Sarah’s been at her IDP magic again. This time with Jai. A Civil Engineering student and a mutual friend of ours whom we ran into at a café during our bi-weekly check-in lunch date. Sarah and I were standing in line, waiting our turn, while I deliberated on whether to order a slice of chocolate or carrot cake. Although a decision not to be taken lightly, for me, a creature of habit, it was a no-brainer. “I had the carrot cake last time. It was delicious. I'm going to order it again,” I said.
When, all of a sudden, Jai, who was standing behind us, blurted out, “I wish deciding on which internship to apply for were that easy! Like, I totally don’t know what to do. I’ve managed to cut it down to four choices. Two in the private sector and two NGOs. But I still have to cut down by another two, and I only have a week to finalize my applications, but I’m so paralyzed with indecision that I can barely think straight!”
Now, I’m not usually one to claim serendipity was involved, but if I were, it would be then. In response to Jai's cry for help, Sarah’s eyes lit up. Her expression went from restful to pensive. I could almost hear the little wheels turning around and around her brain. “You want to join us to talk it over?” She asked him. “Maybe we can help you.”
Five minutes later, Sarah was coaching Jai to write down a list of five values. Meanwhile, I sat back with my carrot cake and enjoyed the show. And it went a little something like this:
“Values related to the internship?” asked Jai.
“Forget about your internship for a moment,” Sarah responded. “For now, I want you to try to think back to some of the values that drove your motivation to study Civil Engineering in the first place.”
“Such as?”
“Well, some people go into a field because they want to contribute to making the world a better place. In doing so, they might want a work environment that respects diversity. Contribution and diversity are both values. Whereas others might be guided by a profession where they can choose their own schedule and choose their own projects. Autonomy and flexibility are also values. However, both of these people might be driven by the shared value of attaining work-life balance.”
“You mean like how I was compelled to study civil engineering because I wanted to help improve water supply and sanitation in developing countries?”
“Exactly.”
“But what if, between then and now, I racked up a massive student loan, and as much as I’d love to get experience with an NGO, the reality is that the pay is nowhere near working for, say, a big construction firm? Not to mention that my family back home is counting on me to help them out financially, too. I’m the eldest son; it’s my role.”
“Well, that leads us to the next two steps. First is to divide your values into needs, wants and neutral (could take it or leave it). For example, let’s say you’ve established your top five values as tradition, contribution, work-life balance, (financial) stability and cooperation. From what I’m hearing, at this time of your life, although you want to prioritize contribution, you need to prioritize tradition and financial stability. But the thing about needs and wants is that they often shift over time and circumstance. Currently, you need a high-paying job, but later on, once you’re most financially stable, it might be more of a want or even something you could take or leave. The bottom line is that you can have it all, just not always at the same time or from the same source. Does that make sense?”
“On paper, sure. But what if by the time I’m financially stable enough to take an NGO job, no one will hire me because I don’t have the required skills because I’ve been too busy making money? I think that’s what worries me the most.”
“Great question! That brings us to step two: creating your Skills Matrix.”
“Skills what?”
“Skills Matrix,” exclaimed Sarah. “Take out two more blank pieces of paper. First, I want you to write down a list of skills that you feel are important for your professional success and well-being. Examples could include public speaking, computer programming, networking, teaching, writing, working under pressure, exercise, etc.”
“OK. Done. Now what?”
“Now, on the second piece of paper, I want you to draw a big square divided into four. Then, based on your list of skills, I want you to write the ones you are both good at and enjoy in the top right quadrant. This is your mastery quadrant. Next, in the lower right-hand quadrant, write down skills that you are good at it but don’t generally enjoy. This is your burn-out quadrant. The lower left-hand quadrant is skills that you neither enjoy nor feel good about. This is your stress quadrant. Finally, the upper left-hand quadrant includes things that you are not necessarily good at (yet!) but enjoy. This is your growth quadrant. You’ll be naturally motivated to work on developing these growth skills because they’re important to you. You’ll also probably notice that your values drive them. Such as the skills you feel you need to be able to work for an NGO. The growth category is a key area to focus on while trying to select an internship. Finally, I want you to rank all of these skills based on ability, enjoyment and importance and then choose five that you want to focus on in your internship. Ideally, there’d be one from your mastery, two or three from your growth and no more than one from your stress and burnout quadrants”
“But that brings me back to my problem! The areas of growth I want to work on conflict with my need for financial security!”
“True. But not hopelessly so. You see, it’s at this point that you explore alternative ways to balance this conflict.”
“Such as?”
“Such as maybe considering an internship in the public sector. It might not give you exactly the NGO experience you’re looking for, but perhaps it aligns more with some of your other wants than the construction firm-”
“--or maybe I could put my triathlon training on hold for a few months!” Jai interrupted excitedly. “And use the extra time to volunteer with a local NGO instead! I can exercise during my lunch break at the construction firm. They have a gym in the basement. Or maybe volunteering overseas during the summer break would be even better. Perhaps I don’t even need to go overseas. I overheard someone the other day talking about a water security project right here in Quebec, up North. That would look fantastic on my CV, wouldn’t it? Maybe there’s a grant that…
Needless to say, at this point of the show, like me, Sarah wasn’t needed much at all anymore. Jai was making his own magic. In fact, she’d become so obsolete that, while Jai was busy elaborating on his Skills Matrix and exploring his options, she took the time to go and order herself a piece of carrot cake.
“Oh, wow!” she exclaimed after she sat back down and took her first bite. “This is particularly good carrot cake.”
“Right?” I replied. “How ‘bout I buy you a whole cake to take home in exchange for you helping me with my Skills Matrix?”
“Sure. But only if you take half of it home. Oh, and make it chocolate. It’s important to branch out a little, you know?” she said jokingly. “Especially for creatures of habit like you.”
“Speaking of which. My supervisor said something I’m really not feeling comfortable--”
To be continued…
For more detailed information on Understanding Your Values and building your Skills Matrix, visit our website: www.mcgill.ca/mypath.
The deadline to register for Summer internships for the Graduate Internship Program for Engineering and Computer Science for Master’s students is February 28, 2023. Students are encouraged to fill out an IDP – Planning for your Internship - worksheet as preparation.