1. PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT: THE
NEXT FRONTIER
Dr. Calvin Williams,
Program Director, Employer Relations
• 850-644-9771 / calvin.williams@fsu.edu

2. THE NEXT FRONTIER
 Professional Development
 Why Professional Development?
 Professional Development Workshops
 Outcomes

3. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
 Facilitated learning opportunities
 Formal coursework
 Informal learning opportunities
 Conferences / Seminars
 Process of obtaining skills, qualifications and
experience for career progression

4. WHY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN
CAREER SERVICES?
 Skills may not be acquired in formal degree programs
 Faculty prioritize learning outcomes (most not all)
 Employers demanding better prepared candidates
 Students want skills for competitive advantage
 2014 On-Campus Recruiting (OCR) Survey / n = 97
 Skills required by employers
 Communication (100%)
 Critical Thinking (100%)
 Leadership (100%)
 Teamwork (100%)

5. WHY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN
CAREER SERVICES?
 FSU College of Business Dean
 Requested skills gap assessment (95% or higher)
 Compared to Florida schools / National institutions
 Communication / Critical Thinking / Leadership / Teamwork /
Creativity / Research—Project Development (72% -- 83%) /
Life Management / Social Responsibility / Technical Scientific
 Skill gaps assessed for all majors (OCR)
 Professional Development workshops used to fill
the gaps

6. BENEFITS
 Students
 Translate class ‘theory’ into real-world applications
 Trained by professionals
 Better understanding of the professional world
 Networking / Career Center staff and employment partners
 Student Groups
 Professional activities for members
 Organization becomes visible to employment partners
 Recruiting tool for new members
 Faculty
 Learn/network with industry professionals
 Class projects / assignments with employer inputs
 Extra credit opportunity for students

7. BENEFITS
 Employers
 Exposure within the Career Center
 Potential recruiting edge / campus exposure
 Build better relationships with campus community
 Career Center
 Students, faculty and employers network
 Enhances Career Center programming
 Staff learns from employment partners
 Meets requested needs for campus partners

8. IMPLEMENTATION
 Workshop Selection
 Branding / Leadership / Teambuilding / Social Media /
Etiquette
 Day / Time / Location
 Flexible for students and employment partners
 Consistent scheduling
 Should not interfere with other Career Center programming
 Employers with Professional Development Programs
 CIA / City Furniture / Disney / Enterprise / Harris Corp. /
Kohl’s / SeaWorld / Siemens / Target / TQL

9. ENTERPRISE WORKSHOPS
 Life Skills Training
 Personal/Professional Development
 Curriculum Based Presentations
 Needs based (user requests)

10. TQL WORKSHOPS
 Branding
 Goal Setting
 Time Management
 Social Media

11. OTHER WORKSHOPS
 Target
 Kohl’s
 Disney
 Northwestern Mutual
 City Furniture

12. OUTCOMES
 Students gain knowledge / skills for life after college
 Communication / Leadership / Teambuilding / etc.
 Students network and are trained by employment partners
 Employers gain access to students
 Expands their brand and on-campus presence
 Network with Career Center staff, students and faculty
 Give back to the community (volunteer hours)
 Train future managers
 Career Center
 Increased student participation
 Increased employer participation
 Shows interest in student development
 New way to partner with colleges (Dean, faculty)
 Next frontier to student development and learning

13. QUESTIONS?