Photo Courtesy @KAUST

-  Article by Raheena Abdurehim

Early this year, the CCRC Student Advisory Committee (SAC) launched the Student Development Initiative in partnership with the Office of Professional Development here at KAUST. On June 15, they kickstarted this initiative by holding the virtual workshop on Discover Your Strengths by Alexandra Katakalea, Leadership and Talent Development Consultant, and Kevin Nall from the Office of Professional Development.

As the first step in career development, this session focused on the Clifton Strengths Assessment Test, which helped them learn more about how they think, feel, and behave. The 18 participants completed the assessment before the session and were taught how to leverage the test results to present the best version of themselves during future interviews and in their resumes.

This event is one of many that the SAC will hold this year to help our students develop professionally as much as possible. 

"The Clifton's assessment is a great way to help you be confident in an interview. It helps you understand your strengths and how to talk about them."

Christopher Wagstaff, CCRC Ph.D. Student.

"This initiative of a workshop about professional development from SAC in CCRC was a great opportunity to understand our strengths and weaknesses. We learned how to highlight our strengths and contribute to our development and the people around us. They introduced us to the Clifton test which was an amazing tool to understand our strengths and enlighten them for our professional life."

Ana Luiza Slama de Freitas, CCRC MS Student

“The professional development program organized by the CCRC Student Advisory Committee was very enlightening. I had an opportunity to learn more about myself, especially about my strengths and weaknesses. I do recommend this for all students."

Michael Adebayo Oyinloye, CCRC Ph.D. Student