Nichols to Host Career Conference
On Tuesday, August 5th, Nichols College will host 28 colleges from 14 states for a career conference entitled "Four Years of Professional Development for College Students." Its focus is on best practices for institutional career staff.
Two speakers, Peter Vogt and Terese Corey Blanck, co-authors of THE COLLEGE TO CAREER ROAD MAP: A Four-Year Guide to Finding Your Path, will be presenting from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Ingraham Room on the Dudley, Mass., campus. Vogt is editor of the "Campus Career Counselor" and a writer for Monster and MonsterTRAK.com. Blanck, a career coach with fahrenHEIGHT360, has shared her expertise with publications from The New York Times to College Bound Magazine.
As a private college, Nichols set a visionary precedent in 2000: professional and career preparation and its ability to realize a return on educational investment is an essential service to Nichols students (and to their parents) and an important learning outcome.
Called the Professional Development Seminar (PDS), Nichols four-year program, the only one in the country, is comprised of 1-credit courses. Coursework logically builds on the prior year, with first-year students getting help with the transition to college; second-year students exploring majors and internship opportunities; third-year students refining their professional skills (e.g. interviewing, writing resumes and developing portfolios); and fourth-year students launching successful careers.
Nichols PDS Program recognizes that it takes four years for students to find their paths. In many other higher education environments, students can drift aimlessly and then panic at the end of their senior year, taking whatever job they can get. As an exploratory journey designed to connect passions with career and life purpose, Nichols PDS Program ensures that Nichols students are those who strategically plan to get what they want.
Nichols College's renowned educational outcomes have become an engine for economic growth in the region, and PDS is its foundation for transforming students into tomorrow's leaders. One in 10 of Nichols alumni is a president, CEO or business owner. After graduation, 80 percent of Nichols graduates continue to live and work in the Worcester and Boston metropolitan areas, and in the Class of 2007, 96 percent was employed within six months of graduation with an annual salary of $39,266.
As of graduation 2007, over 1,000 Nichols students have successfully completed the Professional Development Seminar Program.