COM 405 “Career Preparation Across Borders” is a dynamic advanced career prep course in the Bachelor of Commerce Program at the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. The goal of COM 405 is to set each and every Commerce student up with global networks, build their resume, gain mentors, international experiences and build technical skills.
Students are required to build out a website to showcase themselves to potential employers. To help them figure out what kinds of elements to include on a personal website, they were provided with a demo website. Most students chose a Weebly template to build out from. I was invited to attend a coaching session to help students build, strengthen and showcase their own brand.
The BCOM Experiential Learning Manager and one of the course instructors, Jennifer Gill, supplied a rubric to help make sure I was providing the right kinds of feedback. Some of the students showed up with fully built out sites and others were expecting a lot more hand holding.
I shared my favourite tips on effective writing for the web and basic content layout. I also asked some of my favourite “GROW” coaching questions. These open-ended questions helped them to nail down their purpose and values, and through this, clarity about their personal brand.
My favourite component that students included was a “global mindset” page. It helped to tease out the why and how that motivated each student. By fourth year, every Gustavson Commerce student has had some sort of international experience, either as an exchange student to another institution or on an international work term.
The completed sites were revealed at the Global Leaders Festival, billed as a “reverse career fair” for employers to identify new talent.