Career Connections, a podcast from South Dakota State University

Critical Thinking - NACE Career Readiness Competency

In this episode, I continue my coverage of the NACE Career Readiness Competencies. The focus here is Critical Thinking, which is a very broad topic so conversations can cover a wide range. To help me with this conversation, I needed someone who oversees something that is also broad in scope, which caused me to look at the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. At South Dakota State University, the college encompasses 7 different schools with a wide range of disciplines and degrees. Who better to help me discuss critical thinking than the person who oversees this college? Dr. David Earnest, who currently serves as the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, joined me to explore the topic of critical thinking and he provides many good items to consider. Dr. Earnest is an accomplished scholar, educator and administrator. I’m sure you will find his thoughts helpful, and I hope you take a moment to reflect on his comments.
 
Links of Interest:
South Dakota State University College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Office of Career Development
100 Years of Solitude
Artist Rene Magritte
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas R. Hofstadter
 

Leadership - NACE Career Readiness Competency

How do people become leaders? What does it take? Is there a manual? Leadership is cited as one of the NACE Career Readiness Competencies and I understand why. Learning how to be a leader is a process that can take a while, and I want college students to start the process while they’re still on campus. There are many ways students can develop as leaders and I highlight a few in this episode.
One of my colleagues on campus joined me to discuss leadership and her perspective is really helpful. Dr. Christi Garst-Santos is the Director and Associate Professor of Spanish in the School of American and Global Studies. After my discussion with her a couple of questions pinged in my brain. What is your story? How are you going to tell your story? Continue listening to learn from Dr. Garst-Santos.
Links of interest:
School of American and Global Studies
Huether PSA
LeadState
Office of Career Development
Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

Technology - NACE Career Readiness Competency

All of us hold a range of comfort with different technologies. Some of us love to engage with new technologies while others continue to struggle with simple tasks such as converting a word document to a pdf. Alas, we don’t have a choice. Every kind of work utilizes different kinds of technology. From barbers to bankers, farmers to educators, technology is a key part of our world. Parts of our lives have improved because of technological advancements, but in my opinion, the use of technology can become a distraction.
This episode on technology, is the final episode in my series on the NACE Career Readiness Competencies. For this conversation, I catch up with a friend of mine to discuss technology as a competency. Catheryn Mancarti has been a friend for a very long time, and I find her to be such an impressive person. When I was trying to come up with a guest for this episode, I thought of her immediately. Much of her professional career has been specifically in tech, but I knew she would also offer up a great perspective.
As you listen to our conversation, consider this- what technologies do you use regularly. Do they add value, or detract? Do they improve your day at work and home? For example, I find file sharing platforms very helpful, yet to truly internalize the information, I still need to print the article and read it on paper away from a computer. What works for you? How can you push yourself in this realm?
Below are some of the links Catheryn mentions during the episode:
Microsoft 365 & Power Platform Community - includes updates register for calls that you can join to see updates stay connected to the community, blogs, sample solutions and more. 
People I follow on LinkedIn for Microsoft Updates 
Satya Nadella - Chairman and CEO - Microsoft
Jared Spataro - Chief Marketing Officer - AI at Work
Dan Holme - Product leader at Microsoft - Viva Engage
Karuana Gatimu - Director, Customer Advocacy - AI & Collaboration
Annual Book of News 
Microsoft Build 2025 Book of News
Within this edition, you’ll learn about more than 50 announcements designed to make it easier for developers to work faster, think bigger and build at scale.
Microsoft Ignite Your home for Microsoft Ignite
This is an annual event that you can attend remotely for free. Awesome sessions, updates on what is happening the next years, round tables etc.
Microsoft Blog's

South Dakota State University - The Employer (Part 1)

This episode is Part 1 in my look at South Dakota State University as an employer. So much goes into keeping this university functioning which requires a multitude of people with different skill sets and expertise. 
Carissa Redenius is the Assistant Director of Classification, Compensation, and Recruitment. She attends all our career fairs we host for students throughout the year as well as helps recruit out in the community. She joined me for the episode to provides details on this work and the benefits of working for South Dakota State University. 
 

Internships, South Dakota State University - The Employer (Part 2)

Are you an employer curious about how to design an internship program?
Or perhaps you are a student interested in an internship in finance, budgeting, or accounting?
Internships and experiential learning are vital to student success and career satisfaction. Therefore, I thought it would be wise to explore the topic of internships.
In Part 2 of my 2-part series on South Dakota State University as an employer I talk with Kaci Richard. She is the Director of Finance and Budget oversees a very successful internship program here on campus. We get into the details of designing an internship program, how to define the scope of the internship and many other aspects to consider.