Skills Matrix and First Deadlines

1. COMM 202: Career Fundamentals
T01, T14, & T20 (Sam’s Sections)

2. Agenda: what’s on the menu today?
1. Getting to know me
2. Course expectations
3. Skills Matrix + STAR statements
HAND INYOUR STRENGTHSQUEST ASSIGNMENT
NOW!

3. Who is Sam? Deep diving into the iceberg.
On the surface
Below the surface
1
2
1) Extracurricular
involvements
2) Professional
work experience

4. Who is Sam?A professional analysis.
Work Experience (Internships)
Relevant Experience (Consulting, Entrepreneurship, and Start-Ups)
Extracurricular and Community Involvement
2016 – Equity Capital
Markets (Vancouver)
2017 – Non-Profit
Advisory (East
Africa)
2018 – Brand
Management
(Toronto)
FraXure
COMM 101

5. What can I help you with? Lots of disciplines!
1. Management Consulting (+ other consulting/advisory)
2. Finance – Investment Banking, Equity Research,Venture
Capital
3. Brand Marketing (CPGs, QSRs)
4. Entrepreneurship – HighTech Start-Ups, BioMedTechVentures
5. Non-Profit + Social Impact
6. Various other industries

6. Who is Sam? Deep diving into the iceberg.
On the surface
Below the surface
1
2
1) Strengths
2) Interests
3) Failure stories

7. Who is Sam?A personal look.
Characteristics Interests and Passions
BCom 2019, Finance &
Entrepreneurship
• Words peers use to
describe myself:
energetic, eccentric,
eager
• Loves problem solving,
travelling, and making
people laugh
My favourite stuffed alpaca.
Avid skier
since 6-years
old
Owner of
sailing
license
Halloween
costume
fanatic

8. Myers Briggs Personality Type
Who is Sam? Mapping out his personality.
1. Strategic
DownfallsTheme
• Jumps to quick
decisions
• Hard to understand
Myers Briggs
2. Achiever
3. Learner
4. Woo
5. Communication
• Overcommitted
• Too concentrated
on work
• Know it all
• Lacks focus on
actual results
• Shallow
• No care about deep
relationships
• Blabbermouth
• Self-absorbed and
show-off

9. What was my journey like? A sea of rejections.

10. Course Expectations
Making your experiences and
and stories come to life.

11. What can you expect of me? A metaphor.
• Adaptability: quick turnarounds (max 24 hours),
customizations, support and collaboration
• Glue: all-purpose problem solver + energy injector
• Transparency: for any updates, challenges, concerns
• Passion/dedication: to every single student
…and lastly (hopefully), enjoying my presence on a cold
November day!
Mac’ n Cheese?

12. What about the course? Professionalism!
Treat this course like a safe place to practice!
What professionalism looks like in class..
• Contributing and sparking in-
class discussions
• Using proper in-class/email
etiquette
• Being punctual and prepared
for each class
• Not using technology during
class
• NOT PLAGIARIZING
..and how it impacts your final grade
10% of your
course mark

13. Can you still be yourself?Yes, you should!
Use this course to enhance your own personal brand.
Being yourself…
• Makes you more relatable and
likeable
• Helps you build trust and form
relationships
• You’ll be happier and most
satisfied in your professional
pursuit

14. How about the assignments? Keep up!
Most tutorials, you will have to prepare
one assignment, such as…
• StrengthsQuest
• Skills Matrix Presentation
• Job Posting Research
• Cover Letter/Resume draft
• ECR assessment
Each assignment is worth 2% for a
total of 10% in the course
Assignments will be collected in the first 5 minutes of class. All assignments handed
in late will receive a grade of zero!

15. Skills Matrix
Making your experiences and
and stories come to life.

16. What is your task?Two sets of deliverables.
Assignment: 6 positive STAR stories, 2 failure stories

17. Why do we care?Your career building blocks.
Skills Matrix (positive STAR & failure stories)
Week 6 – 8: Cover Letter
Week 6 – 8: Resume
Week 10 – 12: Interview
The Skills Matrix will help you to
clearly articulate your
experiences and strengths to
employers during the application
and interview process.
It will act as the foundation for the
rest of your professional toolkit.
Professiona
l toolkit

18. Step 1:Translating your strengths into skills.
1. Strategic
SkillsTheme
• Critical thinking
• Playing Devil’s
advocate
2. Achiever
3. Learner
4.Woo
5. Communication
• Leading by example
• Initiative-setting
• Processing data/
information
• Teaching
• Using humour
• Conflict management
• Storytelling
• Persuasion
Applied Situations
• Case competitions
• Problem-solving
situations
• Student extracurriculars
• Project management
• New skill
development
• Mentorship contexts
• Building rapport
with clients
• Team roadblocks
• Entrepreneurial pitches
• Meeting with manager
A positive STAR story is a
structured example of a time
when you exhibited a
personal strength or skill.

19. Step 2: Structuring experiences into STAR.
Situation
• Context
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
Task
• The objective,
issue or
obstacle you
had to over
come.
• Why is this
story
significant?
Action
• The “how”
• What did you
consider/ do to
overcome the
situation
• What skills
were applied
• Your vs. team
actions
Result
• What was the
result of your
actions/
decisions?
• How are they
relevant to the
skill/job?
• Needs to be
employer-
centric
Link
• The “lesson”
• How will I use
this in the
future?
Skill demonstrated: e.g. - Analytical problem-solving
Fill out the 5 areas for each of your skills

20. Step 3: Communicating with STAR statements.
Situation
• During my
internship this past
summer at
Restaurant Brands
International (RBI),
senior executives at
Tim Hortons
Canada were
looking for the best
way to launch the
delivery channel
nationally.
Task
• I was assigned to
create the pilot
menu and action
plan in order to test
the success of the
delivery channel.
• This project was
extremely
important in order
to help digitally
transform the
brand and drive
same-store sales.
Action
• First, I analyzed
months of past
product data and
transactions to
identify key trends
and evaluate top
performing items.
• Then, I built the
menu architecture
on Excel by
collaborating with
SkipTheDishes to
align on technical
requirements.This
fed into further risk
assessments that I
also conducted.
Result
• After pitching the
expansion plan to
the CTO andCMO,
delivery was rolled
out to three test
markets across
Canada: the
GreaterToronto
Area, Calgary, and
Vancouver.
• Delivery was
successfully
adopted by 560
restaurants,
contributing to a
projected sales lift
of 6% WoW.
Link
• Throughout the
problem-solving
process, there were
many ideas and
iterations of the
plan that my team
and I considered.
• Answering broad
ambiguous
questions such as:
”how do we best
launch a delivery
system nationally?”
require structured
thinking and deep
analysis to pitch.
Skill demonstrated: e.g. - Analytical problem-solving
Ensure that each story has logical and clear flow for maximum

21. A failure story is an example of a
time when something went
wrong and the lessons you learned
learned and steps you took to
correct the issue or situation.
These types of questions are very
likely to come up in interviews –
and ones that you definitely need
to prepare ahead of time for!
Failure Stories
What else do we need to prep for? Failures.

22. How to communicate failure? 5-part approach.
Situation
• Context
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
Misstep
• What did I do
wrong?
• How am I
accountable
for the
mistakes
made?
Failure
• What
happened as a
result of my
actions?
Lesson
• What did I
learn through
this failure?
Action Steps
• How did I
overcome OR
what will I do
now, moving
forward?
Emphasize the last two pieces (lesson and actions)

23. How to communicate failure? 5-part approach.
Situation
• I was inTanzania
advising a non-
profit organization
on a growth
strategy. Part of
the engagement
was sourcing
partnership
contracts and
financing in order
to help the client
scale their services.
Misstep
• Instead of adapting
to the East African
culture and
customs during my
pitch to potential
corporate partners,
I underemphasized
building the
relationship.
• I did not double
check with the
senior manager
whether the tone,
language, and
content were
appropriate for this
context.
Failure
• As a result, the two
corporate partners
were not interested
in collaborating
with the client.
• This action was
significant because
it delayed the
project by one
week and led to a
loss in potential
funds by $80,000.
Lesson
• It is extremely
important to tailor
and customize your
messaging and ask
to the audience.
This is especially
true in a globalized
business world.
• Even if your
manager gives you
autonomy and
flexibility in the
deliverable, it is still
important to
follow-up with
them at the end to
ensure alignment.
Action Steps
• Next time, I will
make sure any
content, material,
or items presented
are audience-
centric and impact-
driven.
• Next time, I will ask
my managers and
colleagues to
critically challenge
my work in order to
find other
limitations.
The failure needs to substantial enough for you to show

24. What does a good failure story communicate?
Resilience Authenticity Ability to Learn
✓ ✓ ✓

25. How to connect with me? Many ways!
1. Email:
comm202.7@sauder.ubc.ca
2. One-on-ones: sign ups
available here for timeslots
starting the week of the 24th
3. Tutorials: feel free to approach
me before or after
4. Office hours: available
throughout the term as
assignments come up (keep
posted!)
Call me
maybe?

26. Announcements: what’s on the radar?
1. Fill out your email here to receive course-wide information
2. Sign up for one-on-ones with me week of Sept. 24th (OPTIONAL)
3. Skills Matrix Draft due week of Sept. 24th (START OF CLASS)
4. Skills Matrix (FINAL) dueThurs. Oct. 4th at 11:59 pm onTurnitin
Remember to book your coaching appointments with the BCC before it all fills up!
bit.ly/2NTdcVh

27. Have a great rest of the
week!Remember to smile!
