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The emerging trend of offering career-specific courses for academic credit offers many benefits to both students and programs of public health. Completing these courses results in a number of positive outcomes, including increased student retention rates, self-efficacy in career decision-making, and future job satisfaction (1). When designing a public health focused job acquisition course, it is important to balance curriculum with topics students want and assignments that they truly need. In a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, students rated resume writing and effective job-searching as key to becoming a competitive job candidate in today’s career marketplace (2). Faculty, however, know that students often underestimate the importance of networking and managing one’s online presence. A carefully designed academic course can effectively prepare students for whatever their next steps may be after graduation, from entering the workplace to gaining admittance to graduate school.
Presentation/Poster Description:
This presentation will focus on how faculty within the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program at the University of South Florida designed a job acquisition course to meet the needs of graduating seniors. Evidence suggests these courses create better prepared students, as well as increases their perceived readiness for beginning the job search process (3). Student comments about the course include: “This is a very important class and I believe it would be beneficial to all students.”, “I’ve learned more useful skills in this class than I have in 4 years in college.”, “This class gives you the tools to succeed.”, and “Every college student should complete a course similar to this before graduating.”
Our presentation will provide resources for faculty members to take materials with them to adopt a similar course within their own schools or programs of public health. These resources will include the course topics and assignments that can be adapted to fit any curriculum. Topics include Resumes, Interviews, Cover Letters, and Personal Statements for graduate school, LinkedIn, Networking, Salary Negotiation, and Workplace Success. Graded assignments include multiple Resume submissions (peer-review, 1st submission, and corrected version), Online Presence paper, LinkedIn Profile, and a Next Step assignment (students choose from options including Cover Letter, Federal Style Resume, Graduate School Search, Personal Statement or Elevator Speech Video for LinkedIn). Lectures, assignment descriptions and rubrics are available for faculty interested in adopting this course at their own institutions.
References:
(1) Reardon, R., Folsom, B., Lee, Dongkyuck, L., Clark, J. (2011). The effects of college career courses on learning outputs & outcomes: Technical report No. 53. Retrieved from http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=techcenter_publications
(2) National Association of Colleges and Employers. (2015). Career services: Student use and perceived helpfulness. Retrieved from http://www.naceweb.org/s08192015/career-services-use-helpfulness.aspx
(3) Spokane, A. R. & Oliver, L. W. (1989). Enhancing the effectiveness of career counseling interventions, presentation at the American Psychological Association meeting. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED312594.pdf