The Halfway Point: Six Months into My AmeriCorps Term
On May 18th, I will have reached the half-way
point of my AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) term with Connections to Success, a non-profit that
seeks to break the cycle of poverty through training, mentorship, support and
hope. I have really enjoyed what I have learned so far, but there are a few
things I wish I had known when I had started.
1. Don’t be afraid to
take initiative.
Yes, it’s always important to run things by your supervisor
when working on a project. But your department’s team may be looking to someone
with fresh new ideas who’s willing to make new connections with new
individuals. And if you sometimes overstep your bounds and mess up, learn from
your mistakes and head back on the right track.
2. You don’t have to like
everyone that you work with, but you should respect them and perceive them as
your ally.
So you may be an extrovert, and your colleague may be an
introvert. You may not see eye to eye on everything or may not laugh at the
same jokes or share the same cultural background. That doesn’t change that you
are both in the same work that you are both passionate about, so why not work
as allies?
3. Don’t always say
yes, but be willing to be flexible.
If you are new to a job or are in entry-level work, you may
be just excited to just have the opportunity to work at “x” organization or
corporation. That doesn’t mean that you should always be saying “yes” to every
project and task, knowing that tasks do add up and can overwhelm you. Sometimes
there needs to be an individual who just jumps in the moment to help out on a
busy day, but if you can see another curve ball of projects coming your way, pick
and choose which tasks really relate to your focus and mission at the
organization and what you would like to work on as well.
4. Keep growing and
learning.
There won’t always be a mentor or coach on the sidelines looking
out for your next best interests or training for the job. If you see something
that would benefit and improve your work at your job, research it and go after
it. Be sure to tell your supervisor/boss about the opportunity before you
pursue it to not conflict any interests. There are also personal passions for
careers that you can look into after work as well.
For example, I really enjoy the work that I do for
Connections to Success when it comes to data entry and building the newsletter,
but I am really passionate about diplomacy as a career. So, I spend time
researching training opportunities related to database management as well as I
invest my time outside of work attending international relations topic specific
lectures, festivals and more outside of work as provided by local universities
and public libraries.
5. Give praise first
and then offer constructive criticism.
No matter the mistakes that happen with an event or project,
high five your team member first and congratulate him or her on a job well done
before adding suggestions for the next time. It’s really important to offer
praise where praise is due, regardless of the outcome, and there needs to be a
waiting period (sometimes even a day or two) before the assessment. This builds
healthy colleague relationships and trust that you care about the worker as
much as you do about the work that he or she completes.
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