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Career Planning: A Pathway to Employment

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Career Planning: A Pathway to Employment

This course is part of Career Discovery Specialization

Instructors: Dan Stotz

19,921 already enrolled

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7 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

199 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

3 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

95%

Most learners liked this course

7 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

199 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

3 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

95%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Tools you'll learn

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

15 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer

Taught in English

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Learn more about Coursera for Business

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Career Discovery Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 7 modules in this course

This course is designed to foster creative approaches to launching a new career. You will articulate best ways to make a first impression and analyze your strengths by creating a personal statement. You will identify appropriate elements to make your resume stand out from the crowd. You will also identify the most effective ways a cover letter can answer a job description, and how to best leverage social media in your job search. In short, this course will help you to prepare for a new job. You will learn how to apply, network, leverage social media, interview, follow-up, and evaluate options through research and with the help of experienced faculty and talented professional.

Module details

Welcome! You are beginning a very important journey on your path to a meaningful and successful career. This course is designed to help you launch a new career or jump start an existing career. This course, and your team of instructors, will guide you from making that first impression, to networking your way to an interview, through the stages of interview preparation, mastering the interview, and following up with the perfect Thank You note. We will work with you on generating a social media strategy and guide you through evaluating job offers when they are received. We will ask you to work with us as you move through the course, job searching and preparing as you go. We'll ask you to share your experiences and your success stories, as we offer you our best guidance in launching your career. Let's begin with making a first impression! By the end of this module, you will be able to: (1) Identify ways to make a great first impression, (2) Distinguish between best and worst practice when first meeting a new professional contact, (3) Differentiate between promoting yourself and promoting what you believe in, (4) Practice tasteful self-promotion, & (5) Create self promotional opportunities through an Elevator Pitch

What's included

2 videos9 readings2 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt

2 videosTotal 6 minutes

Meet the Team1 minute
Making a Great First Impression in an Interview5 minutes

9 readingsTotal 77 minutes

Learning Objectives2 minutes
Snap judgments - The Princeton Study10 minutes
Personality Trumps Skill10 minutes
The 5-7-9 Ways to Make a Great First Impression10 minutes
Test Your First Impression Skills - Just for Fun10 minutes
Promote Yourself without Selling Out10 minutes
The Elevator Speech10 minutes
Elevator Pitch - Professional Examples10 minutes
Get help and meet other learners. Join your Community!5 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

First Impressions Quiz30 minutes
Elevator Speech Quiz30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 120 minutes

Script Your Elevator Speech120 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

What Makes a Great First Impression?10 minutes

By the end of this module, you will be able to identify appropriate elements of and formatting choices in a resume document. You will also be able to articulate the importance of audience, and translating experiences into new industry-specific languages.

What's included

2 videos2 readings2 assignments1 peer review2 discussion prompts

2 videosTotal 8 minutes

Overview of Writing My Resume5 minutes
Making Your Resume Stand Out3 minutes

2 readingsTotal 22 minutes

Learning Objectives2 minutes
What should my resume look like?20 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Writing My Resume Practice Quiz30 minutes
Writing my Resume30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 120 minutes

Your Current Resume120 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 20 minutes

Resume Writing and Knowing your Audience10 minutes
What Makes Your Resume Stand Out?10 minutes

By the end of this module, you will be able to describe the components of a successful cover letter. You will also be able to compare your resume with a given job description, and identify points of connection

What's included

1 video5 readings2 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt

1 videoTotal 6 minutes

Overview of Creating Your Cover Letter6 minutes

5 readingsTotal 42 minutes

Learning Objectives2 minutes
Are cover letters important?10 minutes
Becoming a more Customized Candidate10 minutes
Your Cover Letter vs. Your Job Description10 minutes
Connecting the Puzzle Pieces10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Cover Letter Practice Quiz30 minutes
My Cover Letter30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

Peer Review of an Uploaded Job Description / Cover Letter 60 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

How do you match up with your field of choice?10 minutes

By the end of this module, you will understand the best practices for conducting a social media audit, and developing a social media strategy, that is designed to help you, not hurt you, during every phase of your career. You will better understand why and how employers use social media before making hiring decisions, and what employers are looking for when they review your social media presence. The reading titled "Practical LinkedIn 4.0" written by Randy Hain, CEO of Serviam Partners, will help you understand the best practices for developing your LinkedIn profile, and how to use LinkedIn to develop professional business relationships. You will also learn about methods for using social media to become a thought leader in your industry or specialty area.

What's included

2 videos7 readings2 assignments1 peer review2 discussion prompts

2 videosTotal 10 minutes

Introduction to My Social Media Strategy3 minutes
How To Use LinkedIn7 minutes

7 readingsTotal 62 minutes

The Learning Objectives2 minutes
The Job Seeker's Social Media Survival Kit10 minutes
Practical LinkedIn 4.010 minutes
How To Use X10 minutes
How To Use Facebook10 minutes
Should You Use Facebook as a Job-Seeking Tool?10 minutes
11 Steps to Become a Social Leader10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

My Social Media Strategy, Practice Quiz30 minutes
My Social Media Strategy, Graded Quiz30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

Create or Update Your LinkedIn Profile60 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 20 minutes

Social Media Strategy: New Insights?10 minutes
The Growing Popularity of LinkedIn10 minutes

Welcome to the 5th module of this course! In Mastering the Interview, our teaching team has accumulated some fantastic resources for you. We've reached out to colleagues, dusted off the books from our shelves, and argued over which were the best of the best resources we could share. We think we found many of them and hope they are helpful to you, as you begin to think about the interview process!

What's included

3 videos6 readings2 assignments2 discussion prompts

3 videosTotal 12 minutes

Overview of Interviewing Best Practices4 minutes
Networking and Making Connections That Matter4 minutes
Best and Worst Interview Questions4 minutes

6 readingsTotal 72 minutes

Learning Objectives2 minutes
Steps to a Successful Interview10 minutes
The Path to Interview Success20 minutes
Mastering the Interview - Comprehensive Overview20 minutes
Top Mistakes People Make in an Interview10 minutes
TEDTalk "Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are"10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

The Path to Interview Success Practice Quiz30 minutes
Mastering the Interview Quiz30 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 20 minutes

Share your Best and Worst Interview Experiences10 minutes
How can your body language transform your interview?10 minutes

By the end of this module, you will be able to compose an effective thank you note. You will also be able to articulate commonly accepted timelines and methods for thanking interviewers.

What's included

1 video8 readings2 assignments2 discussion prompts

1 videoTotal 3 minutes

Overview of Writing Thank You Notes3 minutes

8 readingsTotal 72 minutes

Learning Objectives2 minutes
Writing Thank You Notes that WORK10 minutes
Thank You Dos and Don'ts10 minutes
You're Welcome!10 minutes
How to Compose an Interview Thank You Letter10 minutes
Thank You Note / Email - Important Part of the Interview Process10 minutes
The One Thing To Do After The Interview10 minutes
1 Thing You MUST Do After Any Job Interview10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Practice What You Have Learned!30 minutes
Quiz - Writing Thank You Notes30 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 20 minutes

Your Thank You Note10 minutes
Components in a Thank You Note10 minutes

By the end of this module, you will understand the components of doing good research relative to job titles and industries. You will be able to make informed decisions about job offers, and describe commonly accepted timelines and negotiation points.