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Career Resources for Faculty

Career Readiness and you

Faculty interested in learning more about Career Readiness and Career Development can engage in a self-paced career development training prepared by the Career Development Center. Faculty can self-enroll in the self-paced course by following this link: Career Readiness Training. 

This training is designed to strengthen your confidence in having meaningful career development conversations within your existing roles as educators, mentors, and campus partners. Our goal is not to replace the expertise you already bring from your disciplines, industries, and lived experiences. Instead, we aim to complement and build on that knowledge by sharing career development best practices grounded in CAS standards and NACE competencies.

Contact Career Development Center

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Faculty Resources and Classroom Tools

Faculty play a crucial role in helping students connect their academic experiences to the world of work. By integrating career readiness assignments, simulations, and career language into courses, faculty can ensure students graduate with the skills, career readiness competencies, and confidence employers expect.

1. Career-Focused Assignments

Encourage students to build career readiness while meeting course objectives. Here are examples you can easily adapt to your syllabus:

  • Resume Assignment: Students create or update a resume tailored to their field. (Students may use the SXU Resume Template and the "Resume Standards by Major" guidelines listed on the Career Development Center's webpage. 
  • Cover Letter: Students draft a cover letter for a hypothetical job. The cover letter should be reflected of or in alignment with the job description.
  • LinkedIn Profile: Students create a professional LinkedIn profile showcasing class projects, internships, and leadership activities.
  • Informational Interviews: Students conduct short interviews with professionals in their fields (via LinkedIn or alumni networks).

2. Job Simulations through Forage

Forage offers free online job simulations developed by leading companies (e.g., JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, Pfizer). These simulations allow students to experience real-world tasks employers expect in entry-level roles.

How Faculty Can Use Forage:

  • Assign a Forage job simulation as a course project to give students practical experience with industry-specific challenges.
  • Connect tasks in simulations to NACE competencies (e.g., critical thinking, professionalism, technology).
  • Use Forage projects as part of a career readiness portfolio.

What Can I Do With This Major?

This resource provides opportunities for students to discover how their major aligns with career options, employers, and smart strategies to boost their resumes. The website features 100 major profiles with information on common career paths, types of employers that tend to hire in the field, and strategies to maximize opportunities. Featured are more than 1,700 links to professional associations, occupational information, and job search resources.

Students research profiles aligned to their chosen majors or majors of interest. Outcomes may be discussed in peer or small group sessions.

3. Classroom Activities to Build Career Readiness

  • Mock Interviews:
    Pair students to conduct practice interviews using questions tailored to their majors.
  • Skill Mapping:
    Have students identify which course assignments build NACE competencies and document them on a skill map.
  • Career Elevator Pitch:
    Students create a 60-second pitch introducing themselves and their career interests.
  • Professional Writing Assignments:
    Convert research papers or case studies into executive summaries or professional briefs.

4. "Skillify" Your Syllabi

Students often see coursework and careers as separate worlds. When syllabi explicitly link course activities to transferable skills and workforce expectations, students are better able to:

  • Understand the value of the course beyond grades and credits
  • Articulate skills gained in interviews, resumes, and internships
  • Recognize how academic learning applies to real-world problems
  • Increase motivation and engagement by seeing clear relevance

For faculty, these connections:

  • Clarify the purpose behind assignments and assessments
  • Support equity by making hidden expectations explicit
  • Align course outcomes with institutional goals for student success and employability

What Are Career Readiness Competencies?
Career readiness competencies are foundational, transferable skills that employers consistently seek across industries. Examples may include:

  • Communication (written, oral, digital)
  • Critical thinking and problem-solving
  • Teamwork and collaboration
  • Professionalism and work ethic
  • Technology and data literacy
  • Leadership and initiative
  • Career self-management

These competencies are not “extra” to the curriculum—they are often already embedded in what students do. The goal is to name them, align them, and reinforce them.
 
Making the Connections Explicit in the Syllabus
A syllabus can act as a roadmap that helps students see how course content builds career-relevant skills. Key places to integrate career readiness:

  • Course Description: Briefly note how the course develops skills used in professional or real-world contexts.
  • Learning Outcomes: Pair content knowledge with a transferable skill.
    • Example: “Analyze disciplinary data to develop evidence-based arguments (critical thinking, communication).”
  • Assignments & Assessments: Explain which skills students are practicing and why they matter beyond the course.
    • Example: “This group project builds collaboration, project management, and professional communication skills used in many workplaces.”
  • Participation & Expectations: Connect professionalism, accountability, and communication norms to workplace expectations.
  • Career Language: Use skill-based language students can later reuse on resumes and in interviews.

Why This Helps Students
When career readiness is visible in the syllabus, students are more likely to:

  • Make intentional choices about how they approach assignments
  • Reflect on skill development, not just content mastery
  • Transfer learning from one course or experience to another
  • Feel more confident explaining the relevance of their education
This is especially impactful for first-generation students, students with limited professional networks, and students unsure how their major connects to careers. Students don’t automatically make connections between coursework and careers—syllabi can help bridge that gap. By intentionally naming and aligning career readiness competencies within the syllabus, faculty empower students to better understand their learning, communicate their skills, and prepare for life after graduation—without sacrificing disciplinary rigor.

5. Collaborating with the Career Development Center

The Career Development Center partners with faculty, advisors, and staff to integrate career development into the academic experience in meaningful and developmentally appropriate ways. Collaboration ensures students encounter career exploration and preparation consistently across their coursework, advising, and co-curricular experiences. Below are key ways faculty and staff can collaborate with the Career Development Center to support student career readiness and post graduation outcomes.

Classroom Based Career Engagement: Faculty and staff can partner with the Career Development Center to bring career content directly into the classroom. These engagements are designed to complement course learning outcomes and can be tailored by discipline, course level, or student needs.

Examples include:

  • Classroom presentations on career pathways, transferable skills, and labor market trends related to the discipline
  • Resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn workshops embedded into courses
  • Internship and experiential learning overviews connected to course assignments
  • Career exploration sessions focused on early major and career decision making
These presentations can be one time sessions or integrated across multiple class meetings.

Employer Engagement in the Classroom: The Career Development Center can facilitate employer visits to classes to help students connect academic learning to real world applications.

Collaborative opportunities include:

  • Employer guest speakers discussing career paths and industry expectations
  • Alumni panels connected to specific majors or programs
  • Employer led case studies, project feedback, or skill focused discussions
  • Industry specific career exploration sessions
These experiences help students build professional awareness and confidence while expanding their networks.


Advising and Career Success Day Programming: Faculty and staff play a key role in Advising and Career Success Day by partnering with the Career Development Center on targeted programming.

Collaborative efforts may include:

  • "What Can I Do With This Major?" sessions that explore career pathways, skills, and outcomes by discipline
  • Career readiness workshops aligned with advising milestones
  • Joint presentations connecting academic planning with career decision making
  • Resource tables or drop in consultations focused on internships, jobs, and graduate school preparation

These sessions reinforce the connection between academic choices and long-term career goals.

Integrating Career Content into Coursework: Faculty can collaborate with the Career Development Center to intentionally fold career development content into courses without sacrificing academic rigor.

Examples include:

  • Aligning assignments with career competencies such as communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and professionalism
  • Embedding resume or portfolio artifacts into course projects
  • Connecting course learning outcomes to career pathways and employer valued skills
  • Incorporating reflection activities that help students articulate what they are learning and how it applies beyond the classroom
Career Development staff can consult on assignment design, learning outcomes, and assessment strategies.

Ready-to-Use Resources: The Career Development Center offers ready-to-use content that faculty and staff can embed into courses, advising courses, or orientation experiences.

Modules may include:

  • Career exploration and major alignment
  • Resume and cover letter basics
  • Internship search strategies
  • Interview preparation
  • Using Handshake and career technology tools
  • Career readiness and skill articulation

Content can be used as stand-alone resources or paired with in-class discussion and assignments.

First Destination Outcomes and Data Sharing: Faculty and staff are essential partners in supporting the collection and reporting of First Destination outcomes for graduating students.

Collaboration includes:

  • Encouraging students to complete First Destination surveys
  • Reinforcing the importance of sharing post graduation plans
  • Connecting students to the Career Development Center for employment or graduate school support
  • Supporting accurate reporting of employment, continuing education, and service outcomes
  • First Destination data helps the university assess student success, improve programming, and demonstrate the value of academic programs.