The Center for Career and Professional Development offers three for-credit interdisciplinary courses on Career and Professional Development. These courses offer academic credit for participation in a structured career and professional development curriculum.
For specific information about scheduled sections of these courses, students should consult the Schedule of Courses available at the Office of the Registrar’s website.
IDIS 191 – Liberal Arts and the World of Work
This course focuses on the connections between the liberal arts and sciences, disciplinary pathways, and the world of work. Students explore, discover, and evaluate their own interests, values, strengths, and skills while examining possible connections to academic programs and employment opportunities. The course lays the foundation for the career development process. It is open to first- and second-year students, and appropriate for any undergraduate student who is undecided and/or interested in exploring the connection between personal and professional development.
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:
- articulate connections between a liberal arts and sciences education, the world of work, and lifelong learning;
- explain where their talents and passions connect;
- design and implement a plan for their own career and professional development.
IDIS 193 – Personal Development for Life and Career
This course is for students who are preparing to start their strategic job search and is designed to help them assess, understand, and refine the ways in which they communicate about themselves. Students will conduct a personal brand self-assessment while examining the wide variety of factors, messages, and forces that shape others’ understanding of who they are and how they might perform as employees. Students will work to create an individualized and custom identity that will inform the written and oral components of their post-college transition to professional life.
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:
- recognize and evaluate the various dimensions and components of their personal identity and its relationship to their professional aspirations,
- establish, refine, and implement personal and professional development strategies to hone job-search planning and create oral and written messages that reflect their personal identity.
IDIS 195 – Life and Career After UMW
This course is designed for seniors who are about to make the transition from the college classroom to the world of work. It will focus on life and career after UMW in critical areas, including evaluating and negotiating the job offer, cultivating practical skills for independent living, navigating workplace culture, finding work-life balance, and preparing for subsequent career transitions.
At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:
- evaluate job offers and skillfully enter into and conclude negotiations;
- make use of practical skills for independent living in such areas as personal finance, retirement planning, and job-related benefits;
- navigate the challenges associated with workplace cultures;
- establish goals and personal development plans for life outside of work;
- prepare for and thrive during inevitable career and job transitions that follow the first post-college destination.