Leadership Experience

[luvthemhogs]

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I was reading a thread earlier about interviews and the poster mentioned leadership experience. I was just wondering what all of yall have done with respect to leadership. I do some community service everynow now and then but wouldn't really call it gaining leadership experience. What is something I could do to get more leadership experience? thanks guys

 

[al-majhul]

I was reading a thread earlier about interviews and the poster mentioned leadership experience. I was just wondering what all of yall have done with respect to leadership. I do some community service everynow now and then but wouldn't really call it gaining leadership experience. What is something I could do to get more leadership experience? thanks guys

If you need to get leadership experience you want to put yourself in a position where you're making important and time-sensitive decisions. I'll give you some examples of what I did while in undergrad.

I was the editor of a cultural newsmagazine. I had a staff of about 30 or so people, and I was in charge of all aspects of the paper -- from the editorial content, to the business side, to whatever's left. This particular activity also helped show that I was well-rounded: who'd have guessed that a science major was the editor of a magazine?

If the idea of editing papers scares you, and you want to stick with something in your field -- how about heading up a research team? That was another thing I did. I found a professor who was an advisor, and I did a research project with a couple other students. I was the principle investigator, however, so that gave me somewhat more exposure to leadership duties.

Just a few thoughts. 🙂

 

[Ning]

Hi,

I actually didn't have that much leadership experience. In high school, I was the treasurer of an Asian club. In college, I was the project leader in this organization whereby we created a coloring book using student's drawings and then donated them with crayons to less fortunate children.

If you lack on the leadership side, try to enhance your resume with other aspects. For me, I ended up taking up several different jobs during college (EKG tech., researcher, lab attendant). Good luck!

Ning-Ju

 

[TommyGuns]

Al-Majhul mentioned some great ideas to get involved in a leadership role. My leadership experiences were a little different.

I was an orientation leader for the past 2 years. Basically, I helped first-year students move into their dorms and get settled in during the first week of school. I led the students through tons of games and activites to get to know each other, answered any questions they had, shared some of my experiences as a first-year student, resolved many issues, etc. What stands out from the experience is that orientation leaders are trained to have quick problem-solving skills, and it also shows that they have awesome communication skills. The experiences were very rewarding and it was a lot of fun!

Also, I was the captain of my lifeguard team for the University Lifeguard Competition this year.

Leadership experiences are excellent for your application. But, don't forget that Optometry-related experiences are very important as well!

Hope this helps,

TommyGuns

 

[FutureIrishOD]

I was reading a thread earlier about interviews and the poster mentioned leadership experience. I was just wondering what all of yall have done with respect to leadership. I do some community service everynow now and then but wouldn't really call it gaining leadership experience. What is something I could do to get more leadership experience? thanks guys

I have always been very involved in many activities, so I haven't had a hard time gaining leadership positions. I would suggest you get involved in a club on campus...especially the P.O.P.S. or H.O.S.A, if your school doesn't have one then start a club or start a club that deals with what you are interested in. I also help organize the annual Health Care Career Fair at Texas Tech. You could get involved in a church or a community center. Help plan there activities. I am also volunteer at Prevent Blindness, so you could volunteer with them and see if they would allow you to plan your own screening. But I would mainly concentrate on keeping up your GPA and gaining optometry experience.

 

[luvthemhogs]

thank yall for posts. they were all pretty helpful.

 

[ucbsowarrior]

I was reading a thread earlier about interviews and the poster mentioned leadership experience. I was just wondering what all of yall have done with respect to leadership. I do some community service everynow now and then but wouldn't really call it gaining leadership experience. What is something I could do to get more leadership experience? thanks guys

The experience insinuates that you have leadership abilities. Leadership is a state of mind...an attitude. If you have it they will sense it during the interview...if they are doing their job correctly. You could write down you do this and that, but if during the interview process I feel that you are not demonstrating leadship qualities....you might just have to be docked.

 

[Hilaree320]

I would suggest what another poster said above about being an Orientation Leader or a Student Recruiter. That really helps develop those leadership skills, I believe.

Another suggestion (if you like kids, of course) is to be a summer camp counselor at a resident camp. I am actually doing this this coming summer. Everyone I have talked to says it not only looks good on a resume but is incredibly rewarding and the kids will always remember you! Hey, I remember my counselors 🙂 It not only shows leadership but creativity, high responsibility for other peoples lives, etc.

 

[Caverject]

If you need to get leadership experience you want to put yourself in a position where you're making important and time-sensitive decisions. I'll give you some examples of what I did while in undergrad.

I was the editor of a cultural newsmagazine. I had a staff of about 30 or so people, and I was in charge of all aspects of the paper -- from the editorial content, to the business side, to whatever's left. This particular activity also helped show that I was well-rounded: who'd have guessed that a science major was the editor of a magazine?

If the idea of editing papers scares you, and you want to stick with something in your field -- how about heading up a research team? That was another thing I did. I found a professor who was an advisor, and I did a research project with a couple other students. I was the principle investigator, however, so that gave me somewhat more exposure to leadership duties.

Just a few thoughts. 🙂

I echo this statement. I put my leadership experience on my application and boy was I asked about it at my interview. I was a section leader for the drum line at the University of Miami Marching Band. How's that for being your typical pharmacy student? I found out eventually they asked about it because they thought it was neat and plus it shows I like to be involved.