The Colorado Department of Education defines "Professional" using the following descriptors:

• time & work management

• career literacy

• grit and resilience

• work ethic; dependable and reliable

Career Q&A

Career Question #1:

• What is your name?

Answer #1:

• "My name is Rika Donnegan."

Career Question #2:

• Where do you work?

Answer #2:

• "I work at the Accounting Department for Montrose Regional Health."

Career Questions #3:

• How did you get the job?

Answer #3:

• "Divine Opportunity... Someone else that was in the department was retiring and the director offered me the position."

Career Question #4:

• What does your company look for when hiring new employees?

Answer #4:

• "Those who are service oriented, those who are given to research and who are given to look over analytics.. those who have commitment to the projects that they do."

Career Question#5:

• How can I develop those skills?

Answer #5:

• "Be inquisitive, be curious to want to learn and grow those skills."

Career Question #6:

• What do you like most about your job?

Answer #6:

• "I Like the ability to work amongst a team of very dedicated individuals who are honed in their skills... to adapt to my environment and learn amongst those individuals. Also to be able to problem solve on a daily basis."

Career Question #7:

• What do you least like about your job?

Answer #7:

• "The amount of paper work and documents that flows through ones hands in this department, that if your not careful and organized with them, it can become a great problem."

Career Question #8:

• How do you deal with stress in your job?

Answer #8:

• "Breathing, walking, taking breaks.. if things become to challenging I usually just listen to music to help me regulate through those stressors."

Career Question #9:

• What do you think are the keys to success?

Answer #9:

• "From my personal experience, I would say dedication, commitment, focus, persistence, communication, team orientedness and hard work."

Career Question #10

• If you could give me one piece of career advice, what would it be?

Answer #10:

• "Be opened to opportunities, to different processes, to different perspectives because it's only going to cause you to be better; it will allow you to have an understanding on a greater scale."