Personal Observation Essay Example

Class Observation The observation and interview I conducted was for a class at Santa Ana College (SAC) titled “Counseling 116: Career/Life Planning and Personal Exploration”. This class meets twice a week for an hour and 45 minutes. The day that I observed, the professor was focusing on helping the students write their career research papers by engaging in a discussion about skills. He described to students that skills were specific attributes, personal qualities and talents that people bring to their job. There are two types of skills, which were described as hard skills and soft skills. Students were told that hard skills included the training necessary to obtain the job that they want. Soft skills were related as things that students learn every day. Some examples of this were professionally communicating and having good interview techniques. For an activity, the professor asked students to first list five skills that they have and then to share with a partner. Next, he told them to add five more skills to the list and share again. …show more content…
He demonstrated the importance of a firm handshake by having a student come up to the front of the class and shake hands with him and then had students also shake hands with their partners. He also gave the students tips on how to incorporate the list of skills they came up with in the interview process. For instance, the professor related that a good time to showcase the many skills that students have is when they are asked the question, “why should I hire you?” This question, he believes, is precisely a question about skills and how interviewees can be an asset to a