Career Development Skills & Strategies Course-Syllabus, Fall 2019

Instructor: Rasul Hajiyev – Career Advisor of SITE

Office hours: Monday 11.30-13.00, Tuesday-Thursday 10.00-13.00 and Friday 14.00 - 17.00
Term: Fall
Level: 5th Semester Undergraduate Program
Course type: 6-credit Academic internship in Fall 2019/Winter 2020

Introduction and Basic Concepts

ADA University prepares its students for a rewarding and accomplished future. This preparation includes exposing
students to ADA’s ample and effective resources for knowledge, quality education as well as leadership and career
development. In line with this mission current course offers students career development and management modules
to help in charting a course for students’ careers. It is directed to assist and boost the knowledge in career choice
and planning through self-discovery and market analysis as well as practical experience through a credit-bearing
internship.

Learning Outcomes

Current course offers focus on self-assessment, employer research and market analysis, employer and industry-
specific branding, professional networking and role of social media in job search, resume and cover letter writing,
interviewing abilities, job offer negotiations and work ethics.

By the end of the course students should be able (to):

- assess personal interests, abilities/skills and preferences to find the better fit with specific careers and
occupations (personality exposure & discovery);
- conduct in-depth market research on specific industry and employer as well as have knowledge on
changing career trends and opportunities;
- conduct informational interviews and further market analysis to identify and narrow down personal
career plan;
- use personal assessment and employer research to conduct a SWOT analysis and develop a personalized
action plan for skills, knowledge and experience development;
- decide on a target market, focus on potential employers’ needs and develop a relevant brand message
communicating individual value and tailor individual professional development plan reflecting career
roadmap with included timeline of actions;
- tailor professional marketing tools to the individual needs and career plans (including target resume,
motivation/cover letters, personal branding plan);
- understand the importance and purpose of a professional network; establish and start developing a core
network in their field of interest;
- have understanding of interview structure, expectations and questions on behavioral skills using the
context, challenge, action and result (CCAR) format to provide significant examples of past behavior;
- develop skills of job offer (salary) negotiations and ethics;
- manage transition from School to Work environment with understanding of corporate culture and work
ethics.

Course Requirements

CDSS is a prerequisite to the credit-bearing internship granting in total 6 ECTS all together upon successful
completion of course in the Spring semester and an internship either in Spring or in Summer semester. Student will
be granted with “PASS” grade upon the successful accomplishment of both course and academic internship.
Students failing the CDSS will not be entitled to undertake an academic internship.

This compulsory course is designed to focus on skill acquisition and personal development so active involvement in
all aspects of the course is required. Additional assignments may be given for failure to complete required
assignment. Personalized feedback will be provided at an individual counseling session with the course instructor -
Career Advisor.

For further information on other procedures (such as RSVP and counseling appointment scheduling), please, check
with your School Career Advisor.

Grading policy

The course weight is 6 credits: 50% for 1 semester long CDSS course and 50% for a credit-bearing
Internship. Students will have “Incomplete” grade and the credits will be counted in attempted, but not
in earned by the end of the Spring semester. Once students successfully complete their internship
component the credits will be counted as earned.

Minimum 75% of total possible grade is counted as PASS for the learning part of the course. Any number
of points below 75% will be considered as a failure of the learning part of the course which prevents from
the opportunity to undertake the academic internship and earning 6 credits.
Due to the assignment submission policy, all assignments are to be turned in by set deadline. Late
submission will result in 50% grade reduction. Assignments submitted 2 days after the deadline will be
graded as “0”.

Attendance and Participation Policy

Just as in professional life, students are expected to be actively involved in the course work and treat class and group
sessions like work meetings. You should be prepared and be actively involved in the meetings. Session attendance
and participation in class discussions are required as it carries a weight of 15% of a total grade. Any arrival later 10
minutes of the start of the class will be considered as absence.

Please refer to the table given below for the division of grade percentages for the course and the subsequent
breakdown of assignments to be submitted.

Activity Submission/Record Percentage

Class Attendance & Participation 15%

Individual Career Planning meeting (Career  Market Research 20%

counseling session) Analysis and
Informational Interviews;
 4 Job search 10%
presentations;
 Resume & Cover Letter
critique
 CAREERlink profile;
Career Planning (road
mapping)
Mock Interview Mock Interview (face-to-face 25%
practice interview with

2
 Career Advisor) including
feedback session
Professional Portfolio review  Branding and 30%
Networking pitch;
 Employer & Industry
research (career road
mapping progress);
 Professional
Development Plan &
Internship goals

Team Projects and Academic Honesty

This course is designed to equip you with professional career building and management skills. Therefore, if you want
to benefit from the course and get the best experience, you should be actively engaged in group meetings, group
tasks and projects as well as individual engagement with your Career Advisor. It is important that every student takes
a lead and carries responsibility of being a team member and doing his/her best for the individual and group benefit
at the same time.

As you know each member of ADA community has to conform to the rules of ADA Honor Code. Under no
circumstances, you are allowed to copy any outside resources or use work of any author without proper citation
rules. This is about your professionalism and honesty not to use work and ideas of others and be the sole responsible
person for any of your homework and assignments.

Course Content & Weekly structure

Below is a week-by-week review of the course. All required readings should be completed before the session.
Deadlines for assignments will be announced every week in class but also set upfront on course management system
- Blackboard.

Week 1 (Sen 02-06): Self-Assessment and Exposure

Course Introductions, Interest and Career Assessment

- Introduction to CS
- Introduction to course syllabus and requirements
- CAREERlink platform introduction and guidance
- Interest and career assessment tools
- Personality and preferences
- Areas of interest, personal values and rewards

Assignments:

In class: simple self-identifying tests

After-class:
 Set & Complete CAREERlink account
 Task on job search technique.

Optional reading
 The Pathfinder, (Lore, 2011), p. 219-230.
 Matching your interests, skills and values to occupations (Liptak, 2008), p. 70-78 and p. 85-90

Week 2 (Sep 09 - 13): Telling your story

3
Resume/Cover Letter/Thank you Letters Preparation
- What is resume and why do we need it?
- Target Resume Do’s and Don’ts
- Resume vs. CV
- Proper resume format presentation
- Why Should You Send a Thank You after the Interview? Motivation letter and purpose of statement

Assignment:
 Prepare your resume to submit to CAREERlink and if needed book an appointment with Career Counselor
 Think of your dream job and design your Cover Letter and submit to CAREERlink
 Task on job search technique.

Optional Reading:
 Resume Tips for IT Professionals:
http://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/resume-tips-for-technology-pros
https://capd.mit.edu/jobs-and-internships/resumes-cvs-cover-letters-and-linkedin/resumes
https://capd.mit.edu/jobs-and-internships/resumes-cvs-cover-letters-and-linkedin/cvs

 Cover Letter Tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j66rpL6QGeY
https://www.extension.harvard.edu/inside-extension/how-write-great-resume-cover-letter
https://capd.mit.edu/jobs-and-internships/resumes-cvs-cover-letters-and-linkedin/cover-letters

Week 3: (Sep 16-20): Job Search Strategies and Techniques

- Job role and internship analysis (required skills and employer expectations)
- Analyzing job sources and job boards
- Aligning self-assessment with careers: Your major and job choice
- Understanding how values relate to professional choices and career path
- Establishing your own Start-up

Assignments:
Worksheets & Writing
 Industry and Employer Research Worksheet (page 1 and 2) - complete worksheet on employer research
and fit (SWOT analysis), develop your Professional Development Plan.
 Task on job search technique

Handout
 Majors and Careers handout
 Job search resources & techniques

Optional reading
 Make the Most of Your Style: Temperament and Job Search, (Liptak, 2008), p. 179-191.
 Sources of Job, (Yena, 2011), p. 151-161

Week 4 & 5 (Sep 23 – Oct 04): Individual Career Planning meetings (15 min. each
student)

 Self-assessment reviews (strengths, interests and values);

 Resume and Cover letter critique;
 CAREERlink profile;

4
 Career planning (road mapping)
 LinkedIn Profile

Week 6 (Oct 07-11): Market analysis and Employer Choice (guest speaker)

- Occupational Studies
- Understanding different sectors, industries and type of employers
- Conducting in-depth research on career trends within specific industries
- Establishing your own Start-up

Assignments:
 Prepare your informational interview report and research on potential employer

Handouts
 Career trends, majors and careers
http://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/informational-interviewing

http://www.careersinpublichealth.net/resources/10-awesome-informational-interview-questions

Video
 Informational Interviews, Oxford Career Service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn7Bk4_yEEw
 Watch this playlist of popular informational interviews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnMlQv3ZWLw&list=PLNbfcglGhU11Rfc68dojJRyukfL2VZVYF&index=
2
 How to run the informational Interviews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZor7bWEIXc (this video is about networking)

Optional reading
 Informational Interview benefits and steps
https://career.berkeley.edu/Info/InfoInterview
 Informational Interviewing Tutorial,
http://www.quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html

Week 7, 8 (Oct 14-25): Understanding the Market realities

Employer research presentations in teams

Week 9: (Oct 28 – Nov 01): Interviewing Skills (guest speaker)

- Understanding “Why do I even get Interviewed?”

- Types of Interviews and questions
- How internship interviews differ from job interviews?
- In group mock Interview in the classroom with peers

In Class Assignment:
 HR – Candidate Role Play: Are you satisfied with the answers? Would you Hire this Person?
 Midterm Assessment – check the progress in knowledge and changes in values

Handout:
5
  Sample of Situational and Behavioral Questions

Video:
 https://www.extension.harvard.edu/inside-extension/how-ace-interview
 https://youtu.be/mMXvMf_2EKs

Week 10 & 11 (Nov 04 - 15): Individual: Mock interviews (face-to-face/20 min)

 Guests for group, stress and panel interviews

Week 12 (Nov 18 - 22): Networking (Digital networking & Art of LinkedIn) and Personal
Branding

- Understanding the value of a professional network

- How Facebook affects our Career? Do’s and Don’ts
- Effective LinkedIn usage
- Open Discussion: “What is personal branding?”
- Why do you need to build your very own brand?
- Watch Ted Talk form Rutgers University regarding “Networking is just like your Facebook”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po-QOVodPhU

Assignment:
 Personal branding pitch
 Task on job search technique
Handout:
 LinkedIn Profile Check List

Optional Readings:
 19 Terrible LinkedIn Mistakes that you are making:
http://www.businessinsider.com/common-linkedin-mistakes-and-tips-2015-7
https://capd.mit.edu/jobs-and-internships/resumes-cvs-cover-letters-and-linkedin/linkedin
 Facebook Can Tell You If A Person Is Worth Hiring
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/03/05/facebook-can-tell-you-if-a-person-is-worth-
hiring/#31e8f5bf6236
 3 things that employers want to see in your social media along with statistics from real employers:
http://careers.workopolis.com/advice/the-three-things-that-employers-want-to-find-out-about-you-
online/
 Importance of Networking:
http://www.strategicbusinessnetwork.com/about/importance
 A Brand Called you:
http://www.careerealism.com/personal-brand/

Week 13 (Nov 25-29): Networking in Practice

Industry Panel and Networking Coffee Break with different Companies at ADA University Campus.

Week 14 (Dec 02 - 06): Work Ethics & Employer relations (guest speaker)

- How to accept a job/internship offer?

- How to discuss salary offer?

6
 - How different is World of Work? What should you know before starting your career?
- Corporate Ethics
In-class Assignment:
 Final Test – check the progress in knowledge and changes in values

Week 15 (Dec 09 - 13): Professional Portfolio reviews (15 min each student)

- Branding and Networking pitch;

- Employer & Industry research (career road mapping progress);
- Professional Development Plan & Internship goals
Student success stories