Do you want a practical class that will prepare you for your future job or internship, no matter what career you’re pursuing? Do you want to perfect your resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profile? Do you want to learn how to ace your next interview?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you might want to look into saving room for the course Professional Communications (MGT 214) in your class schedule. Although I am a communications and media major, I am currently taking this class to fulfill my Community Youth Development concentration credits. That being said, you don’t have to fall under any specific major to take this course. In fact, in my class alone, there are students from a variety of majors, all pursuing different career paths. The only prerequisite required, Organization and Management (MGT 212), can also be taken in the same semester.
The goal of Professional Communications is to “gain the skills and competencies to communicate effectively in the classroom, business setting, or job-search setting.” In addition to textbook readings and short homework assignments that you will find in many of your classes, a large portion of this course revolves around developing your individual brand as a professional by practicing formal introductions, answering interview questions, and discussing practical topics (such as balancing personal and professional life) as a class.
One thing I really like about this class is the many opportunities to get feedback from both my professor and my classmates due to the number of in-class presentations we do almost every other week. Like many college students, I have a strong dislike of public speaking. I always got sweaty and nervous and had a tendency to talk too fast because I was afraid of forgetting information.
However, as the semester went on, I found myself feeling more and more comfortable standing behind the podium and speaking in front of all my peers. Maybe it was due to the sheer number of presentations we’ve done in class or maybe it was because our professor let us get to know our classmates on a personal basis. Either way, this course has helped me strengthen something I always considered my biggest weakness.
My professor for this course, Julie Bazan, also works very closely with the Center for Life’s Work to help students build their resumes, write cover letters and thank you letters, and look for internships online. One of our assignments was to schedule a meeting with our career coach and go over our resume together, and several guest speakers from the Center for Life’s Work have come to talk about LinkedIn, the SPARK Grant, and Handshake, an online database that Naz students can access to find internships and jobs in the Rochester area.
In college, it’s easy to get caught up in all the assignments and exams that your classes demand, and it can be difficult to focus on the process of finding and preparing for a job or internship on top of balancing academics, extracurricular activities, a social life, and still setting time aside to just relax. So it was really nice to take a course like Professional Communications and have the guidance of multiple Naz faculty members and the feedback of my classmates to help me develop the skills that are necessary to be successful as a professional.