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Session 2793

Career Development Activities in a Required Engineering Course

Paul M. Furth New Mexico State University

Abstract

This paper describes several career development activities that are part of a required sophomore course in electrical engineering. These career development activities take place over several weeks prior to engineering career fairs held every fall and spring on the New Mexico State University (NMSU) campus. The activities include a 1-hour workshop on resume writing and a documented visit to the engineering career fair. The goals of the career development activities are to: 1) help students prepare a polished written resume, 2) give students experience talking with recruiters, and 3) help students obtain co-op or summer internship positions. The first two goals relate directly to ABET Criterion 3 (g) outcome 1, that graduates have “an ability to communicate effectively.” The last goal is consistent with a published outcome of the NMSU Electrical Engineering Program 2, that our graduates are “given opportunities to experience the profession first-hand through co-ops or internships.” Student evaluations of the career activities in the course demonstrate their effectiveness and suggest ways to improve the choice and scope of activities.

I. Introduction

Career development is often an activity that escapes the undergraduate engineering curriculum, or else, is confined to a technical writing course taught by non-engineers. With the trend to reduce four-year engineering programs to 128 student credit hours, it is hard to imagine a 1- or 2- credit course devoted exclusively to career development. Thus, another means of accomplishing it is to include career development activities in one or more required engineering courses. As such, all students in the program are obliged to participate in and, presumably, benefit from these activities.

The six career development activities described in this paper are a small fraction of all that is needed to prepare students for entering and staying in the workforce. Certainly, the bulk of the responsibility and drive for developing one’s career must come from the individual, not from required assignments. Nevertheless, evaluations indicate that, on average, students participating in these six career development activities found each activity to be at least of minor help in their own career development.

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2001, American Society for Engineering Education

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Furth, P. (2001, June), Career Development Activities In A Required Engineering Course Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--8982