peanuts career.png

210 Taking Career Initiative
Spring 2021 six-week session
1 credit

This one-credit course explores the meaning and value of your liberal arts and sciences education to your future career -- no matter what your major.

Through weekly lecture and discussion meetings, you will reflect on your experiences, your strengths, and the value of your liberal arts and sciences education at UW-Madison; explore a career community that interests you through both digital social networks and in-person interviews; and practice techniques to present your value to a prospective employer in writing, in person, and online.

Level: Elementary
Requisites: None. Open to all students regardless of year or major.
Instruction mode: Online
Lecture: Tuesdays, 5:40pm-6:30pm central time, via Zoom at https://uwmadison.zoom.us/my/gdowney (some lectures prerecorded)
Discussion: Thursdays, 5:40pm-6:30pm central time, via Zoom at https://uwmadison.zoom.us/my/gdowney
Credits: One credit

Professor
Greg Downey
gdowney@wisc.edu
Office hours online by appointment via Zoom at https://uwmadison.zoom.us/my/gdowney

Teaching Assistants

In this special six-week version of the course, the professor also serves as the teaching assistant and will lead discussion sections.

Career Advising
For L&S Students: Visit SuccessWorks
(third floor above the University Bookstore)
to find hours for drop-in, online,
and scheduled career advising.

Career Education Coordinator
Molly Green
mmgreen5@wisc.edu
SuccessWorks

Not an L&S Student?
Find your career office here.

Not in the central time zone?
Use this handy time zone converter

Syllabus on one page

(Click on the image to download this syllabus as a one-page PDF)

How does this course work?

This special six-week version of INTER-LS 210 involves three types of student interaction:

Tuesday lectures. Usually each Tuesday you must attend a 50-minute synchronous online lecture through Zoom. (However, during selected weeks the lecture will be prerecorded and available for you to download asynchronously.)
Assignments and text postings. Each Wednesday, students must turn in several Assignments online through Canvas. Often we will also ask students to post selected reflections about those assignments to the online text Discussions board for their section as well. All assignments and posted reflections are always due by midnight each Wednesday.
Thursday discussion. Each Thursday you must attend a 50-minute synchronous online discussion section with your TA through Zoom. For the Spring 2021 six-week session, your course professor will also serve as your TA discussion leader.

For the Spring 2021 six-week session, the Zoom address for all lectures and discussions is https://uwmadison.zoom.us/my/gdowney

Learning outcomes

Develop and communicate a compelling personal career narrative about your path through a liberal arts and sciences education, with respect to a specific target career community.

Grading policies

Final grading scale. Assignments in this course are worth roughly two-thirds of your semester grade, and discussion section attendance and participation is worth roughly one-third. Semester grades are computed out of 100 possible points on the standard A-F scale:

93-100 = A
88-92 = AB
83-87 = B
78-82 = BC
73-77 = C
63-72 = D
0-62 = F

Absences from discussion section. Students are expected to attend and participate in each discussion section in order to earn full points for that section, whether section is held in-person or online. A TA may occasionally grant a student an excused absence (no points deducted) for an emergency or medical reason. Students should request any excused absence within 48 hours of the section meeting date.
Late assignments. Students are expected to turn in written assignments online that are complete and on time. Incomplete assignments, or assignments not turned in by the deadline, will earn zero points. A TA may occasionally grant a student an extension on an assignment (no points deducted) for an emergency or medical reason. Students should request an extension within 48 hours of the assignment due date.
Make-up assignments. Students may choose to complete up to ten points of make-up assignments to compensate for points missed on regular assignments or points missed due to unexcused absences. These make-up assignments are listed at the bottom of the Assignments page. All make-up assignments must be turned in by the last day of instruction in the semester, before final exam week begins.
Multiple absences, missed assignments, and/or lack of communication. Students who miss two discussion sections in a row, or who fail to turn in two assignments in a row, will be emailed by their TA (with a copy to the professor) out of concern for their well-being. If a student does not respond to us about their plans for making up missed work within 24 hours, our next step is to contact the Dean of Students office.

Students tend to earn high grades in this course, by completing all of the assignments on time and with integrity. However, you will only get out of this course what you put into it. Many of the assignments cover tasks like reflecting on your experiences, putting together a resume, and setting up a LinkedIn site, which you'll have to do anyway -- so why not get some guidance and credit along the way?

Textbooks

We use three textbooks for the course. The first two are printed books that are available at the University Bookstore and also at online retailers (they should cost about $20 each):

Katharine Brooks, You Majored in What? Designing Your Path from College to Career (2017). This book is a comprehensive guide to the job search process, written by an expert in career advising and targeted to liberal arts and sciences university students. It should remain useful to you throughout your time at UW-Madison and beyond.
Don Clifton, Clifton Strengths for Students (2017). This book has a unique code in it that allows you to take an online strengths assessment for one of your assignments. If you do not have a copy of this book, or if you purchase this book as a used copy, you will need to spend an extra $12 to directly purchase access to the online assessment.

Student Guide cover.png

The last textbook is freely available online:

Greg Downey, Working Toward Success: Building a Career in the Liberal Arts and Sciences (2019). This 200-page PDF textbook is freely available to download chapter-by-chapter here.

Supporting Your Academic Success

If you find yourself needing additional support, please look through the support resources below to help you be successful.

Academic Support: See all of your options for tutoring, writing help, study skills assistance, and more in one place.
2020-2021 Student Planner: Download a PDF copy.
McBurney Disability Resource Center - Apply for Accommodations
Netiquette Guidelines: Review the set of guidelines for online behavior.
Tips for Virtual Learning
UW Libraries: Make an appointment, request materials for in-person pickup, or access tons of resources online.
Writing Center Writer’s Handbook: Citation style guidelines and examples, writing style guides, and more!

Testimonials

After taking this course, students report that it works!

93% felt better prepared to utilize campus resources to assist with career planning.
85% felt better prepared to apply for an internship
85% of students felt better prepared to explore career options