From left to right Guest speaker Daedreen Peterkin and Host Alice Hsiung
Summary
When you leave school, don’t expect to instantly get a job. You need to put the work in and be ready for rejections. Daedreen Peterkin is a former Centennial student from Project Management program, who graduated in 2018, and now works as a project manager at Impact Packaging. Before that, she ran into job rejection and the classic problem of not having enough experience. What did she do to get where she is? Listen to find out.
Alice: Hello and welcome to episode one of the Career Resilience podcast series. My name is Alice Hsiung and I’m the coordinator for Career Services here at Centennial College. It’s my pleasure to interview Daedreen Peterkin who graduated from Centennial College’s Project Management program. She’s here to share with us her career journey as she transitions from college to career.
Podcast Intro: The career journey is rarely linear. It is full of twists and turns. Because of this, we know that the transition from school to work can feel scary, uncertain and challenging. To address this, we’ve developed this podcast series to chat about career resilience with guest speakers to show that you are not alone on this journey. Career resilience is the mindset that allows people to pursue their career goals and bounce back, pivot, and thrive when confronted with challenges such as difficult job search, a failed school program, job loss, and changes, or career uncertainty. In this podcast series, we will focus on five skills that allow us to thrive when unexpected events happen. They are: curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism and risk taking.
Alice: Welcome Daedreen, how are you doing today?
Daedreen: I’m doing well, thank you. And how are you?
Alice: I’m doing very well. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today to share your story of career resilience; how you were able to navigate this bumpy road ahead. And also in your case, the bumpy road in the past – how you transitioned from student t employee.
Daedreen: Thank you, it’s a pleasure.
Alice: Perhaps you can just briefly introduce the work that you’re doing right now and what role that is in your current place of work.
Daedreen: Okay. So I currently work at a company by the name of Impact Packaging, which is five minutes away from Centennial. And I am employed as a project manager. My job role includes customer service, procurement, and a bit of finance. In a day to day basis I deal with different challenges, so one of the main things that my job entails is problem solving. You have to be detail oriented and you have to keep a clear head. So, when I go to work, I try to leave my home thoughts behind so I can focus. Because you have to be focused in my job. The simplest error causes a big ripple effect. I do enjoy my job, it’s very challenging; it keeps you thinking, it keeps you on your toes. And it’s a small business and we are quite like a small family – it’s just ten of us [Laughs]. I’m excited to go to work every day. I feel appreciated by my boss and my peers. So, I do enjoy my job, I must say that.
Alice: Wonderful. I’m so glad to hear that. So, Centennial current students, you can see that life after Centennial can be rewarding.
Daedreen: Yes, it can be, it can be.
Alice: So let’s talk about how you got to be where you are today. So obviously you’ve had many different experiences, some challenges, some really rewarding experiences. So focusing on the concept of career resilience, which brought you to where you are today, what does career resilience mean to you?
Daedreen: Okay, for me, I would think that career resilience is basically putting your best foot forward, regardless of the challenges that you face towards getting to that right career or something that you’re passionate about. When I graduated from Centennial, I thought that I would leave school and I’d be right in that job. But to be honest, it did not work out that way. I graduated and I was panicking because I thought I like to be constantly on the move, so I just felt strange not to have anything to do.
Alice: No classes.
Daedreen: Well, I don’t miss those! [Laughs] But it just felt strange not to be getting up each day with a purpose and, you know, earning money. I applied to multiple different firms—small businesses, large businesses—and didn’t get any calls. And one of my professors recommended me to a company because she thought that my experience and the project management certification that I had would give me a good opportunity in that job. I did the interview and I thought, ‘yes, I’m definitely getting this job,’ because the interviewer really liked me and thought I was a great candidate, and the only issue he had was he thought I did not have any experience. And I was still believing that regardless of that, I was gonna get this job. And I really was there and I was like, yes I’m gonna hear from this company. I didn’t until two weeks after he got to me and said, “you know, we had to move on, even though we thought you were a great candidate. The fact that you did not have any experience was something we had to consider another candidate over.” And that really broke my heart because I really thought I was going to get that job and I just decided, you know what, this did not work out but something better is probably out there. And I just decided to stop being picky about the types of jobs that I wanted to choose. So I stuck to my chosen field, which is project management. But instead of being picky about, okay this one pays this amount of money, I looked for jobs that were more entry level because I know that I don’t have the experience. And I just pushed myself and applied, applied, applied. And then I ended up with this job. That’s what happened. So it’s really about pushing yourself, working hard, even in the face of disappointment, telling yourself that the right job is out there. Sometimes you just have to start small before you get to where you really want. So that is my idea of career resilience.
Alice: Okay, wonderful! That’s a great example, and obviously you had a really good professor. He saw something in you and connected you with possible opportunities. Even though it didn’t work out, you were able to learn from that situation then continue to go forward. That’s great. So, the other thing I wanted to ask you was, is there a time in your life when you thought something was going to work out and unfortunately things didn’t’ quite turn out the way you thought it would. And what did you learn from that particular situation?
Daedreen: Okay, I had another similar experience in the past. While I was at school I applied for a few part time jobs and I thought that I would’ve gotten a really good part time job –something where you’d be earning a lot of money but it wouldn’t affect your time in school. And the places that I applied to, none of them got back to me except for Hallmark. And ironically, I started working at Hallmark and I thought, ‘I love this job,’ because I am a people person. I’m optimistic by nature so I’m always telling people that things will work out and I try to keep people happier around me, and that is the aim of Hallmark—making people happy.
Alice: That was the culture.
Daedreen: Yeah, that’s the culture. So, things didn’t work out the way I expected them to, but they worked out the way they should have. So I was very happy with my part-time job—I loved it, even when I started working full time I still worked there. Even though I was completely burnt out [Laughs] I worked there for another year and month because the store closed, but it didn’t work out, I didn’t give up, and it placed in me in a position where I met some really amazing people and working there I met people from different cultures, different countries. It was an eye-opening experience for me, which I would not have gotten if I had thought, ‘I really wanted to work at Walmart,’ or I wanted to work part-time at Centennial, and it didn’t work out. I’m not applying anywhere else. I still decided to keep applying and just telling myself that when something doesn’t work out, it is for a reason.
Alice: So you taking a chance on something that you thought might not be the best fit for you and being open-minded about this actually worked out for you.
Daedreen: Yeah, it worked out really tremendously for me.
Alice: Yeah, that’s wonderful to hear. So, keep that in mind, students. Be open-minded when you’re looking for a job or planning for a career and sometimes unexpected things happen. You had a very realistic goal as well, and you set clear goals: I want to stay within the field of project management, it doesn’t have to be exactly what I want 100%. Okay, great! So I know you’ve kind of hinted at some of the strategies that you used to help you along this journey and to navigate through the ups and downs of the career journey. What are some strategies that worked for you as you went through the transition from student to employee?
Daedreen: To be honest, the main thing that was really helpful to me was my attitude towards the future. As I was saying (and I’m gonna keep saying this), I’m optimistic. I try to be positive. Because the fact is, if we have a negative attitude towards your future or towards plans that you may have, then things won’t work out. You have to have a positive mindset. Sometimes we have to self-motivate, or we need to be around people who are very self-motivated. So my personality aided in a great way. I was optimistic. I tried my best. It was not always all optimism, there were times when I was like, ‘oh my goodness, this is not working out’. And I’m frustrated. But the thing is, I was surrounded by some really positive people. People who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. So building meaningful connections is also another way that you can catapult yourself into your true calling or your true destiny in the job and career world. I met some really exceptional professors here at Centennial and I maintained the connections, even after I left school and they have helped in a great way, to be honest. Susan was our lecturer for our career course and she taught us a lot of different things that we needed to apply for the future job world. And she also brought in some really interesting speakers for different topics, whether it’s LinkedIn, your resume and so forth. Some of these speakers were willing to connect with us, and I did build connections with them and I learned from them. And I didn’t just say, “okay, I’ll keep in touch with you,” I actually did communicate with them, and I asked questions. These people, sometimes they will share postings of job opportunities, or if I have a question, I’ll ask, “what do you think about this career? Can I have coffee with you to discuss this?” and so forth. So, meaningful connections, positive attitude, they will really bring you far. Especially when you leave school and you expect the things that you learn in school to translate into the working world. It’s good to have people who have experience in the careers that you choose to be in in the future. They can tell you how realistic you’re being. And also they can guide you as to how you can make yourself better for whatever your chosen career path is.
Alice: Great, wonderful! So what I’m hearing is that a powerful recipe or formula to career success would be your own personal attitude – in your case, optimism, never giving up, and also surrounding yourself with wonderful people who are your cheerleaders, basically. Whatever the situation may be to cheer you on, and help you pick yourself up off the ground and continue to keep going. The power of networking, I think you shared that as well. And often people sometimes forget how powerful that can be. And you really maintained the relationship; you didn’t just reach out to them. You kept maintaining that. So, shout-out to the business school and Susan.
Daedreen: [Laughs] I hope she doesn’t kill me for calling her name.
Alice: She is awesome, I like her as well. So, I think we’ve talked a lot about maintaining a positive attitude during these times. Is there anything specific you wanted to add to that piece?
Daedreen: The thing is, the reason why I really stress being positive is many of our lecturers and career coaches or whomever us students deal with do not realize that many students are facing mental health issues. The pressure of matching up; the pressure of being an A student at all times; the pressure of graduating and going into that perfect job. Sometimes these things really affect us as students, and you don’t really know how to handle them. So that’s why I keep saying you have to be positive; you have to find people in your life who are your cheerleaders who will encourage you and who will have the right tools so you can get that career you choose to be in. As I said, you just really have to push yourself, have the right people in your corner, and hope for the best. It’s not always going to be smooth; definitely not. Definitely not. But one thing that helps me is faith. Some persons are religious, some persons aren’t. So, for the persons who aren’t religious—meditation. For the persons who have a religious background—prayer. These things help. You’ll see many students, there’s a prayer room here at the college and sometimes they’ll go between classes to go into the room to pray, and that helps them to really go through their day. And go through the semester because many times we are pressured by all the projects. All the deadlines that we need to meet. And then, many of us have children or part-time jobs, and you come to school and sometimes you are just so broken and tired. There’s nothing really motivating you except, ‘I want to finish, I need to get a job. This all better be for something.’ That’s what some people are thinking. So, some form of faith to help you go through everything and just trying your best to be positive in the face of adversity. It’s not easy, but the important thing is that you try.
Alice: Right. Yes, wonderful. Just keep going and trying. And I think for each one of us we need to figure out what helps us to stay positive. Because you mentioned for some people it’s faith, for others maybe mediation. So everyone has something that works for them. And we need to figure out what that is. That’s a great tip. So, why do you think it’s important for us as students, as recent grads, to create resilience in our lives?
Daedreen: It’s very important because if you are faced with a disappointment, and you allow that to temporarily cripple you, then your future is probably going to be non-existent. You have to be determined. So resilience and determination work hand-in-hand. If you are determined to reach a certain goal, you will push yourself. Yes you will need some form of motivating factor probably outside of your self—a person, a thing, or you could possibly be looking at someone (let’s say Mohammad Ali) who you could look to and say, okay this guy really fought the fight to get to where he was to become a champion boxer. I have to push myself. I’m not going to become one of the world’s most successful women by, “oh, I didn’t get through with that job. Maybe I shouldn’t even bother applying.” You have to really be determined to achieve your goals. And you have to want it bad enough. It’s not gonna just happen. You have to really desire and want your goal bad enough. And if you find yourself in a spot where you want it bad enough, don’t just give up. Giving up is like saying, “okay life, you win. You threw me a curve ball and I’m not even going to try to throw it away.” You have to really just push yourself—I keep saying these things, but it’s all about the push. Stay focused; be determined to achieve your goals. Some persons, it may not be a massive goal. It might be, “okay, I really want to work at Mercedes.” Something simple. Or I want to be able to own a franchise like Mr. Greek or something. It’s not gonna happen with you just saying, “one door closed, it’s not for me.” You have to keep pushing yourself. Sometimes you have to go through ten doors before you get to where you want to be. Sometimes you have to be told “no” fifty times before you reach to that point. Sometimes you have to hear people say really bad things about you, and look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am not this. I am not a failure. I am strong. I am confident. I will achieve my goals.” You have to self-motivate, you have to push. You have to just think, “I need to achieve this, I want to achieve this. This is going to be the source of my happiness.” And work towards it.
Alice: That’s wonderful. So, obviously you’re a very positive person. You have something that inspires you to want to keep going. You mentioned faith before. I’m very curious. Do you have some kind of inspirational quotes or pictures or something in your home that when you wake up early in the morning you say that’s what I’m gonna do. How do you keep this positivity inside you?
Daedreen: This is going to sound so strange, but sometimes I just sit and little positive nuggets come into my brain. And I also listen to motivational speakers. For example, one of my favourites is actually a pastor but anyone can listen to him whether you’re from a faith background or not. His name is Joel Osteen. He’s spoken on being positive and he’s all about the positive, that’s basically what I’m saying. And sometimes I will recite things that I’ve heard him say because I listen to a lot of his podcasts. And sometimes I will hear him speak about different things like how you need to be positive in the face of weakness. And all sorts of different things. And when I get up in the morning, have my quiet time, sometimes I just stand there I’m like, “today’s gonna be a good day. I’m going to smile all day.” I’m a smiler. People know me to smile. If people don’t see me smiling or not talking, they know something is wrong. [Laughs].
Alice: Should we leave you alone? [Laughs]
Daedreen: Yeah. So using motivational speakers, having really positive people in your life. Those are the things that help me personally to be as positive as I am.
Alice: Okay, that’s wonderful. I think we’re kinda jumping ahead already. Let’s talk a bit about the next tip which is, what are some skills and tips you can share with Centennial students to help them stay resilient in their career journey?
Daedreen: I think we kinda jumped back and forth. Back to maintaining really good professional relationships. Build some strong foundations with people and places where you want to be. Be friends with who you want to be. So try to meet people—these networking events they encourage us to go to at school, they are actually really helpful. I’ve met some really good people there. I’ve met some friends there. Yes, I’ve met some at events and now they’re my friends. So they are helpful, they are helpful. And that’s the first thing. Maintaining strong professional relations. The next thing is being realistic about your career goals. Many of us, yes we would like to be a project manager or we’d like to be a supply chain manager, and we have no experience. We have zero experience. We’ve been going to school, and now we’re 23 or 22 and we’re ready to start our career, and we have no experience. And we apply to these jobs. Yes, there are times when some of these employers will see something in you regardless of the fact that you don’t have the experience. They’ll see the drive, the desire in your eyes and everything, and they will employ you regardless of not having the experience. But if you don’t get employed, always remember that is just one closed door. An open door is somewhere down the line. But you have to start small sometimes. Sometimes you want to be the supply chain manager, you have to just start as someone on the order desk or someone in the receiving line. Work your way up. You just need to keep that goal at the top of your mind and don’t think that “okay I graduated today, tomorrow I’m going to get a job as a project manager or supply chain manager or whatever.” You cannot think like that all the time. Yes, it’s good to be positive and expects the best, but you have to be realistic.
Alice: It’s always good to have that end goal—the long term goal—in mind. But currently, in the meantime, think about some realistic steps you can take to get there.
Daedreen: Yes. Yes. The next thing I would encourage them to do is be willing to learn and to listen.
Alice: Okay, that’s very important.
Daedreen: Yes, listening. So the thing is, some of us may have experiences from different jobs that we undertook before we decided to go back to school. For myself, I have customer service and accounting experience, but it was in a different country. And, let’s say you’re from India, you’re from Russia, you’re from Jamaica like myself, and you move here, you go to school, you have that experience. That experience may be completely different from what is done in this culture. So you need to be willing to learn, “okay I know that in my culture we did this, but in this culture, things are different. So am I willing to learn about the culture and adapt to the change that is being placed in front of me.
Alice: Being flexible.
Daedreen: Yes, being flexible. And willing to adapt to change. And will I listen when I’m being taught these new things? Don’t be stubborn. Yeah, don’t be stubborn and grounded in your ways because okay I did it this way in my country and this way in my previous job, so why am I supposed to do it this way in this new job? No, you have to listen, and you have to genuinely want to learn in order for you to grow. If you are not willing to listen or willing to learn from what you are seeing on a day to day basis, or what you are being taught, then you will not achieve your goals. You will become stagnant. Yeah, so you have to be willing to listen, willing to learn.
Alice: Daedreen, you mentioned that it’s very important to make professional connections. Have there been any opportunities on campus that provided you that chance to connect with potential employers or industry partners?
Daedreen: When I started school at Centennial, there was a part-time job fair in the first semester. I applied to multiple candidates and that’s actually where I got my part-time job from Hallmark. Because the Hallmark manager was actually there promoting jobs there. Not many people were there, I just decided to walk up to her and offer my resume and be my normal candid, friendly self. And I got the job! So that’s how I got my part-time job. In terms of my current career, I actually used a career job website to find that. I applied to a bunch of jobs outside of the career website through indeed and through LinkedIn and so forth. But my job that I have I applied on the career website and I got it (on Experience Centennial). Yes, yes, that’s how I got it.
Alice: Oh wonderful! Well, that’s good to hear that students are using our services and that they have been very effective for you.
Daedreen: Yes, the resources are actually very helpful. We just need to take advantage of them and actually listen to professors when they tell us that we should use them.
Alice: Wonderful. Thank you for sharing that success story.
Daedreen: No problem.
Alice: Thank you for tuning in to our podcast today. I’m sure you got inspired by Daedreen’s contagious positive attitude and optimistic outlook. Join us next time for episode two, when Employment Advisor, Elizabeth Manzato interviews Rashab Kanodia, who graduated from Centennial College’s Financial Planning program and is currently working at CIBC.