Design of X420 Lecture Sections

 

 

The typical three-credit-hour class at IU offers fifteen weeks of instruction. Classes at Indiana typically are either 45 minutes in length, three times per week, or 75 minutes in length, two times per week. X420, being a two-credit-hour course, uses the equivalent of two 75-minute classes for ten weeks instead of the fifteen weeks. It meets for lectures a total of 18 times for 75 minutes each.

 

The team-teaching format is augmented with class presentations by “outside” executives during the Select Career Opportunities Orientation Program (SCOOP) sessions. SCOOP begins on the fourth lecture day. During the semester, SCOOP sessions occur during lecture sessions 4 through 8. Other guest lecturers participate in X420 in lectures 9 through 18 after the SCOOP sessions are over. The lectures are usually held in the largest lecture hall. Check the Oncourse announcements for locations. Instructors will announce locations whenever they change.

 

To earn an A grade, it is important that you attend all 18 lectures. If you miss a lecture, you can make up points by attending more than one discussion session each week. We strongly recommend that you attend every lecture session if you expect to earn an A grade.

 

Instructional material is packaged and delivered by way of PowerPoint presentations, the web, overheads, videotapes, verbal presentations, textbooks, and panels.

 

Outside of the lectures, you are expected to do a significant amount of research and reading. The written projects demand a major time commitment. We encourage you to turn to faculty, career counselors, role models, alumni, informational appointments, family, friends, etc. for individual conversations on specific career options. Projects are designed to encourage textbook reading, library career research, web research, and real-world informational interviews.

 

A significant number of students come to the class with a job already secured. Perhaps more than others, this group tends to focus its energies on longer-term career planning. It is the rare individual who selects a job and remains at that job for decades. Students who already have a job tend to select projects and discussion session topics that revolve around assessing future professional education, structuring future job descriptions, interviewing from the viewpoint of the supervisor (not applicant), improving writing and presentation techniques, management skills, continuing education, and other career management issues.

 

With this course, as with most, true learning comes with applying the concepts. Since the large size of the class does not permit “question and answer” dialogue in lectures, the course provides a large number of counselors for one-on-one advising and grading during the lab sessions. Each week you will have an opportunity to meet with your Career Counselor. You also will find a chance to communicate directly with experts, discussion leaders and colleagues in the smaller discussion session workshop format.

 

 

Lectures

 

The course is broken into a series of three different components that relate to the chapters in the textbook, Career Planning Strategies: Hire Me! (5th Edition). Each module builds upon previously covered modules in a carefully organized pattern.

 

Part I, “Planning Your Career,” covers career planning fundamentals of self-assessment, personal testing, values, interests, personal qualities, and job-related skills. This component is especially helpful to those non-business majors enrolled in X420 who did not have the opportunity to take the sophomore-level “Career Perspectives” class, X220. Part I creates a paradigm for which future career-related information acquisition may be assimilated and evaluated. The “Planning Your Career” component is designed to assist in career decision making.

 

During your job interviews you will undoubtedly be asked questions where your answers will come directly from the activities and projects that you completed during the self-assessment phase of your career planning. Recruiters ask about your goals! Your goals come from a thorough understanding of how you want to use your competencies that were identified and clarified during your self-assessment.

 

Part II, “Management Career Exploration,” covers a variety of career alternatives and possibilities in technical, managerial, and professional fields for which a college degree is usually a requirement. The limited set of possible options is not all-inclusive but it does try to detail opportunities for which subsequent on-campus (or off-campus) interviewing is a realistic possibility. The focus is on business organizations but individuals can easily transfer this knowledge to non-business organizations.

 

At the completion of Part II, a high percentage of the class usually has a sharper focus in their long-term career direction and what the entering job is likely to be. Non-business majors who have not had X220 will find this aspect of the course to be highly beneficial. Emphasis then turns to the job search and/or career management components of career planning.

 

Part III, “Developing Your Job Search Tools,” is designed to assist you in executing a “career search strategy” on both a long-term and a short-term time frame. Lectures focus on topics such as resume preparation, cover letter design, networking, informational interviewing, interview preparation, interview presentation, web search technologies, managing contacts and interviews, in-depth employer visits, professional communications, continuing education and career management.

 

Lectures are 75-minute presentations led by an instructor or a guest lecturer. The lectures present topics with relevant PowerPoints to aid in recall. There is no discussion time. These high-impact, information-loaded presentations are available on the course website for subsequent follow-up and review.

 

Warm-up questions will be emailed to you through Oncourse internal messenger email the day before each lecture (except SCOOP).  You should answer this question(s) with a serious answer, print out the total sheet, and turn in the form during your 75-minute lecture for bonus points. At the end of each 75-minute lecture, you will complete your evaluation card on the form (as per instructions) and turn it in as you exit the classroom. This document will serve as your proof of attendance at that lecture.  Please be sure that your name (last name first), IU username, and your Career Counselor’s name appear clearly on the top of the sheet.  Any illegible sheets or sheets with questions not appropriately answered will NOT receive credit.

 

To receive credit, you must be on time, remain for the entire class period, and not sleep or do non-X420-related work. Please do not attend class if you have more important uses of your time. Non-attentiveness is not going to be rewarded and it is rude to our guests!

 

 

 

 

Lectures: Select Career Opportunities Orientation Program

(Executive Guest Lecturers)

 

Each year over 100 executives are invited to participate in the course. Business practitioners teach a portion of the class devoted to Career Exploration. These are held during regularly scheduled lecture times. This segment of the course is known as the “Select Career Opportunities Orientation Program” (SCOOP). These sessions have evolved into an extremely popular hallmark of the course. They start during your fourth lecture class session and continue for five lecture-session days during your regularly scheduled lecture class time.

 

You are expected to attend at your regularly scheduled class time.

 

The “Select Career Opportunities Orientation Program” is designed to provide an opportunity for you to explore a variety of possible occupations, industry groups, and training programs prior to your graduation from college. It is realistic orientation to the world of work from the point of view of practitioners rather than textbooks, academic empathy, and personal fantasies. We do not purport to cover all career opportunities—only select options which typically are in career fields in which large numbers of graduates are hired upon degree completion.

 

 

Content

The career opportunities described are designed to orient you to the initial job prospects after college that may later lead to a long-range professional career. Even if you have already accepted a position, you will find these sessions to be extremely valuable. It is the rare student who stays with the initial employer more than 2-3 years. You need to review many different career options now so you can anticipate and plan for other career moves later. This is a strategic career planning course, not a “how to get a job” course.

 

As a broadening experience, it is not unusual for twenty-somethings to try more than one entry-level alternative as part of a career management strategy. You are likely to discover after graduation that the ideal job was not what you expected. Keep your options open. Learn as much as you can about several job possibilities. The job market can be very fluid at the post-college stage of your early career.

 

If you must miss a SCOOP lecture, you can later attend two in one day if your class schedule permits.

 

The SCOOP program has a variety of purposes:

 

Explore Career Alternatives

·        Evaluate job functions: What is the right fit for you?

·        Consider various industry groups: Stay focused.

·        Learn about typical career paths: Keep your options open and clean.

·        Evaluate training programs: Learn as you earn.

·        Investigate specific employers: Compare your options.

Assist in Career Decision Making

·        Establish broad career objectives: What can you do?

·        Set specific, achievable goals: What do you really want to do?

·        Focus on a specific job: Who employs graduates like me?

·        Prepare for interviews: Put your best foot forward.

·        Select employers to interview: Get a jump on your competition.

 

SCOOP sessions are part of the regular lecture classes during the semester. You select the career field you wish to hear about by choosing which room to attend on any given day. Guests are invited to make a 17-minute presentation on a specific career field. These guests, sometimes alumni and/or senior-level executives, come with high-impact, hard-hitting presentations. Sales pitches for their firms are frowned upon although they are invited to use their firms as examples.

 

The goal is to have an employer in one field speak for all employers in similar fields. These 17-minute sessions are packed with career content that is very useful in your career decision-making process. Your interview presentation will show a close match to what you learn about the employer job specifications in these sessions.

 

 

Student Participation

The SCOOP lectures are so popular that it is rare that a student chooses to miss one. Indeed, it is very common for students to go to the front of the room at the end of a session just to get to meet the presenter, to leave a resume, and to prepare for an interview with that firm later in the year.

 

In essence, the SCOOP lectures fill the role of a job or career fair. Obviously, those who hear the presentation stand a better chance of having a good interview with the employer. Since students at few other universities in the United States have the opportunity to participate in such an extensive and unique career program, you should take maximum advantage of this networking opportunity. Over time, networking, as a search strategy, is the most useful job search technique.

 

 

Employer Participation

Many different employers participate in the SCOOP lectures. Most employers consider it an honor to have been chosen to make a presentation in this class. We rotate our selection each year and try to vary the size of the employers and the type of career fields they discuss. Many are IU alumni. Use this component of the course wisely!

 

Over 150 employers participate during the school year.

 

The program is designed to give you a broad, well-rounded exposure to different occupations, industry groups, and training programs. The goal is to keep you from locking yourself into a narrow career niche at this point in your life. You should keep an open mind until the entire exploration process is complete.

 

Career research suggests that an individual who assembles a broad base of career information makes the wisest career decisions later. Not having to change a career direction or job frequently allows you to enjoy a higher level of job satisfaction and higher earnings.

 

The job market is fickle. Plan on change. Know your options!

 

 

Educational Content

The SCOOP lecture concept is obviously important to both the employer and the University. Major advantages accrue to employers invited to participate:

 

  • It gives employers a better feel for the true attitude of current students in contrast to what they read in the newspaper, observe in a day of grueling interviews, and see at superficial job fairs.

 

  • It gives students a needed perspective on the employer and career fields. Most employers appreciate this type of exposure before their recruiting visits. It creates focus for your interview strategy.

 

  • This is also excellent public relations for the University. The results occasionally translate into increased corporate financial and political support for your university.

 

  • Employers who feel they have participated in the educational role of Indiana University may be more inclined to hire a greater number of its graduates.

 

We have seen significant evidence of increased hiring as a result of employer participation. We know from hard evidence that you will perform significantly better in the interview process than comparable students at other universities. This class and the SCOOP lectures are often cited by employers as the reason.

 

We urge you to participate for longer-term networking purposes even if you are certain of your immediate job plans!

 

 

Resume Distribution

After listening to the presentation, you may wish to provide the employer with a copy of your resume. There will be an envelope with the employer’s name on it in the room. Indicate at the top of your resume the position in which you are interested. Several firms use the resumes collected as a basic source of students for future bidding preference lists. Employers who place you on their preference lists allow you to sign onto their interview schedules more easily. Leaving your resume informs the firm of your interest.

 

Network, circulate, and promote yourself!

 

Many firms will email you after they receive your resume and ask that you sign up for their later interview schedules. This signals that they might have further interest in you. Otherwise, you may not be able to interview this firm given the intensive competition for interviews.

 

 

Attendance Points

The popularity of the SCOOP lectures has often required a fair allocation system to be used. Each class time typically has about 200 enrollees who must disperse into small groups. Other than the large lecture room, the other classrooms hold about 50-60 students. You may attend the presentation in the room of your choice, but you must attend at your regularly scheduled class time. You may receive credit for attending more than one SCOOP session in a day as long as you attend one at your regular lecture time as well.

 

No points are given to you if you go ONLY to a session that is not held at your scheduled class time. If you attend extra sessions as well as the one offered at your assigned time on the same day, you will receive credit for all sessions. Three or more lecture rooms may be running at the same time. A schedule is posted in the syllabus by week, on the UCSO website, and on the door of your assigned lecture room.

 

Go to the session that interests you most!

 

 

Etiquette

Seating may be a problem in many rooms. Obviously, we will not ask anyone to leave a given room if they get there first. There is some value in arriving at the lectures early if you want a seat. Seating is on a first-come basis.

 

We cannot allow any student to leave early. In a crowded room it would be quite disruptive. Conversely, it is important that we start on time and that you arrive on time. The class assistants monitoring the sessions will penalize students who violate these simple rules of common courtesy.

 

You must remain for the entire presentation. You must pay attention and not doze. We must not embarrass our guests. You represent I.U. and negatives reflect on everyone!

 

At the end of each presentation you will evaluate the relevancy of the content of the material covered, the presentation style, and usefulness to you. These evaluations are used in selecting future participants and the total evaluation percentages may be shared with presenters upon request.   Please turn in your completed evaluation as proof of your attendance at the SCOOP lecture.  Clearly print your name (last name first), IU username, and Career Counselor’s name on the form.  Any illegible forms will NOT receive credit.

 

 

Focus Lectures:  (Guest Lecturers)

 

During several of the regularly scheduled lectures, corporate guests are invited to present material regarding specific topics. Lecture topics cover such subjects as behavioral interviewing, interview techniques, online interviewing, online job search, use of web technologies, career development, networking strategies, employment communications, training program design, job evaluations, career management, and success on the job.

 

Your lectures after the SCOOP lectures will all be held in the largest classroom. The exact room will be announced in the last two SCOOP lectures.

 

Professors Powell and Legler will deliver lecture materials along with outside guest lecturers, depending on the topic in lectures 9 through 18. After class week 9, no further lectures will be assigned, even though the final class labs will meet through Week 10.