COM Professional Development Program
The Communication Department at Cabrini University embeds career development within its comm curriculum as a requirement for students in the Digital Media and Communication major, as well as the Communication major. The department’s four-year Professional Development program is holistic and developmental, designed to prepare students for lifelong learning and continuous reinvention throughout their professional career.
The program utilizes a narrative approach to career development. In other words, it enables students to tell their story compellingly to the people they would like to influence (i.e., employers, internship supervisors, graduate school admissions personnel, etc.). Stories can be attention-getting, memorable, meaningful, and relevant.
In this Professional Development Program, students learn to develop and deliver these well-told stories that showcase their unique strengths in-person and through their cover letters, resumes, online portfolios, and social platforms. More importantly, they learn how to position their capabilities in terms of a company's needs. After all, every employer/supervisor/grad officer wants to know how a candidate will enhance their organization. Students’ well-crafted stories will tell them.
Each year in the Professional Development Program, students progress through a six-phase Career Narrative Process. However, rather than being redundant, the program adopts a new career focus from students’ first to fourth year. The focus areas are as follows:
- FIRST-YEAR: Self-awareness & Storytelling
- SOPHOMORE YEAR: Marketplace and Societal Knowledge & Positioning
- JUNIOR YEAR: Workplace Readiness & Presenting
- SENIOR YEAR: Entrepreneurial Thinking & Persuading
Students enroll in the Professional Development Program EVERY semester over four years for .5 credits each term. Thus, they will earn 1 credit total in COM 103 (Fall & Spring term). In COM 203, 303, and 403, they'll also earn 1 credit each year. After four years, they will have accumulated 4 total credits in Professional Development upon graduation.
The Communication Department has been requiring its Professional Development program for students for over 30 years. The program remains a key driver of students’ professional success in internships and upon graduation.