Weytk and Welcome to our Career Textbook titled From University to Career: Creating a Successful Transition.
This project was a collaborative process that started as a volunteer project for department members to translate their specific Experiential Learning knowledge into a chapter. We secured funding through the TRU OER Development Grant (twice), which supported two writing sprint retreats facilitated by instructional designers and a librarian. Our process included feedback from colleagues at a 2019 ACE-WIL Conference (provincial), as well as a focus group of students facilitated by instructional designers and a librarian. Upon receiving feedback, we completed a second writing sprint to complete chapter writing, which led to round table editing sessions and support from the TRU Open Learning editing department. Unfortunately, we were then hit with the pandemic and many employee changes within our department. We took time to reevaluate the project and realign chapters and authors with our original project blueprint.
Our project focus was to create an interactive textbook by design, and this was central to our initial project planning sessions. As a team, we decided to focus on including H5P activities, video’s, embedded assignments, and practice questions to each chapter.
Chapter Organization
The textbook chapters are organized around the journey one takes through the career development process. Most career journey’s start by gathering information on “self,” such as interests, preferences, and personality (Chapter 1: Self-Assessment). This is generally followed by information gathering on labour market trends, shifts, and advancements (Chapter 2: Labour Market Information). Upon deeper understanding of oneself and current labour market trends, individuals begin to develop a greater understanding of their career interests and goals (Chapter 3: Career Planning and Goal Setting). With insights into potential careers and reflection on personal skill gaps, individuals may look for ways to minimize skill gaps by volunteering or other forms of work integrated learning. Hence why we have added Chapter 4: Volunteering and Experiential Learning.
The second section of our textbook focuses on the various tools and applications used to secure a job offer. Chapter 5: Application Documents centers on resumes and cover letters; Chapter 6: Social Shadow offers guidance on social media branding knowledge that will help ensure a professional online presence. Chapter 7: Job Search Strategies and Chapter 8: Interviews help to secure and ace the first interview. Finally, Chapter 9: Preparing for Your First Professional Position discusses how to prepare for your professional role and how to make a great first impression.
The third section covers special interest topics that are important context for entry level professionals, such as Chapter 10: Experience More Access which discusses accessibility in the workplace, and Chapter 11: Indigenous Inclusion, which offers Indigenous perspectives on employment, cultural diversity, and professional ethics.
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