“What do I want?” A question I have been asking myself since I set off for undergrad. I swear I had it figured out after getting into Dental school – but as I took a quiet moment on the plane to Chicago for ASDA NLC 2019 – I found myself back to square one. I feel so scattered so much of the time, rushing around to finish prep work, make it to meetings, or change clothes for my clinical site. I lose track of why I’m here.
Between nightly networking sessions and early mornings, I spent the weekend at NLC varying between sessions that were useful on paper – CV writing, understanding what you can be sued for – and sessions that helped me sort myself out. The sessions I attended reminded me to step back. So I encourage you to join me in a deep breath and some quiet contemplation as brought to you by my ASDA NLC 2019 knowledge. Put on a song that relaxes you. Go on, I’ll wait.
Ready?
*Deep breath*
Picture a dilemma, or big ticket item you’ve been skirting around lately.
What are you feeling?
Why are you feeling this way?
How does it relate to who you are?
In relation to this dilemma, what do you want? Be selfish. Be honest. It’s alright to want it.
Why do you want it? If you can’t tell me why, then figuring out how is going to be a near-impossible task.
Where you stand now, what are your strengths and weaknesses?
To get what you want, who do you have to become?
These are big-picture questions we think about, but don’t contemplate. In order to feel centered I needed to sit down with myself to understand my motivations, and accept how I’m feeling. This is all to say that getting what you want – out of service work, social life, education – is all about how well you know yourself. Spend some time in self-reflection. Have a conversation with yourself. It might be refreshing.
Now, for some general tips:
When dealing with employee conflict: Once every 3-6 months, have your office elect a conflict manager. Whenever someone has a problem with you, management, or anyone else in the office they go to the conflict manager. And then you resolve it.
- Hopefully, this leads to less gossiping behind your back.
When facing a question you’ve never been asked: SAY YOU DON’T KNOW! It’s tempting to hypothesize and sound smart, but you can be sued if you lie to a patient and it leads to their harm. Look it up. Ask another colleague. Send them somewhere else!
When working on your CV:
- More than 3 pages is excessive.
- Start with all your information, then work with a friend who will be brutally honest when cutting it down.
- Be consistent on where/how you enter: Dates, Duration, Location, Keep details to 1 or 2 lines.
- Awards and research have the longest shelf life
- KEEP IT BRIEF – you want them to want to talk to you, to ask questions. If you tell them everything, why would they interview you?