This intermediate level course under the Education and Career Planning aims to prepare adult learners with life and employment readiness skills. Learners will be prepared to pursue individual occupational and/or educational goals within a changing and diverse world.
Hours: 160 (Lecture Hours 12.5; Formal Work Experience 60)
Total Weeks: 8
Prerequisites: None
Course Content:
There are four (4) main components to the B.E.S.T. course:
Academics:
- Assessment of skills
- Assessment of learning styles
- Workplace Essential Skills
- Keyboarding and computer skills
- Study skills
Career Development:
- Interest inventories, aptitudes, skills and personality preferences
- Labour market and employment trends
- Research careers
- Interview skills
Personal Development:
- Emotional intelligence
- Barriers to success
- Interpersonal skills
- Self-esteem
- Assertiveness
- Listening
- Goal setting - individual personal, career, andéor educational goals
- Problem solving
- Stress management
- Community resources
Innovative Work Search Strategies:
- Resume writing
- Creative job searching - the hidden job market
- New labour market realities
- Entrepreneur
- Action plans
- Portfolio organization
- Examination of personal work history
- Work experience and/or community volunteer work
- Completion of 60 hours of work experience and/or community volunteer work
- Receive and discussion of feedback and evaluation from employers
Learning Outcomes:
- Upon completion of the course the learner will be able to:
- Identify attitudes towards work and return to learning
- Identify strategies to overcome barriers to employment
- Assess own career interests by use of assessments tools
- Apply change management techniques to the development of educational and career planning
- Identify own communication style and demonstrate/practice effective listening and feedback skills
- Define key concepts of self-esteem and how these concepts apply
- Identify and access relevant college and community resources
- Identify key informational interviewing skills and complete a minimum of three (3) informal interviews
- Write the college Math and English placements tests
- Develop workplace essential skills
- Perform set tasks using computer skills
- Establish self-determined, realistic personal/educational/career goals, and complete an Action Plan
Grading System: Letters
Passing Grade: D (50%)
Percentage of Individual Work: 50
Percentage of Group Work: 50
Keys to Success:
- Active class participation and involvement.
- Portfolio development
- Assessment and follow up
Textbooks:
Textbooks are subject to change. Please contact the bookstore at your local campus for current book lists.