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(announcer) The following is a production of the University of Minnesota.
Hi there, welcome to Strengths: Major Exploration.
If you're new to Strengths or haven't watched Strengths:
Myth Smashing or Strengths: How Do I Use My Top 5,
we recommend watching those videos,
so you understand the background
and fundamentals of Strengths Finder.
Information in those videos will be used and applied here.
On the Twin Cities campus we are using a Strengths approach
to enhance student engagement and well-being which leads to
higher GPA, graduating on time,
and greater life success.
Strengths Finder is a tool that contributes to the
demonstration of the student learning outcomes and the
student development outcomes.
There is a workbook you can print out and use as you watch
this video so you can get more information about Strengths
and participate in some activities that
can help you get the most out of this video.
It's important to recognize that your Top 5 are not
matched to a certain major.
However, knowing how to apply and use your Strengths will
help you approach the major exploration process in an
effective way for you.
Knowing your strengths may also help you to examine
whether a major is a good fit.
The student action items found
on strengthsquest.com
under the apply tab will also be helpful as you consider majors
because you'll get tips on how to use each
of your strengths in academics, class selection,
and the major career exploration process.
Another way to think about approaching
your major exploration is in the context of which
leadership domain your Strengths lie.
If you don't know which leadership domain
your Strengths fit into, you can pause the video now or
you can check out the leadership
domain worksheet in the workbook.
We will now give specific strategies for each leadership
domain that will be particularly helpful
for you if you have Strengths in that domain.
However, they're all helpful exploration tips
no matter where your strengths lie.
If you have a lot of Executing Strengths,
it may be helpful to set action steps and create
tentative timelines to help you make progress towards
making a decision regarding your major.
Some of these tasks may include reading about a major
online or talking to academic advisor to help find a major
that interests you.
Another helpful step, maybe to read through majors and begin
to narrow down your options.
You can find a list of majors at catalogs.umn.edu.
As you examine majors, it would be important for you to
understand what the expectations are of
each major so you know how you can
best set yourself up to be successful.
If you have Influencing Strengths,
some steps to approach the exploration process may be to
talk with faculty members who
are known experts in their field.
In addition, you may want to try out or test drive
different majors by taking class in that subject.
Try getting involved with the student group related to that
major or doing research in the
subject matter that interests you.
Having Influencing Strengths will make it important to find
a major in which you can share your knowledge,
present your ideas, and write or compete in some way.
If you have Relationship Building Strengths,
it'll be beneficial for you
to talk to people about your options.
Reach out to friends that are
majors that you're interested in.
Talk to trusted academic advisors or schedule a meeting
with a CAPE coach.
The CAPE office also has resources to help you get
connected to students in majors you are considering.
With Relationship Building Strengths
it will be important for you to find a major in which you can
get to know your classmates and can build a community.
If you have Strategic Thinking Strengths,
you may want to start your major exploration process by
reflecting on your past courses.
Envisioning the future might also help you.
Where do you want to be 10 years from now and
how might the majors you're considering help you get there?
Use resources from your career center or academic advising
offices to read about the major and
potential career opportunities.
As you consider majors, it will be important for you to
find one in which you are challenged to analyze and
reflect and one in which you can collect and absorb
information and ideas.
To give an example of how Strengths play out in
different majors let's take a look at Sam,
Sam's Strengths, and some of
the majors she is considering.
Look at these major descriptions,
which one do you think would be the best fit for Sam?
This would be a great time to pause the video and have a
group discussion or you can continue to see how two
students might have a conversation about this.
Human resources is a clear option.
Being analytical about an important decision can ensure
that the best decision is made for a leading group of people.
Also Arranger can help her find and make plans
fitting in an internship while going to school.
Discipline and Consistency will ensure that those plans
are followed through with.
Having Positivity can help her as she works on team projects.
Yeah, but, biology could work too.
There's a lot of terminology to learn concepts to apply and
Sam's Analytical Strength will help with this.
Her Consistency will allow her to follow lab procedures and
her Positivity will help her
to work well with her lab partner.
Sam can also use Arranger and Discipline to make sure to
efficiently use her time between labs and to make sure
she meets all the important deadlines
related to her research project.
Both people are right.
Sam could do well in either of these majors by using her
Strengths, but Sam's Strengths might fit
naturally into one major over another.
Sam has strengths in Relationship Building and
Strategic Thinking domains but she has
most of her Strengths in Executing.
As Sam tries to make a decision,
she may want to look at how her Executing Strengths
will be best utilized in these majors.
Other factors such as Sam's values or interests may also
make one a better fit over another.
Well, that's all we have for now.
Thanks for Strengths: Major Exploration.
A great next step would be to use the resources activities
in the workbook to start the major exploration process.
Also, check out the student action items at strengthsquest.com
under the apply tab to get some
suggestions for how you can use each
of your Strengths in exploring careers.
Another helpful step would be to make an appointment with an
academic advisor, CAPE coach, or even
consider taking a career exploration course.
You can find a list of these courses at career.umn.edu.
Lastly, feel free check out any of our other Strengths videos.
To learn more Strengths you can visit our website
strengths.umn.edu or attend a Strengths workshop.
If you have an idea for a Strengths video or would like
us to put a workshop for your student group or organization
you can let us know by emailing strengths@umn.edu.
And make sure to interact with us on Twitter @UMN_Strengths.
Have a great day.
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