About the Author

My name is Madison DiSalvo. I am a 3rd-year Recreation and Leisure Studies student at Brock University. This blog was written as part of my coursework within Dr. Corliss Bean’s ‘Recreation and Leisure Services Field Experience’ class. In this blog, l take you through my perspective as a student in a fieldwork placement. I discuss three important professional development concepts that I feel have impacted me personally throughout my placement experience, including networking, intercultural competence, and career exploration.

Networking 

Network learning, also referred to as networking, is described as “learning in which information and communications technology is used to promote connections: between one learner and other learners; between learners and tutors; between a learning community and its learning resources” (Anders, 2018, p.15).  

• As a professional you can use networking to enhance your connections within the field. It is important to consider networking within professional development as it is a tool that allows you to expand your knowledge and increase opportunities for yourself within your career.  
• You can implement networking into your professional development by reaching out to others around you. Showing your interest to learn and share with other professionals can open up doors in your career. Simply having conversations with individuals allows you to understand and experience other perspectives than your own.  

Intercultural Competence 

Intercultural competence is described as “a set of behaviours, attitudes and policies that come together in a system, agency or among professionals to enable (them) to work effectively in cross-cultural situations” (Burdett, 2014, p.15).  

• Intercultural competence has been identified as integral for professional development. In the real world, you cannot choose who you work with. In your professional career you will work with individuals who all have different backgrounds. To work efficiently, you will have to develop an understanding for those with different values, beliefs, and experiences.  
• Creating a sense of intercultural competence allows you to engage with others in a respectful manner, as you cannot successfully advance your career if you are not open-minded, inclusive, and sensitive to everyone around you.  
• You can implement intercultural competence within your professional career by allowing yourself to learn and engage with others who represent different cultures and/or backgrounds than your own. Asking questions and surrounding yourself with opportunities to gain a better understanding of differences amongst individuals, is crucial within your professional career.  

Career Exploration 

“Career exploration facilitates the establishment of coherent career plans, the pursuit of a personally meaningful work life, the management of rapid changes, and assists individuals to deal with diverse transitions in life.” (Jiang et al., 2019, p. 338).  

• Career exploration is important for professional development as it provides you with opportunities to explore your interests and goals. Allowing yourself to create a deeper understanding of your own career aspirations is beneficial when moving forward in your profession.  
• You can implement career exploration into your own life by taking time to think about where you see yourself in the future. You can create a plan of how you will accomplish your professional goals. Career exploration allows you to take time to reflect on your own professional journey. 

Professional Development within my Placement Experience

My placement involved working with Brock University’s External Relations. The key tasks within this placement include planning and setting up for events such as Fall Preview Day, Recreation and Leisure (RECL) Alumni event, representing Recreation and Leisure Studies Department at the Ontario University Fair in Toronto, and designing online resources for RECL Departments use. Throughout my time working alongside Brock University’s External Relations with the Recreation and Leisure Studies Department, I experienced first-hand the importance of networking, intercultural competence, and career exploration as it pertains to professional development.  

 My placement has provided me with many new networking opportunities, as I worked closely with the department’s experiential education coordinator, as well as our academic advisor. These two professionals are great connections to moving forward with my own career development. They have allowed me to share my own ideas as well as expressed their knowledge and experiences within the field. Not only that, I was able to network with prospective students through my placement hours at the Ontario University Fair.  

Intercultural competence was a huge factor when it came to interacting with others at the Ontario University Fair. I was required to engage with so many different individuals from various backgrounds and lived experiences. This experience allowed me the opportunity to be surrounded by students who had so much to teach me about cultures other than my own. It was important to consider my own intercultural competence within my role at the event. Everyone should be able to express and feel comfortable when having a conversation with someone from an educational institute. It was crucial for me to be open-minded, inclusive, and sensitive to those around me.  

This placement provided me the opportunity to continue my own career exploration. While I have an idea of how I would like my career to play out, it is always important to continue to look at other avenues that may spark my interest. In placement tasks, I have been looking at RECL alumni and their own professional careers, which has been quite diverse, including individuals working in health care, managing municipal facilities, professors at universities, outdoor program facilitators, and many more. So far, this placement has opened my eyes to all the different pathways and possibilities this degree can offer. In reflecting on my placement so far, it is so important to take advantage of every opportunity provided to you as professional development is on-going and beneficial to your career. 

References

Anders, A. D. (2018). Networked learning with professionals boosts students’ self-efficacy for social networking and professional development. Computers and Education, 127, 13–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.08.009 

Burdett, J. (2014). Students achieving intercultural competence through group work : realised or idealised? Journal of International Education in Business, 7(1), 14–30. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-05-2013-0017 

Dakin, D. (2016). OUA best mascot [Photograph]. Brock University. https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2016/05/brock-wins-best-mascot-best-new-marketing-inititive-at-oua-awards/

The Brock News. (2022). Fall preview day [Photograph]. Brock University.  https://brocku.ca/brock-news/tag/fall-preview-day/ 

Jiang, Z., Newman, A., Le, H., Presbitero, A., & Zheng, C. (2019). Career exploration: A review and future research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 338–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.08.008