Course to Career

It is imperative for graduating university students to enhance their self-knowledge, occupational exploration, and self-confidence in order to portray a positive attitude that will lead to work-related engagement”

(Abdullah, Norida & Hussin, Norhayati & QA, Shonubi & Ghazali, Siti & Abu Talib, Mansor, 2018).

Whether you're a careers officer or a student looking to take the next step, the Course to Career Edubook gives a clear and interactive roadmap for career development. 

Course to Career has been developed by Karel de Grote University College in collaboration with the Edubook team to provide the functionality to empower aspiring professionals and the career advisers. By combining advanced publishing technology with pedagogical know-how and a deep understanding of the needs of career starters/re-starters today the Course to Career Edubook gives a career focus for all stages of higher education.

Do any of these sound familiar?

• I know where I want my career to go but I don't know how to get there
• I know what I like doing but I don't know how to make a career of it
• How can I get more experience?
• How do I know whether a job is right for me?
• What's the first step?
• I don't know what I'm good at
  

The new digital edition of "Course to Career" equips students with the tools to arrive at the answers to these questions. The Edubook contains interactive study material that focuses on the development of career competencies, or 'career skills'. It gives students the tools to prepare themselves for the labour market and to conscientiously start their own career.

Content and Structure

The Edubook guides students to acquire career skills; competencies that enable them to make focused decisions during their studies that will lead to areas of development they want to grow into for example about graduate schemes, a long/short term internship, shadowing programs or other work experience. It also helps them to consciously shape their professional future after graduation and to take ownership of their own career for example whether they want to be intrapreneurial in an MNC or be more entrepreneurial in an SME later in their career and how to take the right steps now.

Course to Career is intuitively structured and contains three main parts: Self awareness, Context awareness and Growth awareness. From the first year, these three building blocks are gradually deployed in developing career skills and shaping so-called 'job happiness'. At the time of graduation, the students possess the ingredients of the entire career circle, in other words: of his/her job happiness.

• 'Self Awareness', the professional DNA is mapped through metacognitive exercises. 
• 'Context Awareness', the students place the insights from Self awareness in a work context. They link their professional DNA to corporate culture, corporate structure, sector, position, teamwork and leadership style.
  
• 'Growth Awareness', the students bring together their insights from Self awareness and Context awareness in the context of their future development. The focus is on growth, personal leadership and lifelong learning as a professional. 
• 'On the Job' is the application of the learning of previous modules in preparation for, during and after the students first work experiences and reiterating the process onto their future choices.
  
  The learning is scaffolded, integrated and interactive. Moreover Course to Career is student-centred by design as it is personalised to the individual student.
  
  

The Method

Each module starts with theoretical concepts overlayed with real world application through quotes and tips from peers, TED talks and related sourced content. This is followed by analytical and evaluative exercises.

The Wrap-up

At the end of each main module, students bundle their insights in a "wrap-up". This is an overview of the more important elements from the learning in a summative way; built up gradually over the course of the module. 

Career Skill Scoring

Finally, students and their career advisor, coach or teacher score the behavioural indicators of the career skills. Before and after scores are presented to facilitate meaningful conversations between career adviser and student. 

Career Canvas

The last step of Course to Career is to bring together the insights of the past years in the career canvas. This end product forms a guideline and baseline experience for the students professional future.