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How Tiffany Kwark utilized the Fleishman Center’s Focus 2 Assessment to find her passion and pursue a career in emergency management

Graduate student Tiffany Kwark was always drawn toward public service and emergency management. However, her career path was not always clear.

Unsure of what her next steps would be after receiving her undergraduate degree in Human Development, Kwark took Focus 2, the Fleishman Center’s free online career assessment tool that helps students explore occupations and make informed career decisions.

“After I took the Focus 2 assessment,” Kwark said, “I found a common trait in the results I received, which was providing relief to those who are suffering physically or emotionally. After I saw photos of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma strike the Southern Atlantic states, I became interested in pursuing emergency and disaster services as a potential career.”

Focus 2 uses results from its work interests, skills, values, leisure and personality inventories to identify occupations that match many of those same characteristics. After reviewing her results, Kwark began exploring careers in emergency and disaster services, leading her to graduate school and other professional experiences that have continued to solidify her interest in the field.

Kwark is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at Binghamton University through the College of Community and Public Affairs, and the certification program for disaster management in the Decker School of Nursing.

Kwark also takes her passion to the front lines as an AmeriCorps member for the American Red Cross Southern Tier Chapter. Whether she is managing the “Sound the Alarm” program, installing smoke alarms at no charge in residential areas, or educating the public about how to make their homes safer, her work improves the safety of Binghamton students, faculty, staff and community members.

As a GA in Hinman College’s Public Service Learning Community, Kwark assists students in finding volunteer opportunities around Binghamton and co-leads a new independent study with other GA’s for students who want to take a service-learning course.

Landing these roles took dedication, hard work, and being very proactive. Throughout the past two years, Kwark utilized many other Fleishman Center services to help her showcase her skills. She credits the Center with providing personalized resume feedback, assisting her with her LinkedIn and hireBING profiles, reviewing her personal statements for graduate school and helping her strengthen her interviewing skills.

“When I compare my first resume coming into undergrad as a freshman and my resume now as a graduate student, there is a great difference between the two, with the latter going past what I display on the surface and the former giving a basic summary of what I did,” Kwark said.

Kwark will complete her master’s degree and certification in December 2019, after which she will pursue a career in emergency and disaster services so she can continue to provide relief to those who are suffering physically or emotionally from disasters.

“I am now connected with many emergency management professionals on-and off-campus through my positions and LinkedIn,” Kwark said. “But it would not have been possible without the help of the Fleishman Center staff who helped me boost my professional development skills.”

If you are unsure about what career to pursue or how your interests connect with career options,  you can learn more about taking Focus 2 or another self-assessment test