Career Services Team Building

Entry by Kristijonas Paltanavicius, Peer Career Advisor, Wabash College Career Services

My name is Kristijonas Paltanavicius. I am an international student from Lithuania at Wabash College. I am a junior theater major and aspire to have a career in theatrical directing. During my two years at Wabash I presented at a few scholarly events, received three grants to do research, did two major directing projects and found many other ways to express my creative self. This semester is particularly exciting to me because, besides all my projects and classes, I am a part of the peer career advisor team at the Career Services.

Just two months ago I was in Washington DC, and somebody at the airport asked me about my accent and where I was from. “I’m from Indiana,” I said. It came out unintentionally, and I immediately realized it was true in terms of how I felt about Wabash. However, I never felt more at home until I started working at the Career Services office on campus. All of my co-workers welcomed me very warmly when I first entered the office as a new peer career advisor. It usually takes time for me to adjust to a new group of people and a new environment, but I felt like a part of the team starting with our first meeting three weeks ago. Instead of being assigned to do ‘newbie’s’ duties’ (which I had to do in all my previous jobs) I was encouraged to take initiative and be a sufficient part of the team from the very beginning.

The most fascinating part of my experience at the Career Services office so far was our team-building process. Scott Crawford—the director of Career Services—took the entire peer advisor team to do low/high ropes. All the peer career advisors had to come up with decisions to problems very quickly and carry collaborative ideas out in unison. Such activities as coordinating blindfolded members of our team in certain challenging tasks and being responsible for their performance and safety allowed us to get to know one another immediately. We also discovered one another’s biggest strengths and realized what role we could best play in the team.

Another important part of team-building was based on the Meyers Briggs personality test. To make our team work as effectively as possible, we all took the test and were put in groups according to the type of personalities we have. I learned a lot more about myself, which is important, no matter what task I do. The personality test also helped me get to know my partner peer advisor better, which allows him to help me deal with tasks that are new to me better.

Since my freshman year I have been intrigued by the charisma of the Career Services at Wabash and feel honored to have a chance to work in this highly dynamic office. Every peer advisor is different and has lots of potential in multiple areas. It creates a very positive atmosphere at the office which is very inspiring and energizing. Trust, collaboration, and understanding bind all the peer career advisors into a team where I feel welcome to be myself and express my ideas. I am thousands of miles away from the place where I grew up and lived most of my life, but, thanks to the Career Services staff, I feel at home.