PCC 201 Professional Communication and Career Planning

Term:
Faculty Name:
Email Address:

Office:
Phone Ext:

REQUIRED MATERIALS: To be provided to the student via Brightspace or in class;

COURSE PREREQUISITES: ENG 120; minimum 30 credits.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to help students develop an action plan with specific goals towards post
collegiate life. Students will choose from two tracks – either exploration or validation. Through the use of a variety of
communication skills students will conduct industry research, attend career and industry events, and create an
individualized career plan for the future.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will be able to:
1. Create individualized professional development plans based on assessment of personal and professional goals,
skills, competencies, and experiences. (Communication)
2. Select and apply oral, written, and visual communication skills appropriate to given personal and professional
contexts. (Communication)
3. Develop tangible high quality artifacts that showcase transferable skills, abilities, and experiences relevant to
career interests and professional goals (Critical and Creative Thinking)
4. Integrate strategies for promoting effective communication across intercultural and organizational contexts.
(Integration, Application, Reflection)

COURSE FORMAT:
This course will balance classroom discussion and out of class experiential assignments. Students will be required to
attend in class sessions to learn content and use other class time sessions for experiential exploration. Each student will
develop an action plan for the course built to achieve goals – either exploration or validation. The assignments and
events students choose will become the roadmap with the culminating project being a final presentation, paper, and
outline for a portfolio appropriate for their chosen field. Out of class activities will consist of activities like conducting
industry research, conducting informational interviews, attending networking events, and attending career and industry
events that support individual career goals. This action plan will be created by each student and approved by the
instructor. The final project will include:

● Final Presentation: (3-5 min on career goals)

● Culminating Paper: Complete a ‘Career Autobiography’ paper to include your interests, skills, etc. but also
include a family work genogram, how environment may have shaped you (farm/city, blue collar/white,
culture/gender), what you learned from the course & events and how it enhanced or changed your career
direction.
● Framework for Portfolio: A final assessment of what you need to do from here to make yourself competitive for
your goal. List of tangible skills/experience in your chosen industry and next steps. Additional skills or
experience that need to be gained before graduation.
CAREER EXPLORATION TRACKS:

Exploration Validation
For students who are unsure or considering multiple For students who have identified 1-2 career
career paths/options: paths/options:
● Develop list of tasks/events/deliverables that will ● Developing list of tasks/events/deliverables that
help students explore options. will help students validate options.

REQUIRED EVENTS FOR COURSE:

Organized and Administered by Career and Professional Development Center
● Career Expo/Job & Internship Fair – February 27th
● Mock Interviews with Alumni/Recruiters – March 20th or April 4th; Sign Up Via Survey
● LinkedIn Training (with professional photographer for headshots) – April 2nd
● Practice Networking – set up by student

COURSE EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Activity Percentage
Weekly Exploration/Validation Tasks 10%
Weekly Discussion 20%
Career Portfolio 40%
Weekly reflection 20%
Attendance & Participation 10%

B+ = 87-89% C+ = 77-79% D+ = 67-69%

A = 93-100% B = 83-86% C = 73-76% D = 60-66%
A- = 90-92% B- = 80-82% C- = 70-72% F = 0-59%

KEY ASSIGNMENTS:

Weekly Exploration/Validation Tasks: (20%)

These activities are designed to help you develop and implement your personalized career track. Activities to include
personal assessment, journal assignments, optional pre-professional and career activities, and research on your chosen
career field.

Required Events: (20%)

Your career plans are effectively implemented when you participate in activities that help build professionalism. You are
required to attend the following events as part of this course: Career Fair, Mock Interview with Alumni/Recruiters,
LinkedIn Training, and Practice Networking to include informational interviews.

Career Artifacts: (20%)

To support your career planning, you must have the right tools to support your professional plan. As part of this course
you will develop a professional resume, cover letter, thank you letter, elevator pitch, and learn to answer interview
questions effectively.

Culminating Paper, Portfolio Plan & Final Presentation: (30%)

This course is an opportunity to assess, reflect and learn how to create an effective plan for your future. The process
you will learn can be applied at all stages of your career even after you graduate from SNHU. Your culminating paper
will reflect on your journey of the course and what you have learned; your portfolio plan will become your compass for
next steps and provide your assessment of skills and experience you need to develop and how you plan to attain these
skills; Your Final Presentation is an opportunity to share this journey with your classmates. Details and criteria for these
deliverables are available in Brightspace.

Attendance & Participation: (10%)

Attendance is mandatory: You are expected to attend every class – this means arriving on time – and being responsible
for all coursework if absent. This is expected because the same will be required of you in the workplace. There will be
cases where illness or other emergency will prevent you from attending class. In such cases, please provide notification
PRIOR to the start of class and arrange how you will make up the missed work. Please call or e-mail if you must miss
class. Students with more than three absences are subject to withdrawal from/failing the class. Check Brightspace for
any assignments that you may have missed.

DIGITAL ETIQUETTE:
In order to ensure a respectful, productive class experience, students are required to silence and stow all electronic
devices in bags or backpacks for the duration of the class unless otherwise instructed. Students who have a
documented disability require the use of a technological device in class may obtain a waiver from this policy.

REQUIREMENTS:
All assignments including presentations, papers, journals, etc. are accepted on the date due. Assignments should be
submitted to Brightspace. Late assignments or projects will not be accepted without prior permission from the
instructor. There is NO makeup for presentations. Students must attend classes because lectures will be discussion
oriented with several in class activities where participation is necessary to receive credit. Participation is a must for
students to learn concepts important to the course. Instructor will use SNHU email to communicate with students. All
students should check SNHU email every day for any course communication.

INSTRUCTOR AVAILABILITY:
I want to help you foster a meaningful and rewarding role in my class and in college, in general. Beyond scheduled office
hours, I can schedule meetings with you at a variety of times. Please contact me to make an appointment or with
questions or concerns you may have regarding any aspect of this course or your transition to college.

INCLUSIVITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT:

Southern New Hampshire University values and promotes social diversity, inclusivity, and social justice. In order to
provide an inclusive, respectful, and constructive educational environment, all members of the SNHU community will:

● Respect the varied histories, identities, ideas, and experiences of all people.
● Respect the diversity of all social groups, including race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, gender expression,
nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, ability, age, religion, socio-economic class, and all intersections.
● Reject bigotry and discrimination of all forms, including harassment, bullying, hate speech, and non-compliance
with preferred names and gender pronoun requests.

Accusations of discrimination on our campus may result in serious disciplinary action. Students are encouraged to report
incidents that compromise the inclusivity and civility of our academic environments to their professors and / or to their
School Dean, as follows.

● The School of Education: Belknap 100; 629-4675

● The School of Business: Webster 101; 644-3153
● The School of Arts and Sciences: Frost 103; 645-9692
● The College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics: CETA Annex; 626-9455
● The Dean of Student Success (Exploratory Studies students): Academic Center (ACC) 107N; 645-9695

SNHU POLICY STATEMENTS:

Please review the policy statements regarding Disability Services, Library Resources, Copyright, Academic Honesty,
Grade Schema, and BrightspaceTM here: https://my.snhu.edu/Academics/Pages/SyllabiStatements.aspx
 Topics and Exercises

Week 1 Course Introduction & Charting Your Course

● Introductions
● Personal & Professional Profile Sheet
● What do you want to learn in this course? How confident are you in your plan?
● Which career do you pursue?

Week 2 What should you do to Design Your After-University Life

● Introduction to Design Thinking
● Adaptation
● Part-time jobs-are they necessary?
● Skills that you need to have already
● The most important things that you should achieve during university life
● Which certificates are important
● Should you go to study abroad right after graduation
● Things you should do before graduation
● Future preparation

Week 3 Job searching right after graduation

● Job priorities
● Job searching skills
● Interview skills
● Design a working life

Week 4 Gen Z and successful opportunities

● Successful cases
● Successful formula
● GenZ analysis

Week 5 Communication at work

● Some common mistakes
● Promotion
● Professional Mindset

Week 6 Startup
● Crucial notes
● Start-up preparation
● Teamwork for Startup
● Pitching skills

Week 7 Career & Communication Tools: Communicating Effectively at a Career Fair and Elevator Pitch
● Making the Most of the Career Fair
● Crafting Elevator Pitch / Practice in Class
● Professional Dress Primer
● How to connect w/ employers at the Career Fair

Week 8 Successful Interviewing Strategies

● Interviewing Intro, Tips/Best Practices, Types, Overview of common questions
 ● STAR Method
● Interview modeling and practice in class

Week 9 Social Relationship

● Family and marriage
● Mid-life crisis
● Macro factors
● Career changes
● Personal Finance mindset
● Personal development

Week 10 Organizational and Multicultural Communication

● Navigating Different Organizations – How to listen and communicate effectively – 1:1, teams,
meetings, professional relationships
● Value of multicultural communication in the workplace