I’ve been a career peer educator with the Career Centre for three years, and I always enjoy meeting new people to support them in their career journeys.
I’m going to share my ABC formula of how you can use your own creativity at work on campus…in your own student position!
When starting a new role, it’s common to receive a copy of your position description, which outlines all of your duties and responsibilities. Sometimes, job descriptions don’t capture the full potential of the role and leave out opportunities to be creative.
Exercising your creative side at work has a lot of benefits. It takes you beyond the bare minimum and helps you contribute in exciting new ways.
I find that my creativity has helped in the following ways:
- It’s increased my motivation to do even better at work.
- It’s encouraged collaboration and improved morale.
- It’s contributed to a fun workplace culture!
Creativity in any type of work is welcomed and encouraged by many employers and doesn’t need to be restricted to stereotypically “creative” roles. In a way, creativity is another way of solving problems and bringing your own valuable assets to the team.
Here’s my ABC formula to bring your creativity to work:
A = Authenticity
- Being authentic means bringing your genuine self and unique ideas to the workplace. Instead of using ChatGPT to formulate the next article you write, why not evaluate what matters to you and use your judgment and experiences to come up with your own ideas?
B = Being proactive
- Being proactive means taking the initiative to solve problems before your employer asks for your help. The next time you ask to meet with your manager, consider sending them an agenda and calendar invite before they have to do it on your behalf!
C = Challenge yourself
- Challenging yourself means taking risks with your ideas and owning them. Even if your ideas don’t work out as planned, there’s always something to learn from the experience. Instead of giving up after an unsuccessful idea, why not reflect on the outcome and try a different approach next time?
An example of how to use the ABC formula
When I wanted to help promote student connection and open dialogues about mental health at U of A, this is how I took action:
- A = I came up with an idea to share stories with the student community through my position with the YouAlberta blog because it has a broad reach. This idea came from a genuine need to assist the students struggling with each other’s stories as a way to encourage collaboration and support.
- B = I took the initiative to connect with an expert for advice on where and how to record stories on campus. I figured out how to use a camera, record with different lights and planned meetings ahead of time to discuss boundaries of conversations.
- C = I learned to challenge myself to improve future outcomes. I recorded various videos in fun ways and met many new people along the way! I also took feedback from professionals and started conversations about relevant topics that impacted students personally.
Creativity takes many forms. It can be art with oil pastels, but if you haven’t used colours before, it’s absolutely okay. One way to show your creativity is through problem solving – bringing yourself to the table of contributions, as you are, with your own unique perspective – with or without oil pastels!
You can apply my ABC formula to problem-solving and have more fun at your student placements, or create your own formula too.
What’s one small step you can take today in your student role to be more creative?