Professional Development for Co-op EESC 2000 CRN 32451

Spring 2018; Friday – 1:35-3:15 – 325 Richards

Professor: Veronica L. Porter, Ph.D TA: Felicia Chen

v.porter@neu.edu; 617-373-3471, 206 MU chen.fel@husky.neu.edu
Office hours: online schedule

The purpose of this class is to provide students with information about the Cooperative Education Program, the
experiential education requirement, and other experiential opportunities. Students are expected to attend all classes
and complete all assignments. In addition, students must submit an approved resume and complete a mock interview in
order to pass the class.

Learning Objectives:
 To learn about the goals, opportunities, policies and process of Northeastern University’s Cooperative
Education program, the experiential education requirement and experiential opportunities.
 To understand the structure, purpose and development of a professional career-appropriate resume, cover letter,
reference list and thank you note.
 To learn, improve and practice interview skills.
 To practice and develop effective job search skills, including navigation of NU Careers, professional
networking, and professional social media tools.
 To develop an understanding of career paths and employment opportunities in your field of study.
 Learn to identify personal skills, work values, career and job choices.
 To explore and understand the concepts and benefits of mindset, mindfulness and motivation.

Required texts (available at Northeastern bookstore or Amazon):

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The new psychology of success, how we can learn to fulfill our potential. New
York: Ballantine Books, 2006. Chapters 2 and 3.

Langer, Ellen J. The Power of Mindful Learning. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1997. Chapters 3 and 6.

Additional readings may be posted to Blackboard.

Grading criteria/Assignments at a glance:

You are expected to attend all classes and course meetings, therefore, attendance and active participation in
class activities constitutes a significant portion of your grade. You must complete and submit all
assignments. You can earn up to the number of points listed for each category.
*More than 2 unexcused absences will result in not passing the course.

 Attendance/punctuality/participation 25 pts
 Skills & Interest Inventory 5 pts
 Resume draft/final 15 pts
 Cover Letter 5 pts
 Mock Interview 10 pts
 Thank-you note 5 pts
 Safety Awareness Tutorial & Quiz 5 pts
 Career Development Activity 5 pts
 LinkedIn profile 5 pts
 NIH Tutorial and Quiz 5 pts
 Mindset Response Paper 5 pts.
 Mindfulness Response Paper 5 pts.
 Get Informed: Sexual Harassment 5 pts
Awareness Tutorial and Quiz _______
TOTAL 100 pts
*Note: You MUST pass this course to go on co-op

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F
100- 94 93-90 89-87 86-84 83-80 79-77 76-74 73-70 69-67 66-64 63-60 59-0

Students with Disabilities

If you anticipate issues related to the format or requirements of this course, please meet with me. We would
like to discuss ways to ensure your full participation in this course. If you determine that formal, disability-
related accommodations are necessary, it is important that you register with the Disability Resource Center
(617-373-2675; www.drc.neu.edu) and notify me of your eligibility for reasonable accommodations. We can
then plan how best to coordinate your accommodations.

CLASS SCHEDULE
-You must attend a LinkedIn Workshop through the Career Development office.
-You must attend a Co-op or Career Development Activity (in addition to LinkedIn) Due:March 23.
https://www.northeastern.edu/careers/spring-2018-career-development-events/
-You must complete a mock interview.

Class 1
1/12 Introduction General Information about the Cooperative Education program; NU Careers
(https://www.northeastern.edu/nucareershelp/students)
Assignment: NU Careers Tutorial-student quick start videos,
https://www.northeastern.edu/nucareershelp/students;
Skills and Interest Inventory (bring hard copy to next class).
Due: 1/19

Class 2
1/19 Resume writing and cover letters
Introduce mindset/mindful/motivation; Daniel Pink video
Assignment: Write resume and cover letter; bring a hard copy to next class for review; Find an
internship that you are interested in and use the job description for the cover letter - include a
copy with your cover letter.
Read Chapters 2 and 3 in Dweck; write response to video and reading regarding relevance to
Co-op.
Due: 1/26

Class 3
1/26 Resume Peer Review and Critique/ Interviewing/References/Thank you notes.
Assignment: Revise resume based on peer feedback; revise cover letter; schedule mock
interview.
Due: 2/2

Class 4
2/2 Career Development Resources/Searching outside the COOL system, targeting
companies, networking, Social Media: Guest Speaker: Career Development Professional.
Assignment: Create LinkedIn account (if you don’t already have one) and import resume.
Due: 2/16

Class 5
2/9 Online Class NIH Tutorial and Quiz
We will not meet in person.
Assignment: Bring hard copy of certificate to next class.
Due: 2/16
Class 6
2/16 Global and out of Region Co-op
Assignments: Complete LinkedIn profile (include specific categories on Blackboard);
Join Biology LinkedIn Group (instructions will be on BB).
Due: 2/23

Class 7
2/23 Employer Perspective

Class 8
3/3 Safety Awareness Tutorial and Quiz online class. Not meeting in person.
Due: 3/30

3/9 Spring Break

Class 9
3/16 Experiential Opportunities: Study Abroad, Three Seas, Pre-health Program. Read Langer,
Chapters 3 and 6. Write a response to the Langer Reading.
Due: 3/30.

Class 10
3/23 Alumni Guest Speaker

Class 11
3/30 Co-op in Action – Students’ Perspective

Class 12
4/6 Research for Undergraduates- Guest Speaker: Dr. Erin Cram
Assignment: Sexual Harassment Awareness Tutorial and Quiz
Due: 4/13
Class 13
4/13 Ethics; Confidentiality; Next Steps and Course Wrap up