Helping language students transition from the classroom to competitive job markets
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Annie AbbottFollow
Mar. 28, 2014•0 likes•516 views
Helping language students transition from the classroom to competitive job markets
Mar. 28, 2014•0 likes•516 views
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Spanish students are often told broad generalizations ("speaking a foreign language will open all kinds of doors for you") or very specific careers for which most Spanish curricula don't really prepare studuents ("You can work for the State Department"). Students need our help to bridge the gap between Spanish studies and the job market. This presentation offers suggestions for how to do that through face-to-face career-oriented workshops and online resources.
Annie AbbottFollow
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Helping language students transition from the classroom to competitive job markets
- 1. Helping language students transition from the classroom to competitive job markets Poised for Success Ann Abbott, Director of Undergraduate Studies University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign @AnnAbbott
- 2. LSP educators are often positioned as CAREER COUNSELORS.
- 3. Departments tout LONG LISTS of career opportunities or claim that languages will set you apart for ANY JOB.
- 4. With face-to-face workshops and online resources, we can offer students CAREER ADVICE in specific, truthful, systematic ways.
- 7. Offer live workshop series.
- 9. Post about and by students.
- 16. Be available to counsel, prep.
- 20. LSP educators are not career coaches. But we can HELP STUDENTS SUCCEED during and after our classes— strategically.
Editor's Notes
- Because of the content we teach, we are often positioned by both students and fellow faculty members as informal career counselors. Students are desperate for information about what to do after graduation. Other language faculty often have no accurate ideas about careers outside of academia. But, of course, we are not career counselors.
- Departments know that now more than ever they must connect their programs to career success upon graduation. For example, our College is starting up a “first steps” survey. But because faculty have not traditionally engaged in this kind of career services, they lay claim to long lists of specific yet random careers for which the Spanish curriculum doesn’t really prepare the students (e.g., State Department jobs). Or on the opposite end, they make sweeping statements about how languages will open all kinds of doors for you! This isn’t helpful to students, and it isn’t helpful to you, the LSP professional who is positioned as career counselor.
- I will show you the solution that I have come up with: offer students both face-to-face and virtual resources. Students can access the information when and where they need it. Most of these resources require advanced planning on the students’ parts, and that can be problematic. But we cannot always provide individualized, just-in-time career counseling.
- Before students even arrive on campus. 1. We are losing students in Spanish. We realize that we need to reach potential students before they even set foot on our campus. YouTube is the second most-used search engine on the internet, and interviews with former students show the career paths that former language students have taken after graduation.
- And young people are definitely on YouTube.
- When students decide to major or minor in Spanish. We offer a series of monthly workshops and presentations called Micarrera. We have had workshops from Peace Corps recruiters, from our Center for Translation Studies, from our advisor about internships, visits from former students and a hands-on workshop from Darcy that helped students improve their resumes, cover letters and ideas for interview questions and answers.Problem: low attendance.
- I took part of the workshop that I gave in a Mi Carrera session, and I turned it into a screencast so that people who didn’t attend could still use the information. This screencast focuses on setting your own goals for the Spanish major, because they’re probably going to be quite different than the department’s goals.Play from 0:15 to 1:41.
- When students are in my LSP courses.
- The honors students write five blog posts (with pictures) during the semester. This gets them involved in the blog and helps them recognize the blog as a place to find information in the future. At the beginning of each semester, my new students have to read some of the old students’ posts. Students are inspired to see the professional skills that students acquired during their semester and it can help them network with their peers, too.
- Like you, I get lots of emails from students who like to stay in touch, need a letter of recommendation or have some news to share. I always ask them if I can share about them on my blog in order to inspire other students. Again, this is a way for students to begin to see that there are lots of students who have been in their shoes before, and they can network with them. In fact, I incorporate this into my exams and other course activities. E.g.. the job ad from Maggie Flynn and the case study about Brittany Koteles.
- Also while they are in my classes, I teach with Facebook. Many of them like the page, and this allows me to push information to them frequently and even long after they graduate. This helps me maintain and strengthen relationships with students, even though most of them are not my personal FB friends.
- This is an example of the balance between fun information that simply keeps Spanish in their feeds and on their minds, and a link to an article about cultural sensitivity in global business leaders.
- Any time students are thinking about job hunting, carreer prep, etc. I have a Pinterest board with useful links. It’s important to write captions that add the layer of advice that is specific just to language students.
- Examples of captions I have written just for them.
- Although we can’t give away too much of our time, counseling students one-on-one can give you good insights into what their questions and needs are. From there, you can design face-to-face workshops or on-line resources that other students can use when they need the same thing. Example, giving David a mock interview before his real Fulbright interview.
- After they graduate. You can follow their careers on Linked In.
- And you can actively make connections among your students, just like this example .
- And now we come full circle: once the students have graduated, invite them to your home for coffee when they come back for a visit and interview them about what they’re currently doing and what advice they have for current students. Invite them back for your face-to-face workshops, too. Students love information that comes from other students and recent grads.
- I’m not a career coach, but Darcy Lear is. Now she will share her expertise with you.