Brenda Williams, managing director of the DePaul Career Center, created the Career Champions program. (Photo by Randall Spriggs/DePaul University)
In this article:
- The Career Center has launched the Career Champion network.
- The Career Champion program goal is to empower students to have career conversations and explore their options while they are in college.
- This happens by providing ready-made resources and workshops to faculty and staff who have regular contact with students. With these resources they can then serve as career champions for their students.
- Faculty and staff can sign up to be a career champion here.
Career readiness can seem daunting for students, especially for freshmen acclimating to the novelty of university life. Writing resumes and cover letters, networking and creating LinkedIn profiles are just some of the aspects of career preparation that often feel overwhelming, as many students may not know when and how to take these steps toward post-graduate success.
“Career readiness is a process of exploration,” Williams says. “Through this program, faculty and staff will have the tools to support students in having career conversations and exploring what resonates with them and makes them happy. The Career Champions initiative has not been done before at DePaul to this magnitude, and the Career Center is excited to expand that.”
What is the Career Champions program?
Faculty and staff who serve as Career Champions have access to several resources that will help them support student career readiness, including:
- Customized career readiness presentations and workshops prepared by the Career Center that faculty and staff can deliver during class and meeting times
- The Office of Student Employment’s GROW program, where student employee managers can integrate guided reflections into student employee assignments
- Faculty training on how to approach career readiness conversations and incorporate readiness activities into their curriculum and co-curriculum
Career Champion resources also include online modules on creating Handshake and LinkedIn profiles, ready-made mock interview assignments and networking events hosted by the Career Center.
These easy-to-implement activities are vital to helping students take their first steps toward building a resume and securing internships.
Benefits for students
Williams says that polls reveal families and students prioritize career success, though only 40% of college students in the U.S. take the initiative to visit a career center. At DePaul, that percentage is slightly higher at 50%.
“We want to integrate career readiness into the entire ecosystem at DePaul and faculty and staff Career Champions help us do that,” Williams says. “That way, career development resources will be readily available to students anywhere across campus, not just at the Career Centers.”
The more equipped faculty, staff and student employee managers are for career readiness conversations, the more comfortable students will feel launching their own careers.
Benefits for faculty and staff
Career Champions consistently stay on top of workplace trends, such as the changing culture of dress codes and hybrid work schedules, enhancing their ability to advise students on career readiness preparation.
“There’s an emotional benefit as well,” Williams says. “Faculty and staff who get involved with the program have the benefit of feeling proud of the positive results of their actions. Knowing they have helped students grow is very fulfilling.” Faculty and staff can
sign up to be a career champion here.
Understanding barriers to success
Other important aspects of the Career Champions program are events and conversations surrounding barriers to student success. Williams says DePaul’s mission of serving the marginalized, including students from low-income families and first-generation college students, is integral to all the Career Center’s resources. Career Champions will have an opportunity to support these students during a networking night in the spring.
“We’re also working on an end-of-the-year event where we invite Career Champions to celebrate one another,” Williams says. “We will award outstanding faculty and staff Champions who have contributed great things to the program, inspiring others to join.”
Mission connection
Williams, who is also very involved with the Division of Mission and Ministry, says that the Career Champions program’s values and goals are rooted in DePaul’s mission and her role as a “mission ambassador.”
“Everything I do is dedicated to helping others and how I can support students,” she says. “The Career Champions program is influenced by this mission and reflects DePaul’s vision of ‘what must be done?’”
Whether in the classroom, office or a co-curricular organization meeting, any faculty or staff member can play a role in student career success after graduation.
Sign up here to gain access to additional activities that will empower engaging career conversations and activities with students.