Courses

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 – Designing Life

This course focuses on building each student’s awareness and understanding of the interconnectedness of their UMW Liberal Arts education; their values, interests, personality, strengths, and skills; and their personal and professional growth. Using the core tenets of Design Thinking, students will reframe how they find what they want to do now, and how to answer who they want to grow into. The course is appropriate for any undergraduate student who wants to feel more confident in their personal and professional development.

At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:

1. apply the core tenets of Design Thinking to their own odyssey plans (empathy, radical collaboration, ideation, prototyping),
2. explain why their values, interests, personality, strengths, and skills (VIPSS) are important to their professional development,
3. communicate clearly and accurately their personal and professional identities in order to conduct an informational interview,
4. communicate with professional during informational interview in way appropriate for their field of interest.

IDIS 192 – Preparation for Healthcare Careers

This one-credit class will prepare students for careers in healthcare fields by helping them to identify careers and the requirements necessary for entrance into professional schools. Students will begin to build a pre-health portfolio with information and experiences that can be used by the student to apply for jobs and for admission into professional schools.

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:

1. Identify and evaluate the various dimensions and components of their professional identity, how this guides their personal and professional aspirations, and contemplate how they will continue to develop and enhance their professional identity during the job search.
2. Present themselves articulately to employers and contacts via resume, cover letter, and spoken introduction (including interviews) and will hone both their oral, written and online professional messages.
3. Create professional relationships with each other/with guest speakers and with contacts in the wider professional world, which will support life-long career growth and satisfaction.

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:

1. evaluate job offers and skillfully enter into and conclude negotiations;
2. make use of practical skills for independent living in such areas as personal finance, retirement planning, and job-related benefits;
3. navigate the challenges associated with workplace cultures;
4. establish goals and personal development plans for life outside of work;
5. prepare for and thrive during inevitable career and job transitions that follow the first post-college destination.