IT 378 - Software Career Preparation Seminar

Credits: 5
Prepares students for internships and entry-level roles in software development. Focus will be on how to manage the internship/career search and how to effectively secure a position. Personal branding, technical resumes, and industry-specific interviewing skills will also be covered. This is a pass/no credit course.

Prerequisite: Instructor’s permission.

Course Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this class will be able to:

Demonstrate individual responsibility by taking ownership of their internship and career search.
Recognize the major elements of the technical career search that are within one’s own control.
Prepare for technical career specific elements of the career search such as one-way video interviews, whiteboarding interviews, and the STAR method of answering behavioral interview questions.
Set goals, plan, and track progress in the career search and career development processes.
Create a technical resume that is targeted for a specific technical role.
Develop a personal brand and the artifacts to support and communicate the brand to others.
Establish a professional network, online and in-person, leveraging existing resources, to support the career search and development process.

Program Outcomes

Communicate with technical and non-technical project stakeholders, and within project teams.

College-wide Outcomes

Responsibility - Responsibility encompasses those behaviors and dispositions necessary for students to be effective members of a community. This outcome is designed to help students recognize the value of a commitment to those responsibilities which will enable them to work successfully individually and with others.
Written Communication - Written Communication encompasses all the abilities necessary for effective expression of thoughts, feelings, and ideas in written form.