{"id":19376,"date":"2025-03-18T09:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T13:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/?p=19376"},"modified":"2025-03-18T12:24:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T16:24:20","slug":"a-personalized-approach-to-career-development-at-elizabethtown-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/a-personalized-approach-to-career-development-at-elizabethtown-college\/","title":{"rendered":"A Personalized Approach to Career Development at Elizabethtown College"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Elizabethtown College <\/span>Career Development Center<\/span><\/a> is empowering students and alumni in their professional growth by taking a modern approach to providing personalized, high-quality, career preparation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to prepare current students and alumni for their careers today, but also for those of tomorrow while giving them the tools and resources to be successful,\u201d Elizabethtown College Director of the Career Development Center Maureen Brown said. \u201cOur approach is highly personalized, offering individualized guidance that helps individuals stand out in competitive and fast-changing job markets – a significant advantage of a small, private college like Etown.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping Students on Track through the Career Action Plan\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Developed in the fall of 2024, the <\/span>Career Development Center\u2019s Career Action Plan<\/span><\/a> serves as a roadmap to a successful professional journey for students. This dynamic, online, module-based program is designed to keep students on track with their career readiness and development throughout their undergraduate experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe program has helped me better understand what steps to take to prepare for my future,\u201d Chemistry major Neil Divins \u201925 said. \u201cI felt uncertain heading into my senior year, but going through the various action steps helped me be more productive about determining my goals and the next steps for my career path.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Career Action Plan unfolds across four levels: Explore, Engage, Enrich, and Embark. Students who complete the program receive a certificate to showcase on their resume.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making Professional Development More Accessible<\/strong><\/p>\n

Etown\u2019s Career Development Center offers students the ability to schedule one-on-one appointments with career counselors utilizing <\/span>Handshake<\/span><\/a>, a one-stop shop career hub. The digital platform is utilized by both students and alumni to find job and internship opportunities, as well as register for career-focused events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Offering over 15 types of one-on-one appointments and personalized support for students at every stage of their career journey, Etown\u2019s Career Development staff conducted 600 student appointments during the 2023-24 academic year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur staff members hold degrees in Higher Education Counseling\/Student Affairs, are Certified Career Counselors, and have earned multiple additional certifications in the career counseling field,\u201d Brown said. \u201cTheir expertise ensures that students receive high-quality, professional guidance tailored to their individual career goals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Student appointment survey data rated their experience with Etown staff at 4.91 out of 5 (0-5 scale) and 96% would recommend using Etown\u2019s Career Development Center to a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond one-on-one appointments, the Career Development Center offers students career-focused events that include exclusive meet-and-greet opportunities across various industries, opportunities to connect with alumni and employers, and professional development workshops. Students are taking advantage of the opportunities as 1,019 Blue Jays attended these events during the 2023-24 academic year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bringing Career Preparation into the Classroom<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Career Development Center staff has integrated its offerings into Etown classrooms by introducing career-focused courses and offering tailored presentations as a part of existing courses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Students across class years can sign up for one-credit Career Pathways Courses such as \u201cExploring Career and Purposeful Pathways\u201d and \u201cProfessional Skills Development and Defining Career Goals. These courses help students identify meaningful career paths and gain practical experience in resume and cover letter writing, networking, interviewing, job or internship searching, and transitioning to the workplace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Etown faculty and instructors also partner with the Career Development Center to incorporate career-focused programming into their courses. These customized presentations cover various professional development topics, equipping students with actionable insights and resources. During the 2023-2024 academic year, the Career Development Center delivered 60 classroom presentations, reaching 894 students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese collaborations allow us to support students\u2019 professional development directly in the classroom, reinforcing the connection between academic learning and career readiness,\u201d Brown said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meeting Students Where They Are Through Career Peers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Career Peers serve as trained peer mentors for students, expanding the Career Development Center\u2019s services. After extensive professional development training, Career Peers offer evening drop-in hours, ensuring students can access guidance at times that fit their schedules.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis peer-to-peer model has been highly effective, as students often feel more comfortable discussing career-related topics with their peers,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBy extending our office\u2019s reach beyond standard hours, Career Peers help us meet students where they are, ensuring that career resources are accessible and relevant to their needs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about the Elizabethtown College Career Development Center.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Elizabethtown College Career Development Center is empowering students and alumni in their professional growth by taking a modern approach to providing personalized, high-quality, career preparation. \u201cWe want to prepare current students and alumni for their careers today, but also for those of tomorrow while giving them the tools and resources to be successful,\u201d Elizabethtown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":19377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1338,775],"tags":[1529,197,1350],"class_list":["post-19376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-and-research","category-campus","tag-career-development-center","tag-elizabethtown-college","tag-etown","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19376"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19385,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19376\/revisions\/19385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}