrate whether someone is career ready.
(00:25):
These competencies are listed as self on career development, critical thinking, communication,
teamwork and equity and inclusion, professionalism, leadership and technology.
For more information on how to develop the list of competencies, I have shared a link to their report in the show notes.
(00:47):
The competencies illustrate different aspects of ourselves that need focus as we become professionals and maintain a professional career.
Of course, each competency has its own individual characteristics, but they are very intertwined.
And the following series of episodes, we're going to take a closer look at these competencies.
In this episode, we're going to discuss the competency, self and career development to aid in this discussion.
(01:11):
I was lucky to have Doctor Gregory Peterson join me.
He is currently a professor of Philosophy and Religion and the director of the Ethics Lab here at South Dakota State.
(01:32):
All right, so today, uh, for this podcast, I have with me, Doctor Gregory Peterson,
he's the professor of philosophy and religion and the director of the ethics lab here on campus at South Dakota State University.
And we're going to get into the career readiness competencies.
Uh, specifically, we're going to talk about self-development and career development, uh, career readiness competency.
But before we do that, I want to give, uh, Doctor Peterson just a chance to kind of share a little bit about his background
(01:58):
and maybe he can share with us just your idea of what it means to be career ready.
Yeah. Thank you. Kevin.
And, uh, so a little bit about myself, um, as you mentioned, I'm, uh, professor of philosophy and religion here at South Dakota State.
And I also, uh, direct the ethics lab, where we, uh, support research and also,
(02:22):
uh, do, uh, some outreach activities as part of the mission of the lamb.
And, uh, I'm, uh, a scholar who's been working in, uh, both philosophy and, uh,
religion, but, uh, more in philosophy for, um, about, uh, 25 years or so now.
(02:44):
I've been at, uh, South Dakota State for over 20 years.
And, um, I've done, uh, research in a lot of, um, uh, different but related areas, including, um, uh,
science and religion and, uh, virtue ethics and also collaborating with, uh, uh, psychologists on moral psychology.
(03:09):
Um, and so my, um, uh, career as kind of taking me to a variety of places.
I started out in Pennsylvania before coming to, uh, South Dakota State.
And of course, that's, um, one facet of pursuing a career is you, uh, go in with, uh, certain plans, uh,
(03:30):
but, uh, you also, uh, maybe end up in places different than you originally intended, which, um, uh,
sometimes Italy can be, uh, not so wonderful, but sometimes are open doors that lead you to, uh,
wonderful things that you wouldn't have, um, maybe considered at the outset when you're starting your career.
(03:52):
Yeah, absolutely. Um. So what? When you hear the phrase career ready?
Ready? Like what? What does that mean to you? So for me, um.
We talk now a lot about skills. And, uh, often when we think of skills, we think of skills that are very, um, specific to a specific kind of career.
(04:18):
Um, so if you're an accounting major, uh, you're maybe thinking of the very particular skills that accountants need,
um, that are specific to the field of accounting or maybe even just to kind of entry level accounting.
Um, but of course, skills are much broader than that.
(04:39):
Um, that, uh, to be career ready is to be, um, you might say, psychologically prepared, um, to have not just those very specific skills,
uh, but also a kind of wider array of skills that that make you, uh, flexible and make you a good learner.
(05:04):
Um, enable you to deal with, um, difficult situations, which inevitably happen.
Um, not only in life but in, uh, work environments and, um, uh, a range of, uh,
kind of character traits that you hopefully have developed but are also always in the process of, of, of working on.
(05:30):
Um, and for me, when I was, uh, you know, a young, uh, young man coming out of college.
Um, you know, I can kind of reflect back on the ways that I was and wasn't prepared, uh, for the job world.
I was, um, uh, perhaps, uh, bright, but not always so disciplined.
(05:52):
Um, and, uh, uh, you know that discipline is something you sometimes don't, uh, learn until you get into a job environment,
and, um, people depend on you, and you have to show up every day, and, you know, those sorts of things.
Yeah. Great. So you, you you, uh, shared a few, few key words in there in your response, and I,
(06:15):
I think we're going to kind of address a little bit in this episode where it's being career ready isn't just one thing.
It's this idea of being adaptable, this idea of being professional.
And then I think what we're going to really hone in on is this idea of, um, like continual development, continuous improvement, you know, um.
So Nasuwt is the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
(06:38):
They they provide a lot of great resources for career centers and other offices of career development.
And we rely here on campus, um, quite a bit on their resources.
And, and they have this list of career readiness competencies and um.
What I really want to talk with you today about is kind of the first one where it's like self-development, career development.
(07:02):
Uh, we can we could boil it down to basically say self awareness.
Um, and the way they define that.
So NASA's definition is, uh, to proactively develop one's self and one's career through continual personal and professional learning.
Awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities,
and networking to build relationships within and without one's organization.
(07:26):
And I, uh. I feel like you echoed that.
You know, it's one of those kind of a universal sort of concept of how we can continue to develop on ourselves in this professional capacity.
And so, um, when I read that definition to you, what what are the kinds of ideas come out?
(07:49):
Yeah. So for me, uh, I would say is self-awareness is is very, very important.
And, um, to not simply be, um, self-aware, uh, but to be self-aware and in a positive way.
So, you know, what could happen, I think sometimes is, um, you know.
(08:14):
Because of maybe a particular path you take in college, uh, or because of other aspects of your background.
Uh, self-awareness, uh, means being self-critical, uh, and self-critical in a way that, uh, can be sometimes, uh, um, uh, a little bit destructive.
You know, you do something wrong, and then you then you find yourself kind of ruminating on it, and you can kind of get out of that cycle.
(08:42):
Um, and so, uh, what we want not only in the job environment, but in life is, is, uh, healthy self-awareness, where, um,
you are able to kind of reflect on both yourself and your environment, also others and your relation to others,
(09:06):
whether it's in the work environment or outside the work environment. Um, but you want to do that in a healthy kind of way, right?
And be healthy kind of way. Um, is I mean, there's a sense in which it's maybe, uh,
ability to kind of detach from yourself and evaluate yourself without being kind of invested in, in, um, um, in that evaluation.
(09:30):
But to do it in a way that is, is really positive.
So it's not simply detached, but it's, it's positive.
And, um, this is actually something I try to emphasize when I teach logic.
So I teach Introduction to Logic. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now.
And um, there's aspects of, of teaching logic that that's kind of like mathematics.
(09:53):
And, and so just as you know, sometimes people have that kind of math phobia.
Um, they can, uh, develop, um, this, this sort of logic phobia, if you like, uh, because of some of it's very technical and, like math.
Uh, there's that, that sense sometimes if you don't get the answer correct on the first time around,
(10:16):
that you kind of register that as a defeat and then it becomes a negative sort of thing.
And so what I try to do in my logic class is I try to encourage.
Uh, among our students, uh, to embrace the mistakes you make.
Um, because it's through those mistakes that you learn.
(10:39):
Um, and that's a kind of self-awareness, right?
So when you make a mistake, often what you have is a sort of negative emotion, and you're maybe mad at yourself, and then that kind of ruins your day.
Um, where what you really want is to see that mistake in a different way.
(10:59):
It's like, okay, so I've this mistake has taught me something.
And from that mistake I can learn from from it.
And then you have to ask yourself, you know what will? So what do I learn from that mistake?
And sometimes it's obvious and sometimes not. And that's where that self-awareness comes in.
So that self-awareness, uh, it's a very I would suggest a very particular kind of self-awareness.
(11:24):
It's a positive awareness of what you're doing. Um, it's a kind of embracing, not simply of your successes, but, uh, you know what?
You're learning from the environment in a way that, uh, you can focus on, um, uh, a kind of positive outcome in, in the future and in the workplace.
(11:47):
That's also very important. Right? So we get into the workplace and, you know, particularly in a new work environment, we are, uh, learning a lot.
And, you know, sometimes especially in that new work environment, uh, we're afraid to ask questions because we think the questions make us look dumb.
Um, uh, in reality, those questions we ask, um, that that's how we learn and the mistakes we make when we engage in a task.
(12:19):
Um, that's how we learn as well.
Uh, and when I, you know, some of my I mean, I've been at this job a long while, so, uh, it's been a long time since I had a new work environment.
But, you know, when I was younger, you know, you sometimes have a lot of, you know, initial jobs before you settle into something that's maybe, uh,
longer sustaining, uh, and, but when you enter that new job, uh,
(12:45):
you ask questions and then, you know, sometimes there's no one around to ask questions.
You just you just try something. Yeah.
And you, you get feedback from that. Right? And then you learn learn from that feedback.
And what you want is that that kind of positive self-awareness that enables you to learn from feedback productively,
whether it's in your environment, whether it's with your peers, um, so on.
(13:10):
Yeah. Yeah, great. Thank you. I think, uh, the idea of asking questions is so important.
Uh, I was recently talking to a student that, uh,
described an experience I had where they didn't ask questions and didn't realize that that had sort of.
They left kind of a negative impression on the people they were talking to because they didn't seem engaged or curious.
(13:33):
Yeah. Yeah. And I think it oftentimes our, our worries are actually the opposite of the reality where it's,
it's we we're worried though to look dumb if we ask questions.
But if you don't ask questions you look disengaged and not interested in psychology.
Um, yeah. People really just want you to just show up.
Yeah, exactly. And I can very much identify with that because as, um.
(13:58):
As a person new on the job market? Uh, I was kind of that person as well initially, and I didn't really understand that in the interview process.
Um, that it was really expected that I would have some questions, which, of course, you know,
implied that I was interested enough in the position that I had done a little homework.
(14:21):
Um, what? You know, the firm was, uh, and, uh, what the position was and, um, uh, maybe about,
uh, the location and so forth and, and so, uh, so that's very, very important.
And that's also part of that process of, of learning and asking questions.
(14:42):
And so, uh, like you said, showing up that to be in an interview or to show up at work means to have some curiosity of how things work and to be,
um, uh, proactive in seeking out, um, uh, those things that you don't know so that you can learn and be prepared in the future.
(15:08):
Yeah. I also like what you said, too, about trying to develop this ability to sort of detach from yourself and actually look at your experiences and,
and see if it was excess or a mistake or, you know, whatever it was.
And it reminds me of of my training, my education in music.
And I was a trombone player.
So weekly basis, our studio class, we would a couple of us would get up and perform one of the compositions that we're working on,
(15:35):
and everybody in the room that would would give us feedback.
And we learned really quickly that, you know, our colleagues were not saying you're a bad person, you're a bad musician.
It's like, no, you just rush this rhythm. You're, you know, you missed this note or it was out of tune in this section or whatever it was.
And, um, try to identify what those mistakes are without a value.
(15:55):
Judgment is is really, really valuable.
Yeah. And it's and it can be very hard. And of course, sometimes, you know, other folks don't make it easy.
Uh, so it sounds like you had some figures who, you know, focused on the music rather than, you know, making it personal.
Right. And so what sometimes happens and can happen in the work environment is people,
(16:20):
other folks mix those two up and yeah, they mix up the person in the evaluation.
And so, you know, then what you need to do as, uh, just an individual and fellow worker is you need, you know, to separate those.
And, and also, you know, that feedback, sometimes it's accurate feedback and sometimes it's not.
(16:41):
Maybe, maybe you didn't rush that passage. Maybe that person was mistaken.
Um, and so that's also part of that reflective process, which is also just part of that working in a team.
Yeah. Phenomenon that we, um, all have to deal with.
So I was just, um. So it's the first week of classes here.
(17:03):
So we, um, you know, have these kind of standard conversations about what the expectations of the class are and what's in the syllabus and so forth.
And, uh, so number of my classes, I have group projects and, and they're not always, um, so popular among students because, you know,
(17:24):
sometimes they go swimmingly and sometimes, uh, you know, there's maybe someone who's not pulling their fair share of the work.
Um, but I now kind of mention to them that that, um, this is actually, uh,
training for the rest of your life, because although you might think of group projects,
(17:47):
uh, something you do in college, um, when you get into the workforce, uh, workforces are, are just group projects, in a sense.
And, uh, depending on what kind of job you're in, you know, you end up sometimes on, on committees, uh, you're part of a planning group.
(18:08):
And all those dynamics you experience in, in the college classroom are there in the workplace,
you know, um, and so it's good to be thinking about, uh,
you know, how those dynamics, uh, that you're learning in college train you for the workplace,
um, and that being able to, uh, not only take criticism,
(18:33):
but also to give criticism fairly, um, in a way that respects others, um, in encouraging, you know, self-awareness and others,
not only yourself and all that as part of the group, um, interaction, which is,
uh, very important for, uh, the workplace, among other aspects of life.
(18:54):
Yeah, yeah. For sure. Um, you are kind of getting into the.
So the next question that I wanted to bring up and then really think about, like, how can we expand our capacity in this realm?
So you're sort of teasing out about how teamwork can kind of help help this,
but what are some other ways that you feel like we can expand our capacity for self-awareness, self-development?
(19:19):
So, um. What I would suggest is maybe a couple things.
So one. Uh, good skill.
I had a general level. Uh, we don't really think of it as a skill, uh, but it's something that can be developed.
Um, is just to have a good sense and develop.
(19:43):
To develop a good sense of curiosity.
Um, and so if you have and cultivate, uh, curiosity throughout your life, um, that'll be a really good thing for you.
So, for one thing, I would suggest make you a kind of healthier person.
Um, but also, uh, being, uh, curious helps you, um, encounter new things that you might not otherwise encounter.
(20:14):
Um, and, and, uh, those novel encounters contribute to your self-development, and curiosity can, can manifest in many different ways.
So, uh, uh, one way that that I'm, uh, curious mentally is, is I'm a bit travel curious.
(20:35):
Um, so I do enjoy, um, experiencing new places and, um, uh, one thing, uh,
I often purposefully do is I, um, I purposely, uh, don't use Google Maps sometimes.
Yeah. Or what I'll do is I'll look at Google Maps, but I won't have it constantly, you know, looking at it in my vehicle.
(21:02):
Um, I'll just rely on my memory. And of course, that's doing a few things.
It's kind of helping you, you know, train your geographic memory.
Uh, but of course, you know, sometimes you make mistakes, right? Yeah.
And so, again, kind of going back to the previous theme, we tend to think of mistakes as bad.
Oh, I made a wrong turn that that's very frustrating. But but you also discover things when you make wrong turns, right.
(21:27):
Um, and so that's part of the curiosity, uh, you're in this part of town that you maybe, uh, haven't experienced before or part of the country.
Um, and so that, um, curiosity I would suggest is, is very important in that kind of part, you know, developing as part of your own self-development.
And it's easy as we get older, I'll say, uh, I think as older we have all these pressures that make us less curious.
(21:54):
Um, and so it becomes harder to kind of keep that sense as one gets older.
And so if you can keep that, um, that'll hold you in good stead.
Um, but the second point, and this is related to what I was just talking about, is, uh, it's good, I think, to think of, um.
(22:15):
Of skills in a more in a broader sense than we often think of them.
So, you know, particularly when we are first entering college, we think of, uh, skills as things like learning how to use a spreadsheet or computer,
uh, programing language, um, or um, uh, you know, maybe a particular set of, uh, math skills or, uh, music skills, uh, very specifically.
(22:46):
Uh, but, uh, when we talk about character, we can think of, of the elements of character as themselves,
skills, um, that are capable of being developed and which can also atrophy if we don't pay attention to them.
And so what we want to be doing as we go through our career is be attentive to.
(23:08):
Uh, the skills we need to develop and maybe skills we have, but are.
You know, maybe the those particular skill muscles, or so to speak, are, are getting a little weak because we haven't flexed them for a while.
Uh, and so if, uh, you find that that's the case, you know,
then that's maybe a sign that you should maybe kind of seek out something that allows you to flex,
(23:32):
flex those skills, those character skills in a way that you're not able to do.
Maybe in your, in your particular, uh, work environment at the moment.
Yeah. Yeah. Great. Thank you. So a couple of, uh, reactions to what you're saying.
All right. One of the mantras I like to say, I say it so, so often, I want to make it a t shirt.
(23:53):
And it may very, very well be a T-shirt. But I like to say that successful people are curious people.
And I think in in my mind, it does boil down to that where, um,
this idea of just constantly trying to seek new inputs and really be curious about your
coworkers and the work that you're doing and how I can get better at those kinds of things.
So thank you for for bringing that up. Um.
(24:17):
The idea two of.
Of trying to just push yourself out of your comfort zone and, you know, relying on I like I like your anecdotal sharing that you you look at a map,
but then you get on the road and like I see if I can remember, um, if we travel together,
we might have some debate on where we're going to look at the map while we're traveling or not.
(24:37):
I don't know, depends on our time frame, I guess. But, uh, right.
So sometimes time is short indeed. Uh, so my brain is kind of going towards students there because.
Because when you say something like that, it makes me think of automatically the importance of like the liberal arts curriculum where you
(24:59):
get you have to take courses where you might not actually think you're interested in that course,
or it forces you to go to a space where you weren't planning on going.
Right. I one of my favorite classes that I took when I was working on my Masters in Music history, was actually a course on the Civil War.
I had that, I had elective that I had to take and, um, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.
(25:22):
I heard some good things about that class, and I still think about it not related to my degree at all in the literal sense.
But, um, so what are some of your thoughts about that, how students can can really develop this, this sense of self-awareness and self-development?
Yeah. So, uh, you mentioned, uh, some liberal arts courses, like, uh, you know, your Civil War course and those are courses, uh, where, uh, I think.
(25:55):
Those kinds of skills, uh, end up being emphasized in a, in a different way that we then we find in other courses,
um, uh, simply because they make us, uh, reflect in a different way at a kind of higher level, so to speak.
And so, um, I teach, uh, philosophy courses and so, um, uh, philosophy, um, readings, texts are kind of famously a little bit challenging.
(26:28):
Um, so and, and so, uh, I talk to my students a little bit about this sometimes in my upper division classes,
uh, about the, the process that, that goes into that.
And so when we're reading a difficult text, uh, whether it's in philosophy or history of some other field,
uh, so first of all, we're actually developing, you know, good reading skills.
(26:51):
And, uh, when we, uh, develop, uh, the ability to read at a much higher level, among other things,
um, it makes it, uh, makes us more capable of reading things that are not quite as complex.
And, and I actually like to use a musical metaphor that if you're a someone playing piano, uh, learning how to play piano, you know, for a pianist.
(27:19):
Uh, but the hardest thing you can play is Rachmaninoff. Um, and you're not maybe going to play Rachmaninoff very often.
Um, but having the ability to play Rachmaninoff at a at a kind of okay level, um, you know,
make you so much more capable of playing music that is still challenging, but not quite as challenging.
(27:43):
Um, and so one thing, uh, liberal arts courses do is they provide that different kind of challenge in terms of,
uh, uh, reading capacity and, uh, critical thinking capacity and, and uh, related areas, reasoning capacity.
(28:05):
Um, but because these are materials that, uh, touch our lives, uh, they do uh,
spur I think that that kind of process of self-reflection, um, that we don't get in maybe narrower, more technical courses.
Um, so even just thinking of something like the Civil War, uh, which on one hand seems like it's very distant,
(28:32):
uh, you know, more than, uh, more than 100 years ago, 150 years ago.
Um, but on the other hand, the issues that are dealt with in the Civil War are issues that in many ways are still relevant,
having to do with the integrity of our institutions and justice and the impact of war on people and families and communities.
(29:02):
Uh, and so, you know, that kind of materials spurs that the kind of self-reflection, um,
that will be important, um, not simply in the workplace, but also more largely in life because,
you know, you want to be, you know, happy and successful in the workplace, but more importantly,
you want to be happy and successful in life, and place is just a part of that.
(29:27):
And, uh, in engaging this kind of material, it it kind of helps you with both of those aspects.
Yeah. Yeah. Wonderful. Thanks so much.
Um. Yeah.
So? Aside from, you know, some classes and stuff like that, uh, on campus.
(29:49):
What are some other gear? Can you think of any specific resources that people could go to that would help sort of build their capacity for reflection?
Or, um, any authors in particular or any, um, just anything that you can think of.
Yeah. So, uh, picking up on the theme of curiosity, uh, as a student, I mean, one thing you can do is you can look for, uh, maybe, uh, uh, uh,
(30:18):
opportunities to engage in research outside of the classroom or, uh,
to pursue an internship that will give you an experience, um, in a field that you may be looking to get into,
but maybe even one that you're you're not primarily thinking about, but, uh,
(30:40):
maybe a little bit curious about or have, uh, aside, passion for, um, one thing uh,
I sometimes tell students is it's, um, you know, in terms of, you know, this is related to internships,
but also to things like travel courses, uh, is to, uh, go out and see the world a bit.
(31:02):
So, you know, if you're someone who has, uh, growing up in, uh, say, South Dakota or even just eastern South Dakota,
and I've never really ventured very far outside of that, uh, little orbit.
Um, it's good to spread your wings and see other places, uh, in the United States or even the world.
(31:23):
Um, and, uh, that opens, uh, your eyes not only to different places, but it also is, uh, opens, um, your eyes to how you react to those environments.
Right. Um, and so if you go to a foreign country, it's often very scary.
The first time you might not know the language. Um, and, uh, the customs are different and the food is different.
(31:50):
Uh, but, um, after you've been there for a while, you maybe realize that this is really a great novel experience that you,
um, uh, learned a lot from and maybe made some new friends and so forth.
So, so that's, uh, the kind of curiosity part, uh, what it also suggests is to look for opportunities,
(32:12):
whether they're on campus or in the community, uh, to serve.
Um, so, uh, part of, um, life is receiving and part of life is giving.
And so, uh, in that process of giving, uh, we are helping others.
We're also learning something about ourselves. We're also making, uh, new relationships.
(32:35):
And we're and we're helping the community, uh, of which we are a part, maybe temporarily, um, maybe longer term.
So those are all things that are good to take advantage of.
So when you're in college, don't, you know, certainly study hard.
That's important. Pay attention to resources.
But don't think of it as just that, that, um, classroom environment or maybe even, you know, just the, the immediate college environment.
(33:03):
Think of college as this period of time of opportunity, uh, where you can, uh, discover things and learn things, uh,
that you are not going to have maybe the opportunity to do again, or at least to do so in such a concentrated way is which, uh, college provides.
(33:26):
Um, so that college experience is really, uh, a precious sort of experience to take advantage of, um, as a student coming in.
And it's a kind of cornucopia of opportunities.
And so if you can take advantage of all those opportunities and the diversity, it'll, it'll, um, it'll have big impacts for you later in life.
(33:49):
Wonderful. I think that's probably a good place to to wrap up, Doctor Peterson,
thank you so much for spending time with me and enjoying the podcast and providing some of your your insights and thoughts about this particular,
uh, career readiness competency. Yep. Thank you.
(34:13):
Thank you so much for listening to Career Connections. I'm looking forward to continuing the discussion of career readiness competencies,
so please make sure to follow us for notifications when the new episodes go live.
For more information about My office, please visit careers that State that Edu.
[Auto-generated transcript. Edits may have been applied for clarity.]Welcome to Career Connections. I'm your host, Kevin Fullerton.
This episode is the first of eight and a series devoted to career readiness competencies.
In 2022, as a result of many years of work, the National Association of Colleges and Employers,
or Nace, developed a list of competencies that illustrate whether someone is career ready.
(00:25):
These competencies are listed as self on career development, critical thinking, communication,
teamwork and equity and inclusion, professionalism, leadership and technology.
For more information on how to develop the list of competencies, I have shared a link to their report in the show notes.
(00:47):
The competencies illustrate different aspects of ourselves that need focus as we become professionals and maintain a professional career.
Of course, each competency has its own individual characteristics, but they are very intertwined.
And the following series of episodes, we're going to take a closer look at these competencies.
In this episode, we're going to discuss the competency, self and career development to aid in this discussion.
(01:11):
I was lucky to have Doctor Gregory Peterson join me.
He is currently a professor of Philosophy and Religion and the director of the Ethics Lab here at South Dakota State.
(01:32):
All right, so today, uh, for this podcast, I have with me, Doctor Gregory Peterson,
he's the professor of philosophy and religion and the director of the ethics lab here on campus at South Dakota State University.
And we're going to get into the career readiness competencies.
Uh, specifically, we're going to talk about self-development and career development, uh, career readiness competency.
But before we do that, I want to give, uh, Doctor Peterson just a chance to kind of share a little bit about his background
(01:58):
and maybe he can share with us just your idea of what it means to be career ready.
Yeah. Thank you. Kevin.
And, uh, so a little bit about myself, um, as you mentioned, I'm, uh, professor of philosophy and religion here at South Dakota State.
And I also, uh, direct the ethics lab, where we, uh, support research and also,
(02:22):
uh, do, uh, some outreach activities as part of the mission of the lamb.
And, uh, I'm, uh, a scholar who's been working in, uh, both philosophy and, uh,
religion, but, uh, more in philosophy for, um, about, uh, 25 years or so now.
(02:44):
I've been at, uh, South Dakota State for over 20 years.
And, um, I've done, uh, research in a lot of, um, uh, different but related areas, including, um, uh,
science and religion and, uh, virtue ethics and also collaborating with, uh, uh, psychologists on moral psychology.
(03:09):
Um, and so my, um, uh, career as kind of taking me to a variety of places.
I started out in Pennsylvania before coming to, uh, South Dakota State.
And of course, that's, um, one facet of pursuing a career is you, uh, go in with, uh, certain plans, uh,
(03:30):
but, uh, you also, uh, maybe end up in places different than you originally intended, which, um, uh,
sometimes Italy can be, uh, not so wonderful, but sometimes are open doors that lead you to, uh,
wonderful things that you wouldn't have, um, maybe considered at the outset when you're starting your career.
(03:52):
Yeah, absolutely. Um. So what? When you hear the phrase career ready?
Ready? Like what? What does that mean to you? So for me, um.
We talk now a lot about skills. And, uh, often when we think of skills, we think of skills that are very, um, specific to a specific kind of career.
(04:18):
Um, so if you're an accounting major, uh, you're maybe thinking of the very particular skills that accountants need,
um, that are specific to the field of accounting or maybe even just to kind of entry level accounting.
Um, but of course, skills are much broader than that.
(04:39):
Um, that, uh, to be career ready is to be, um, you might say, psychologically prepared, um, to have not just those very specific skills,
uh, but also a kind of wider array of skills that that make you, uh, flexible and make you a good learner.
(05:04):
Um, enable you to deal with, um, difficult situations, which inevitably happen.
Um, not only in life but in, uh, work environments and, um, uh, a range of, uh,
kind of character traits that you hopefully have developed but are also always in the process of, of, of working on.
(05:30):
Um, and for me, when I was, uh, you know, a young, uh, young man coming out of college.
Um, you know, I can kind of reflect back on the ways that I was and wasn't prepared, uh, for the job world.
I was, um, uh, perhaps, uh, bright, but not always so disciplined.
(05:52):
Um, and, uh, uh, you know that discipline is something you sometimes don't, uh, learn until you get into a job environment,
and, um, people depend on you, and you have to show up every day, and, you know, those sorts of things.
Yeah. Great. So you, you you, uh, shared a few, few key words in there in your response, and I,
(06:15):
I think we're going to kind of address a little bit in this episode where it's being career ready isn't just one thing.
It's this idea of being adaptable, this idea of being professional.
And then I think what we're going to really hone in on is this idea of, um, like continual development, continuous improvement, you know, um.
So Nasuwt is the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
(06:38):
They they provide a lot of great resources for career centers and other offices of career development.
And we rely here on campus, um, quite a bit on their resources.
And, and they have this list of career readiness competencies and um.
What I really want to talk with you today about is kind of the first one where it's like self-development, career development.
(07:02):
Uh, we can we could boil it down to basically say self awareness.
Um, and the way they define that.
So NASA's definition is, uh, to proactively develop one's self and one's career through continual personal and professional learning.
Awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities,
and networking to build relationships within and without one's organization.
(07:26):
And I, uh. I feel like you echoed that.
You know, it's one of those kind of a universal sort of concept of how we can continue to develop on ourselves in this professional capacity.
And so, um, when I read that definition to you, what what are the kinds of ideas come out?
(07:49):
Yeah. So for me, uh, I would say is self-awareness is is very, very important.
And, um, to not simply be, um, self-aware, uh, but to be self-aware and in a positive way.
So, you know, what could happen, I think sometimes is, um, you know.
(08:14):
Because of maybe a particular path you take in college, uh, or because of other aspects of your background.
Uh, self-awareness, uh, means being self-critical, uh, and self-critical in a way that, uh, can be sometimes, uh, um, uh, a little bit destructive.
You know, you do something wrong, and then you then you find yourself kind of ruminating on it, and you can kind of get out of that cycle.
(08:42):
Um, and so, uh, what we want not only in the job environment, but in life is, is, uh, healthy self-awareness, where, um,
you are able to kind of reflect on both yourself and your environment, also others and your relation to others,
(09:06):
whether it's in the work environment or outside the work environment. Um, but you want to do that in a healthy kind of way, right?
And be healthy kind of way. Um, is I mean, there's a sense in which it's maybe, uh,
ability to kind of detach from yourself and evaluate yourself without being kind of invested in, in, um, um, in that evaluation.
(09:30):
But to do it in a way that is, is really positive.
So it's not simply detached, but it's, it's positive.
And, um, this is actually something I try to emphasize when I teach logic.
So I teach Introduction to Logic. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now.
And um, there's aspects of, of teaching logic that that's kind of like mathematics.
(09:53):
And, and so just as you know, sometimes people have that kind of math phobia.
Um, they can, uh, develop, um, this, this sort of logic phobia, if you like, uh, because of some of it's very technical and, like math.
Uh, there's that, that sense sometimes if you don't get the answer correct on the first time around,
(10:16):
that you kind of register that as a defeat and then it becomes a negative sort of thing.
And so what I try to do in my logic class is I try to encourage.
Uh, among our students, uh, to embrace the mistakes you make.
Um, because it's through those mistakes that you learn.
(10:39):
Um, and that's a kind of self-awareness, right?
So when you make a mistake, often what you have is a sort of negative emotion, and you're maybe mad at yourself, and then that kind of ruins your day.
Um, where what you really want is to see that mistake in a different way.
(10:59):
It's like, okay, so I've this mistake has taught me something.
And from that mistake I can learn from from it.
And then you have to ask yourself, you know what will? So what do I learn from that mistake?
And sometimes it's obvious and sometimes not. And that's where that self-awareness comes in.
So that self-awareness, uh, it's a very I would suggest a very particular kind of self-awareness.
(11:24):
It's a positive awareness of what you're doing. Um, it's a kind of embracing, not simply of your successes, but, uh, you know what?
You're learning from the environment in a way that, uh, you can focus on, um, uh, a kind of positive outcome in, in the future and in the workplace.
(11:47):
That's also very important. Right? So we get into the workplace and, you know, particularly in a new work environment, we are, uh, learning a lot.
And, you know, sometimes especially in that new work environment, uh, we're afraid to ask questions because we think the questions make us look dumb.
Um, uh, in reality, those questions we ask, um, that that's how we learn and the mistakes we make when we engage in a task.
(12:19):
Um, that's how we learn as well.
Uh, and when I, you know, some of my I mean, I've been at this job a long while, so, uh, it's been a long time since I had a new work environment.
But, you know, when I was younger, you know, you sometimes have a lot of, you know, initial jobs before you settle into something that's maybe, uh,
longer sustaining, uh, and, but when you enter that new job, uh,
(12:45):
you ask questions and then, you know, sometimes there's no one around to ask questions.
You just you just try something. Yeah.
And you, you get feedback from that. Right? And then you learn learn from that feedback.
And what you want is that that kind of positive self-awareness that enables you to learn from feedback productively,
whether it's in your environment, whether it's with your peers, um, so on.
(13:10):
Yeah. Yeah, great. Thank you. I think, uh, the idea of asking questions is so important.
Uh, I was recently talking to a student that, uh,
described an experience I had where they didn't ask questions and didn't realize that that had sort of.
They left kind of a negative impression on the people they were talking to because they didn't seem engaged or curious.
(13:33):
Yeah. Yeah. And I think it oftentimes our, our worries are actually the opposite of the reality where it's,
it's we we're worried though to look dumb if we ask questions.
But if you don't ask questions you look disengaged and not interested in psychology.
Um, yeah. People really just want you to just show up.
Yeah, exactly. And I can very much identify with that because as, um.
(13:58):
As a person new on the job market? Uh, I was kind of that person as well initially, and I didn't really understand that in the interview process.
Um, that it was really expected that I would have some questions, which, of course, you know,
implied that I was interested enough in the position that I had done a little homework.
(14:21):
Um, what? You know, the firm was, uh, and, uh, what the position was and, um, uh, maybe about,
uh, the location and so forth and, and so, uh, so that's very, very important.
And that's also part of that process of, of learning and asking questions.
(14:42):
And so, uh, like you said, showing up that to be in an interview or to show up at work means to have some curiosity of how things work and to be,
um, uh, proactive in seeking out, um, uh, those things that you don't know so that you can learn and be prepared in the future.
(15:08):
Yeah. I also like what you said, too, about trying to develop this ability to sort of detach from yourself and actually look at your experiences and,
and see if it was excess or a mistake or, you know, whatever it was.
And it reminds me of of my training, my education in music.
And I was a trombone player.
So weekly basis, our studio class, we would a couple of us would get up and perform one of the compositions that we're working on,
(15:35):
and everybody in the room that would would give us feedback.
And we learned really quickly that, you know, our colleagues were not saying you're a bad person, you're a bad musician.
It's like, no, you just rush this rhythm. You're, you know, you missed this note or it was out of tune in this section or whatever it was.
And, um, try to identify what those mistakes are without a value.
(15:55):
Judgment is is really, really valuable.
Yeah. And it's and it can be very hard. And of course, sometimes, you know, other folks don't make it easy.
Uh, so it sounds like you had some figures who, you know, focused on the music rather than, you know, making it personal.
Right. And so what sometimes happens and can happen in the work environment is people,
(16:20):
other folks mix those two up and yeah, they mix up the person in the evaluation.
And so, you know, then what you need to do as, uh, just an individual and fellow worker is you need, you know, to separate those.
And, and also, you know, that feedback, sometimes it's accurate feedback and sometimes it's not.
(16:41):
Maybe, maybe you didn't rush that passage. Maybe that person was mistaken.
Um, and so that's also part of that reflective process, which is also just part of that working in a team.
Yeah. Phenomenon that we, um, all have to deal with.
So I was just, um. So it's the first week of classes here.
(17:03):
So we, um, you know, have these kind of standard conversations about what the expectations of the class are and what's in the syllabus and so forth.
And, uh, so number of my classes, I have group projects and, and they're not always, um, so popular among students because, you know,
(17:24):
sometimes they go swimmingly and sometimes, uh, you know, there's maybe someone who's not pulling their fair share of the work.
Um, but I now kind of mention to them that that, um, this is actually, uh,
training for the rest of your life, because although you might think of group projects,
(17:47):
uh, something you do in college, um, when you get into the workforce, uh, workforces are, are just group projects, in a sense.
And, uh, depending on what kind of job you're in, you know, you end up sometimes on, on committees, uh, you're part of a planning group.
(18:08):
And all those dynamics you experience in, in the college classroom are there in the workplace,
you know, um, and so it's good to be thinking about, uh,
you know, how those dynamics, uh, that you're learning in college train you for the workplace,
um, and that being able to, uh, not only take criticism,
(18:33):
but also to give criticism fairly, um, in a way that respects others, um, in encouraging, you know, self-awareness and others,
not only yourself and all that as part of the group, um, interaction, which is,
uh, very important for, uh, the workplace, among other aspects of life.
(18:54):
Yeah, yeah. For sure. Um, you are kind of getting into the.
So the next question that I wanted to bring up and then really think about, like, how can we expand our capacity in this realm?
So you're sort of teasing out about how teamwork can kind of help help this,
but what are some other ways that you feel like we can expand our capacity for self-awareness, self-development?
(19:19):
So, um. What I would suggest is maybe a couple things.
So one. Uh, good skill.
I had a general level. Uh, we don't really think of it as a skill, uh, but it's something that can be developed.
Um, is just to have a good sense and develop.
(19:43):
To develop a good sense of curiosity.
Um, and so if you have and cultivate, uh, curiosity throughout your life, um, that'll be a really good thing for you.
So, for one thing, I would suggest make you a kind of healthier person.
Um, but also, uh, being, uh, curious helps you, um, encounter new things that you might not otherwise encounter.
(20:14):
Um, and, and, uh, those novel encounters contribute to your self-development, and curiosity can, can manifest in many different ways.
So, uh, uh, one way that that I'm, uh, curious mentally is, is I'm a bit travel curious.
(20:35):
Um, so I do enjoy, um, experiencing new places and, um, uh, one thing, uh,
I often purposefully do is I, um, I purposely, uh, don't use Google Maps sometimes.
Yeah. Or what I'll do is I'll look at Google Maps, but I won't have it constantly, you know, looking at it in my vehicle.
(21:02):
Um, I'll just rely on my memory. And of course, that's doing a few things.
It's kind of helping you, you know, train your geographic memory.
Uh, but of course, you know, sometimes you make mistakes, right? Yeah.
And so, again, kind of going back to the previous theme, we tend to think of mistakes as bad.
Oh, I made a wrong turn that that's very frustrating. But but you also discover things when you make wrong turns, right.
(21:27):
Um, and so that's part of the curiosity, uh, you're in this part of town that you maybe, uh, haven't experienced before or part of the country.
Um, and so that, um, curiosity I would suggest is, is very important in that kind of part, you know, developing as part of your own self-development.
And it's easy as we get older, I'll say, uh, I think as older we have all these pressures that make us less curious.
(21:54):
Um, and so it becomes harder to kind of keep that sense as one gets older.
And so if you can keep that, um, that'll hold you in good stead.
Um, but the second point, and this is related to what I was just talking about, is, uh, it's good, I think, to think of, um.
(22:15):
Of skills in a more in a broader sense than we often think of them.
So, you know, particularly when we are first entering college, we think of, uh, skills as things like learning how to use a spreadsheet or computer,
uh, programing language, um, or um, uh, you know, maybe a particular set of, uh, math skills or, uh, music skills, uh, very specifically.
(22:46):
Uh, but, uh, when we talk about character, we can think of, of the elements of character as themselves,
skills, um, that are capable of being developed and which can also atrophy if we don't pay attention to them.
And so what we want to be doing as we go through our career is be attentive to.
(23:08):
Uh, the skills we need to develop and maybe skills we have, but are.
You know, maybe the those particular skill muscles, or so to speak, are, are getting a little weak because we haven't flexed them for a while.
Uh, and so if, uh, you find that that's the case, you know,
then that's maybe a sign that you should maybe kind of seek out something that allows you to flex,
(23:32):
flex those skills, those character skills in a way that you're not able to do.
Maybe in your, in your particular, uh, work environment at the moment.
Yeah. Yeah. Great. Thank you. So a couple of, uh, reactions to what you're saying.
All right. One of the mantras I like to say, I say it so, so often, I want to make it a t shirt.
(23:53):
And it may very, very well be a T-shirt. But I like to say that successful people are curious people.
And I think in in my mind, it does boil down to that where, um,
this idea of just constantly trying to seek new inputs and really be curious about your
coworkers and the work that you're doing and how I can get better at those kinds of things.
So thank you for for bringing that up. Um.
(24:17):
The idea two of.
Of trying to just push yourself out of your comfort zone and, you know, relying on I like I like your anecdotal sharing that you you look at a map,
but then you get on the road and like I see if I can remember, um, if we travel together,
we might have some debate on where we're going to look at the map while we're traveling or not.
(24:37):
I don't know, depends on our time frame, I guess. But, uh, right.
So sometimes time is short indeed. Uh, so my brain is kind of going towards students there because.
Because when you say something like that, it makes me think of automatically the importance of like the liberal arts curriculum where you
(24:59):
get you have to take courses where you might not actually think you're interested in that course,
or it forces you to go to a space where you weren't planning on going.
Right. I one of my favorite classes that I took when I was working on my Masters in Music history, was actually a course on the Civil War.
I had that, I had elective that I had to take and, um, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.
(25:22):
I heard some good things about that class, and I still think about it not related to my degree at all in the literal sense.
But, um, so what are some of your thoughts about that, how students can can really develop this, this sense of self-awareness and self-development?
Yeah. So, uh, you mentioned, uh, some liberal arts courses, like, uh, you know, your Civil War course and those are courses, uh, where, uh, I think.
(25:55):
Those kinds of skills, uh, end up being emphasized in a, in a different way that we then we find in other courses,
um, uh, simply because they make us, uh, reflect in a different way at a kind of higher level, so to speak.
And so, um, I teach, uh, philosophy courses and so, um, uh, philosophy, um, readings, texts are kind of famously a little bit challenging.
(26:28):
Um, so and, and so, uh, I talk to my students a little bit about this sometimes in my upper division classes,
uh, about the, the process that, that goes into that.
And so when we're reading a difficult text, uh, whether it's in philosophy or history of some other field,
uh, so first of all, we're actually developing, you know, good reading skills.
(26:51):
And, uh, when we, uh, develop, uh, the ability to read at a much higher level, among other things,
um, it makes it, uh, makes us more capable of reading things that are not quite as complex.
And, and I actually like to use a musical metaphor that if you're a someone playing piano, uh, learning how to play piano, you know, for a pianist.
(27:19):
Uh, but the hardest thing you can play is Rachmaninoff. Um, and you're not maybe going to play Rachmaninoff very often.
Um, but having the ability to play Rachmaninoff at a at a kind of okay level, um, you know,
make you so much more capable of playing music that is still challenging, but not quite as challenging.
(27:43):
Um, and so one thing, uh, liberal arts courses do is they provide that different kind of challenge in terms of,
uh, uh, reading capacity and, uh, critical thinking capacity and, and uh, related areas, reasoning capacity.
(28:05):
Um, but because these are materials that, uh, touch our lives, uh, they do uh,
spur I think that that kind of process of self-reflection, um, that we don't get in maybe narrower, more technical courses.
Um, so even just thinking of something like the Civil War, uh, which on one hand seems like it's very distant,
(28:32):
uh, you know, more than, uh, more than 100 years ago, 150 years ago.
Um, but on the other hand, the issues that are dealt with in the Civil War are issues that in many ways are still relevant,
having to do with the integrity of our institutions and justice and the impact of war on people and families and communities.
(29:02):
Uh, and so, you know, that kind of materials spurs that the kind of self-reflection, um,
that will be important, um, not simply in the workplace, but also more largely in life because,
you know, you want to be, you know, happy and successful in the workplace, but more importantly,
you want to be happy and successful in life, and place is just a part of that.
(29:27):
And, uh, in engaging this kind of material, it it kind of helps you with both of those aspects.
Yeah. Yeah. Wonderful. Thanks so much.
Um. Yeah.
So? Aside from, you know, some classes and stuff like that, uh, on campus.
(29:49):
What are some other gear? Can you think of any specific resources that people could go to that would help sort of build their capacity for reflection?
Or, um, any authors in particular or any, um, just anything that you can think of.
Yeah. So, uh, picking up on the theme of curiosity, uh, as a student, I mean, one thing you can do is you can look for, uh, maybe, uh, uh, uh,
(30:18):
opportunities to engage in research outside of the classroom or, uh,
to pursue an internship that will give you an experience, um, in a field that you may be looking to get into,
but maybe even one that you're you're not primarily thinking about, but, uh,
(30:40):
maybe a little bit curious about or have, uh, aside, passion for, um, one thing uh,
I sometimes tell students is it's, um, you know, in terms of, you know, this is related to internships,
but also to things like travel courses, uh, is to, uh, go out and see the world a bit.
(31:02):
So, you know, if you're someone who has, uh, growing up in, uh, say, South Dakota or even just eastern South Dakota,
and I've never really ventured very far outside of that, uh, little orbit.
Um, it's good to spread your wings and see other places, uh, in the United States or even the world.
(31:23):
Um, and, uh, that opens, uh, your eyes not only to different places, but it also is, uh, opens, um, your eyes to how you react to those environments.
Right. Um, and so if you go to a foreign country, it's often very scary.
The first time you might not know the language. Um, and, uh, the customs are different and the food is different.
(31:50):
Uh, but, um, after you've been there for a while, you maybe realize that this is really a great novel experience that you,
um, uh, learned a lot from and maybe made some new friends and so forth.
So, so that's, uh, the kind of curiosity part, uh, what it also suggests is to look for opportunities,
(32:12):
whether they're on campus or in the community, uh, to serve.
Um, so, uh, part of, um, life is receiving and part of life is giving.
And so, uh, in that process of giving, uh, we are helping others.
We're also learning something about ourselves. We're also making, uh, new relationships.
(32:35):
And we're and we're helping the community, uh, of which we are a part, maybe temporarily, um, maybe longer term.
So those are all things that are good to take advantage of.
So when you're in college, don't, you know, certainly study hard.
That's important. Pay attention to resources.
But don't think of it as just that, that, um, classroom environment or maybe even, you know, just the, the immediate college environment.
(33:03):
Think of college as this period of time of opportunity, uh, where you can, uh, discover things and learn things, uh,
that you are not going to have maybe the opportunity to do again, or at least to do so in such a concentrated way is which, uh, college provides.
(33:26):
Um, so that college experience is really, uh, a precious sort of experience to take advantage of, um, as a student coming in.
And it's a kind of cornucopia of opportunities.
And so if you can take advantage of all those opportunities and the diversity, it'll, it'll, um, it'll have big impacts for you later in life.
(33:49):
Wonderful. I think that's probably a good place to to wrap up, Doctor Peterson,
thank you so much for spending time with me and enjoying the podcast and providing some of your your insights and thoughts about this particular,
uh, career readiness competency. Yep. Thank you.
(34:13):
Thank you so much for listening to Career Connections. I'm looking forward to continuing the discussion of career readiness competencies,
so please make sure to follow us for notifications when the new episodes go live.
For more information about My office, please visit careers that State that Edu.
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