Many higher education institutions offer students professional development tools through their career center. A career center may provide resources such as resume review, networking opportunities, mock interviews, career fairs, or internship or full-time employment listings. Many students are unaware or do not take advantage of the resources career centers provide. Professors can help remedy this by including important information from the career center in their syllabus.
Many career centers will publish a calendar of events at the beginning of each semester. Professors can include highlights such as dates of job fairs or mock interviews. This is especially helpful for seniors who may be looking for full-time employment post graduation. Etiquette dinners, networking events, and interview prep seminars are also common events many students find beneficial.
Personality tests can be a helpful tool for students to determine their strengths and weakness and how they can apply them to their career choice. Career centers often offer free personality tests such as Myers-Briggs or The Big Five. Professors can include links to these tests in their syllabus and encourage their students to explore different career paths.
In appropriate courses, some professors create assignments that allow students to explore their professional interests. Students may be asked to interview a professional and report their findings in an oral presentation or written assignment. Professors may also ask students to write a resume and cover letter and have it reviewed in the career center for class credit.This assignment familiarizes students with the career center and provides them with an effective and efficient resume to use for internship or job applications.
Career centers are an underutilized yet invaluable tool for student’s professional development and success. Incorporating resources from the career center into your syllabus will encourage students to explore their professional interests, gain critical interviewing and resume writing skills, and prepare them to enter the workforce post-graduation.
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