By Katy Coakley
If students are struggling to fill out a resume, prepare for a job interview, or finding a career path, then enrolling in the new Career and Vocation courses will certainly guide them to achieve their goals.
The Office of Career Programs and Employer Relations offers a series of career development courses to help students learn about the professional world. All CV courses are taught by “industry professionals with real world experience” to help students with their future.
The idea for the CV courses were first established in 2017 by the Brennan School of Business, where graduates could plan out their careers. However, after Dominican received a $1 million grant, a project on career development began, which later established the CV courses.
Kathy Meisinger, director of career curriculum and employer relations, encourages students to enroll in the CV courses to “increase their social capital” and “articulate their skill sets” in the workplace.
“We want students to own their growth [with] how they are going to interact with their world,” Meisinger stated. “Academics are extremely important, but we are looking at vocational exploration [and] how to do real career research with evidence-based data.”
Students can enroll in four different levels of CV courses such as Launching Your Career, Leveraging Your Strengths, Presenting Yourself Professionally, and Managing Your Career.
Meisinger stated that there are over 40 courses for the fall semester, which continue to increase for other semesters.
“This is our first semester scaling up into the core curriculum or the general education requirement,” she said. “DU faculty is credited for this because they voted last spring in order to bring this into the core. We know students need it.”
John Prestipino, an adjunct instructor for career programs and employer relations, earned a position in teaching a CV course due to his partnership with Dominican through career services with Meisinger.
“I’ve been attending, participating, and engaging with students for the last couple of years,” he explained. “Prior to my time at Thresholds, [where I was a guitar instructor], I have taught up to 30 people at a time, so I enjoy teaching. I am now using the last 10 years of workforce development experience to hybrid my energy for connecting with people and teaching students real life facts.”
Prestipino also wants to help students “identify” their career mission.
“You can bring your own individual strengths and you don’t have to keep up with the Joneses,” he explained. “You don’t have to match the resume to your left or right. You can highlight your own unique skills and abilities with who you are. I want people to see that it’s okay.”
Annie Tang, a junior majoring in graphic design, said she thinks the CV course, Leveraging Your Strength in Arts and Creative, will help give her a “smooth transition” into finding internships.
“I hope to find more resources to better prepare me for the career world,” she said. “I found out about this course at a fair and [was] recommended [to take] the course.”
By enrolling the CV courses, Tang explained that students have plenty of opportunities to help them prepare for a career, which includes designing resumes and attending a career fair.
“I am most excited to attend the career fair and get better prepared for interviews,” Tang said.
For more information on the CV courses, contact the Office of Career Programs and Employer Relations at careers@dom.edu or visit http://careercenter.dom.edu/.
kcoakley@my.dom.edu
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