Changes to Career Center Help Students Get Career Ready
September 1, 2016
By Erica Foss | GSAS Career Center
There are some big changes coming to GSAS Career Services. The office is redesigning its student engagement model to better serve both current students and alumni and prepare them for success. They will now be known as the Center for Career and Professional Development, and they are so much more than resume reviews.
The CCPD will be implementing some new programs that speak to the changing world of education, and of work. Employers of all kinds are looking for Brandeis graduate students to be Career Ready. Career readiness is the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies that broadly prepare students for a successful transition into the workplace. The CCPD has identified six professional competencies to help students prepare and succeed in any path they choose.*
Career Readiness takes time to develop, and the CCPD is ready to join students from day 1 to help them understand how their academic programs already build these competencies and how they can seek out opportunities to add to their skill-set. In addition to traditional one-on-one services, the Center will provide increased online resources such as webinars and videos, student-guided development plans, and most excitingly, creating smaller "career communities" around specific interests and industries.
Career Communities connect alumni, employers, and friends of Brandeis with students, faculty and staff in creating industry-specific communities. Members of the career communities will interact, communicate and engage, both digitally and in-person. The communities serve as a hub for current graduate students to access industry-specific resources, along with skills in networking, career discovery and professional development. Alumni, employers, and friends will volunteer expertise and professional advice in a variety of ways to students, faculty and the greater Brandeis GSAS community.
As a part of this "Career Readiness" initiative, the CCPD will also be offering a course on the Academic Job Market, hosting drop-in hours in satellite locations around campus, and partnering with other Brandeis Career offices to bring together resources and build community. Find out more about these changes by exploring the Center's redesigned website and keep an eye out for more great programs!
*Competencies based on extensive employer research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.