Academics: Academic Community

PATHWAYS

A Career Development Plan

There is a direct relationship between how well you follow a specific, professional development plan and your ability to secure professional objectives upon graduation. To better enable you to create, follow and mark progress throughout such a plan, HWS offers Pathways, a comprehensive development process designed to prepare students for their professional endeavors using an interactive workbook focused on the developmental process in career planning.

Pathways encourages and motivates you to discover, explore and experience all of your academic, personal and career-related interests. What sets this program apart is its length and breadth, featuring a support network dedicated to sustaining growth and success in the professional development process. Students are motivated and kept on track using tools and opportunities as workshops, experiential learning, career counseling and on-the-job training (internships/externships and student employment).

College is a time for exploration of new ideas, cultures and experiences. The HWS community believes that the professional path that starts in college should incorporate the very nature of college itself. To that end, we offer a wide range of resources to help you explore your interests, passions and talents to determine what it is that you love and what type of career you could have in which it feels like “time flies by.”

We surround you with people dedicated to helping you learn, grow and succeed. This results in a collaboration between you, the student, and members of our extended community:

Career Services Staff

Provides assessment of interests, skills and values
Focuses on how to attain experiences relevant to professional goals
Sponsors workshops to help students prepare for professional endeavors
Sponsors career focused alumni panels to help students attain a “real world” perspective as well as networking opportunities
Offers a wide range of resources for exploration, internship possibilities and job/graduate school searches

Alumni and Alumnae

Provide insight into professional fields and career directions
Advise as to how to prepare, get involved and align goals with action
Offer “real world” knowledge and expertise

Faculty Advisers

Offer assistance with course selection and requirements
Provide assistance in choosing a major that’s in line with student learning interests
Help students apply their chosen major to experiential learning
Offer advice on gaining experience and networking with employers, alumni/ae and other community members

Parents and Family Members

Provide motivational support for student interests and goals
Stay up-to-date on student progress and plans
Provide additional networking resources and opportunities

discover

First-year students are informed of the Pathways program at the start of the year, typically during orientation. (Students in any class year are welcome to participate regardless of where they may be in the career development process.) Once you choose to participate, you will become familiar with and meet your support system, which includes Career Services staff, faculty advisers, future alumni and alumnae contacts and other peers involved in the program. A Career Services staff member reviews the program with each student and both agree to commit to a fouryear,
customized plan that maintains flexibility, as interests may change over the course of the program. Planning begins with start of the Pathways workbook.

The discover path includes activities in the following:

“Get to know you” questionnaire
Campus Involvement and service learning
Interest and personality assessment tools
Major-career research
Get to know faculty
Interests, values and skills brainstorm

To keep on track, you will meet regularly with Career Services staff. Progress is continually evaluated and interests, goals and values are reassessed. Students are encouraged to attain employment in order to develop professional skills. Assistance in gaining internship and externship experience is provided.

explore

Once you have identified interest, you will quickly see there are various ways in
which you can learn more about the areas you may have talked about as you
discover your pathway. As you explore you will:

Research careers using comprehensive resources
Learn how to network with alumni, parents and employers
Have the opportunity to pursue job shadow opportunities to experience “A Day in the Life”
Perform a gap analysis on your career fields of interest in order to develop a list of skills and knowledge needed to make you competitive
Learn how to market yourself effectively using a resume and cover letter

experience

Workshops included in the Pathways program:

Résumé Writing
Informational Interviewing
Networking
Gaining Experience
Job Search Strategies
Grad School Decisions
Backpack to Briefcase

Through participation in the Pathways program, you will gain valuable insight, understanding and experiences that build self-awareness, as well as your résumé and portfolio. Throughout the program, experiences and insights gained include:

Personal awareness and identification of career objectives—Discover your interests, the things you love to do, goals you want to set for yourself and where your values lie
Internship/externship opportunities—Apply for the many internships in your potential disciplines of interest and learn about life in the field, or look for job-shadowing opportunities through externships available during both summer and winter breaks
Campus and community involvement—Get involved in your community by joining clubs and volunteering through the Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning
Student employment—Apply for a position on campus to acquire those professional skills necessary for internships, graduate school and the world of work
Study abroad—Experience other cultures and environments by studying abroad in one of the many programs offered through the Center for Global Education
Collaborative Internship Program—Gain valuable work experience in Geneva, N.Y. and Boston, Mass. through this partnership among students, faculty and worksite employers. This program features partners in a variety of industries, including human services, education, government, finance, public policy, environmental science and the arts.

These experiences enable students to develop:

An understanding of their interests, talents and values
A marketable résumé
Effective networking skills
Polished interviewing skills
Effective letters of correspondence
New and lasting relationships
Decision-making skills
Reflection on and articulation of experiences
Ability to define transferable skills
Transition from “backpack to briefcase”
Ability to recognize, execute and complete goals
Effective job search and graduate school search skills

Connect

The final stage of the career development process
is your time to apply all that you have learned to
secure an opportunity after graduation and begin the next
chapter in your life. As you connect you will engage in
activities in the following:

Job Search
Graduate School Applications
Volunteer Applications
Learn how to accept, decline and negotiate offers

We are confident that if you share this commitment to career development, you will have a firm grasp on professional objectives, the necessary steps to obtain them upon graduation as well as a return on you hard work with results!

For more information on Pathways or to make an appointment, stop by, call or e-mail the HWS Salisbury Center (first floor) for Career Services.

The Salisbury Center for Career Services
Trinity Hall Geneva, NY 14456
Phone: (315) 781-3514
Fax: (315) 781-3515
E-mail: cso@hws.edu