Most Important Skills for a Director at Special Education Consulting
Anjanette's career path highlights the gap between collegiate education and on-the-job realities in special education; the Director's current role demands "a skillset that exceeded the things that [they] learned in [their] collegiate experience," emphasizing strong communication, precise technical writing, and meticulous time management to effectively navigate complex projects and deliver insightful reports to clients.
Communication, Data Analysis, Project Management, Problem-Solving, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Anjanette Pelletier
Director
Special EducationConsulting
UC Berkeley
Cal State Hayward, Masters in Clincial Child School Psychology
Psychology
Coaching, Speaking & Writing, Education
Education
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Extensive knowledge of special education and school systems is crucial, exceeding what is learned in college.
2. Strong communication and time management skills are essential for client interactions and report writing.
3. The ability to analyze data, produce clear and concise written reports, and deliver potentially challenging messages effectively is vital.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
I had to develop a knowledge base with years of experience in the classroom, in school settings, and doing the types of work that I do. So I had to learn a lot of things in practice.
Special education is a challenging topic. Programmatically, there are a whole set of things we have to do to ensure students' needs are met. Then there's the whole side of school business and how to fund and pay for everything that needs to be done.
First, I had to develop a skillset that exceeded what I learned in college. My college courses did not prepare me at all for the things involved at the management level of that work.
In my role now as an educational consultant, I need to pay attention to scheduling and timeliness. Doing what you say when you say you'll do it on time is really important to clients.
Also, I need to be a clear communicator with the people I'm trying to share what I've learned or what I see. You need to be able to analyze factually and be aware that sometimes your message is challenging to hear. So, being a clear communicator is really important.
I produce written reports for every consulting engagement. You have to be both a technical writer and someone who can be clear and concise. This is sometimes challenging because you're trying to encapsulate an entire district's worth of work related to the area of focus, and there's a lot of data to integrate.
So, those are some of the things I think are really important for the work that I do now.
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