Student Employee Training

If you have been assigned training modules as part of your work as a library student worker, or in another student employee position, you will need to access the full course materials, available in our Canvas community. To request access to this material, including tools, helpful links, and the required knowledge check quizzes, submit your information on the following form.

Videos have been curated by TAMUG librarians and are accessible via a TAMU SSO subscription to LinkedIn Learning

Introduction to Marketable Skills

Marketable skills, also commonly called transferable skills, are broken down into two categories: soft skills and hard skills. Hard skills are specific, task-related abilities which can potentially transfer from one employment opportunity to the next. Soft skills, on the other hand, are more intangible aptitudes which can determine how successfully you interact with your workplace and perform your job-related tasks.

Objectives

• Understand the importance of transferable "soft skills"
• Recognize the changes in employment trends which make marketable skills increasingly valuable
• Identify examples of transferable skills

Video Resources

• The Trend of Transferable Skills
• Soft Skills Set
• Hard Skills Set

Professionalism

Your employer has a reasonable expectation that you will conduct yourself professionally in the work place. Find definitions, guidance, and examples of professionalism which you should emulate in your current job and in your future career.

Objectives

• Understand that professionalism is a combination of behaviors, actions, and practices
• Identify examples of professional and unprofessional practices

Video Resources

• Be a Professional

Communication

You likely already know how important verbal and written communication is for your job. As a general rule, matching your tone and style of communication to the existing norms of your workplace is a good way to ensure you are starting off on the right foot. But communication is more than writing compelling emails or practicing phone etiquette. Our communication module can help enhance your communication skill set.

Objectives

• Recognize active listening as a key part of effective communication
• Understand the basics of persuasive communication techniques

Video Resources

• Listen to Understand
• What do People Negotiate About?
• Being Persuasive

Creativity

Your current job and your future career path may present you with opportunities to utilize your creativity. Whether you're problem solving, product developing, or creating a new workplace procedure, you should embrace your creative side to bring fresh ideas into the mix.

Objectives

• Develop a personal concept of what it means to be creative
• Recognize routines as the couterbalance of creativity
• Understand brainstorming best practices as a tool for awakening and developing creative thought

Video Resources

• What is Creativity?
• Developing Your Creativity
• Breaking Through with Brainstorming

Critical Thinking & Decision Making

As a college student, you are already engaged in critical thinking in your academic efforts. Explore the concepts of critical thinking and decision making in the workplace. Consider how you can apply your critical thinking skills to your current position, or how they might serve you in your future aspirations.

Objectives

• Recognize your own critical thinking skills and limitations
• Analyze all available information to guide your thinking and decisions
• Ask questions in order to fill information gaps that could affect your ability to thoroughly understand a situation
• Acknowledge the appropriate steps for decision making during stressful situations

Video Resources

• Know Yourself with Critical Thinking
• Critical Thinking with Questions
• Analyzing Information

Teamwork

In the workplace, teams can accomplish more than any single individual. Knowing how to effectively participate as a teammate is a transferable skill that can serve you in virtually any career path.

Objectives

• Understand the power of teams and why they are utilized in the workplace
• Learn how to create goals and build trust within a team
• Recognize what it means to be proactive
• Learn collaboration skills and techniques
• Think strategically in order to serve the goals of a team
• Recognize and demonstrate your own value as a team member

Video Resources

• The Power of Teams
• Prioritize Team Goals and Build Trust
• Be Proactive
• Approach Teamwork Collaboratively
• Thinking Strategically
• Demonstrate Your Value

Problem Solving Basics

Problems don't just solve themselves. Depending on the situation and your role within an organization, you might be asked to participate in problem solving as an individual or within a team. Learn about some basic structures and definitions of well-known problem solving techniques.

Objectives

• Understand problem solving parameters, which center on who is making the final decision
• Review some simple problem solving methods such as the Nominal Group Technique
• Know PERT as a method for solving large-scale problems

Video Resources

• Important Parameters
• Simple Problem-Solving Models
• Complex Problem-Solving Models

Problem Solving: A Functional Approach

You are now ready to consider advanced and more specific approaches to problem solving. Consider the following approaches and potential pitfalls and actively apply them to your experience as an employee or as a student.

Objectives

• Recognize the importance of determining decision criteria
• Review some specific brainstorming session solutions
• Discover decision making tools such as multi-voting
• Understand the importance of an action plan for implementing an identified solution
• Be able to recognize and avoid logical fallacies
• Be able to recognize and avoid data manipulations
• Recognize and anticipate potential group-work pitfalls

Video Resources

• Determining Criteria
• Find Solutions
• Making a Final Choice
• Implementing Solutions
• Avoiding Logical Fallacies
• Avoiding Data Manipulation
• Avoiding Small Group Pitfalls

Social Success at Work

Success at work is largely a function of your intelligence and work ethic. But you need social skills in order to thrive in your career as well. This lesson covers some concepts and skills necessary for you to improve your social skills in the workplace.

Objectives

• Acknowledge that social skills are not innate, and can be learned
• Understand social context as a function of what you know, who you know, and how you add value
• Learn the factors which allow you to build productive relationships
• Understand the importance of networking
• Adopt a service mentality as a means of improving your social skills

Video Resources

• Components of Success
• The Social Context of Work
• Build Productive Relationships
• Networking
• Service Mentality

Time Management

By surveying highly successful people and learning from their example, we can identify trusty techniques for good time management skills. Find some examples and time management hacks that can help you make the most of your time and work and as a student.

Objectives

• Review the top fifteen time-management tools of successful people
• Understand that some time-management skills may seem counter-intuitive at first

Video Resources

• Spend it Wisely
• Managing Time and Tasks
• Beat Procrastination
• Batching Work
• Moving with Energy

This training program is designed to educate and prepare current library student employees to work as peer research consultants. Through a combination of tutor training, information literacy and research methods education, general transferable skills, and culminating in on-the-job training, student workers completing the program will be qualified to assist fellow students in basic and advanced research sessions. While the following provides a basic outline of the training requirements, candidates should refer to their librarian-provided training syllabus to ensure they complete all requires lessons. Full instructional materials, including videos, tools, and knowledge check quizzes are available via our Library Instruction Canvas Community.

Part One: Tutor Essentials

Tutor Essentials is an external training service, not currently hosted in our TAMUG online learning community. Upon acceptance as a Peer Research Consultant trainee, you will be given login credentials to the external Tutor Essentials portal where you will complete all assigned lessons and assessments. See you training syllabus for more details and login information.

Part Two: Research Essentials

• Introduction to Peer Research Consultancy
• Research Process Basics
• Ethics in Research
• The Reference Interview
• Database Search Strategies
• Evaluating Resources
• Information Bias
• Research Publication Process
• Citation & Plagiarism
• Navigating Google Scholar

Part Three: Marketable Skills Training

• Introduction to Marketable & Transferable Skills
• Professionalism
• Communication
• Creativity
• Critical Thinking & Decision Making
• Teamwork
• Problem Solving Basics
• Problem Solving: A Functional Approach
• Social Success at Work
• Time Management

Part Four: On-The-Job Training

Once you complete all asynchronous training materials, you will be contacted to arrange on-the-job training sessions with TAMUG librarians.