Career Development Center
We live in a time of sweeping economic and national changes. How can we provide the best quality career services and resources to our students to ensure that this occurs?
With this question in mind, the CDC staff reviewed our current mission, values, goals and services to discover if we were currently providing such services and resources. Consequently, we revised our vision, mission and established new goals to reflect our new commitment to provide quality services. In order to provide the best services, staff completed training to ensure we are up to date on the latest career resources and job search information. Therefore, all CDC staff members are required to attend multiple professional development seminars each semester in order to remain current on information related to their areas of responsibility. All CDC staff that counsel have completed the National Career Development Association’s (NCDA) Global Career Development Facilitators certification (GCDF).
The CDC also provided several career programs this year: Engineering EXPO, Diversity Networking Reception, Graduate School Fair, All Majors Career Fair,” Abstract to Contract”, Mock Interviews, Resume Reviews, Workshop for Students with Disabilities and Career Fest 2012. This was the first year for the Diversity Networking Reception which provided an opportunity for employers to meet with students from underrepresented populations who wanted to learn about internships and full-time opportunities. Students and employers were very pleased with the event, and asked that we conduct the event again in the near future. The student attendance for the Engineering expo saw an increase to 98%. However, the employer assessment feedback led to changes in the location and restructuring of the expo. Expo will be replaced fall 2012 with the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Career Fair. Participation in Abstract to Contract, the Graduate School research competition, increased from 56 in FY11 to 136 FY12 due to the Graduate School’s marketing efforts and funding provided by the Research Support and Sponsored Programs department. Career Fest was also a huge success. This event provided a week of professional development events for all UA students. The week included an alumni employer panel discussion, a dining etiquette dinner, networking and social media job search workshops, and drop-in resume reviews and mock interviews. Over 275 students participated in the event.
The CDC continued to serve an increasing number of students through individual appointments and class/group presentations. This year, we increased the number of student appointments by 24%. These career coaching sessions included: educating and coaching students through the process of choosing majors, career paths and professional development, job and internship searches, resume writing (188% increase), and job and graduate school mock interviews (21% increase). We incorporated a career coaching intake form, which enabled students to be more prepared for their career coaching sessions. The number of class presentations by our center dropped 35%; however, the number of students served increased by 31%.
The Professional Development Institute (PDI), our signature program, continues to grow and flourish with a 12% increase in the number of active participants (N = 2367). In order to continue improving this program the Career Development Center purchased Strengths Finder codes for PDI members (thereby incorporating these conversations into our career coaching sessions) and standardized PDI requirements by developing rubrics to score the resume and mock interview requirements.