Weekly Report 3: Symposium from the Other Side

Last week, we finally had our ISM Professional Symposium, and it was amazing. I was curious to see how my experience would differ this year from last year, especially since I was attending with much more knowledge and a deeper understanding of the ISM program. 

In my very first session, extra interviewers were required and I volunteered. That turned into me actually being an interviewer for the entire first session, but I am not complaining because it was actually really fun. I never understood what it was like to be on the other side of the table up until that point. While it was interesting to be the professional, or the one who was asking the questions, I also took away a few learnings that I will be applying to my own interviews going forward. For example, I will practice introducing myself with one or two words that best summarize me, bolding important words on my resume, and making sure that I am smiling throughout the interview. These are things that I already knew before on paper, however, seeing them embodied in actual interviewees reinforced their value in my mind. 

After interviewing for the morning session, I was able to host the Professional Communication workshop along with three other wonderful ISM 2 students for the afternoon session. It did get a bit repetitive after we had already presented the same information three times, but that experience also taught me to bring the same level of enthusiasm each time and made me a better public speaker. The students were quite engaged and their eagerness to get our contact information and learn from us as ISM 2 students made me feel proud of our work and how far we have come in ISM.

Overall, I would say that the symposium was a success, and I hope to come back to it again next year as an ISM 2 alumna.