Course

Professional Experience

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
Communications
Course code
CMNS 3900
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
15
Method(s) of instruction
Online
Hybrid
Field Experience
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course helps prepare students for a professional communication career by providing the supervised and evaluated experience required for the Post-Degree Diploma in Professional Communication.

Students may work in a communication role for an employer or complete a communication project for a client.
Course content

1. Preparing for Professional Experience

Students will

  • meet with the program coordinator to discuss and clarify their professional goals
  • demonstrate suitable job-search or contract-finding techniques, including research, telephone, interviewing, and networking skills
  • submit resumes and supporting material to potential supervisors or clients
  • obtain program approval for a suitable professional experience that relates to their studies in professional communication
  • with the workplace supervisor/client, develop a job or contract work plan for program approval
  • with the program coordinator, develop a set of learning objectives for the professional experience

2. During the Professional Experience

Students will

  • perform the duties assigned by the workplace supervisor/client, as appropriate
  • work within the organizational expectations and policies for hours, days of work, and dress code, as appropriate
  • ask for and respond effectively to feedback for continued learning
  • arrange for a meeting of the workplace supervisor/client and program coordinator
  • participate in all assigned relevant tasks
  • assist in the production of appropriate workplace documents under the direction of the workplace supervisor/client
  • produce documentation as required according to specific restraints and timelines
  • demonstrate an ability to establish effective working relationships with coworkers, supervisors, client(s), and/or other contractors
  • notify the program coordinator if issues or concerns arise that require intervention
  • participate in online discussions and keep a work journal throughout the professional experience

3. After the Professional Experience

Students will

  • write a short formal report on the professional experience
  • write a short informal article on the professional experience that is suitable for publication
  • prepare and present to the class an oral report that will describe and analyze the types of experience acquired and practised on the job/project
  • arrange a debriefing meeting with the program coordinator
Learning activities

Some or all of the following methods will be used:

  1. supervised work experience
  2. independent research or project
  3. instructor feedback on student work
  4. peer feedback on student work
  5. employer/client feedback on student work
  6. self-evaluation
  7. online discussion
  8. individual consultation
  9. presentation (individual or group)
  10. field trips
  11. classroom activities such as job search, interviewing
Means of assessment

Assessment will be in accordance with Douglas College's Evaluation Policy. Students will be evaluated using the Mastery grading system.

  • The student, workplace supervisor/client, and program coordinator will participate in the evaluation process.
  • The student must complete a minimum of 100 hours of supervised professional experience and produce satisfactory work to receive a Mastery grade.
  • The program coordinator will ordinarily meet at least once with the workplace supervisor/client during the professional experience.
  • The workplace supervisor/client will evaluate the student’s work performance, attendance (as appropriate), and work ethic.
  • The program coordinator will evaluate the student’s formal report, informal article, and work journal, and will assign the course grade.
Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this course will

  1. arrange and/or apply for a suitable experience that relates to their studies in professional communication
  2. apply skills and strategies in a workplace or contractual situation in which they will be expected to perform as a professional communicator
  3. develop knowledge and skills useful for their career path (for example, developing the ability to take direction, achieve consensus, produce written documents, and meet deadlines)
  4. make valuable networking contacts
  5. have a valuable professional experience to add to their resumes and a valuable product to add to their professional communication portfolio
  6. be able to articulate connections between classroom-presented theory and work experience
  7. acquire an experiential basis for better understanding of their coursework
Textbook materials

Coursepack of required readings, primarily from professional association publications

Requisites

Prerequisites

Acceptance into the Post-Degree Diploma in Professional Communication

and permission of the Professional Communication program coordinator

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

PRFU 2400

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for CMNS 3900
Simon Fraser University (SFU) No credit
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU CMNS 3XXX (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) No credit
University of Northern BC (UNBC) No credit

Course Offerings

Winter 2025