Course

Professional Readiness II: Jobs and Networks

Important Notice

This course is not active. Please contact Department Chair for more information.

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
Print Futures
Course code
PRFU 1290
Credits
1.00
Semester length
9 weeks
Max class size
30
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course is the second of four professional readiness courses intended to help students develop a career as a professional writer. It offers an opportunity for students to identify a writing niche, develop and practise the basic skills of applying and interviewing for jobs, and learn about the importance of networking for writers.
Course content
  1. Finding a Writing Niche
    Successful students will:
    • review core competencies for professional writers
    • review and assess their professional/personal strengths and weaknesses in the context of their experience in the program to date (interpersonal skills, presentation and facilitation skills, public-speaking skills, conflict-resolution skills, mediation skills, negotiation skills, ability to meet deadlines, research/writing/editing skills, and so on)
    • identify an appropriate writing niche in preparation for PRFU 2400: Work Experience
  2. Getting a Job
    Successful students will:
    • prepare for job interviews (including researching companies, practising for interviews, preparing work samples, developing questions, revising resumes for specific jobs, and so on)
    • participate in mock job interviews (instructor- and peer-evaluated)
  3. Networking
    Successful students will:
    • identify components of networks for writers (industry associations, colleagues, employers, classmates, instructors, and so on)
    • learn how to develop and maintain networks
    • review how to conduct an informational interview
    • write an industry association profile based in part on attendance at an association meeting (for example, Society for Technical Communication, Editors’ Association of Canada, International Association for Business Communicators, Periodical Writers Association of Canada, Canadian Public Relations Society, and so on)
Learning activities

The course will be delivered by lecture and seminar. In the seminar, students will be expected to share their findings, experiences, and writing.

Means of assessment

Students will demonstrate their mastery of course material through assignments and participation in discussion, group work, and interviews.

Students are expected to be self-motivated and to demonstrate professionalism, which includes active participation, good attendance, punctuality, effective collaboration, ability to meet deadlines, presentation skills, and accurate self-evaluation.

Evaluation will be based on this general format:

Writing niche report 15%
Job preparation assignments 60%
Networking report (written) 15%
Professionalism (as defined) 10%
  100%
Learning outcomes

Students will:

  1. identify a writing niche
  2. develop and practise the basic skills of applying and interviewing for jobs
  3. understand the importance of networking and learn how to set up a network
Textbook materials

 None

Requisites

Prerequisites

PRFU 1190 or permission of the coordinator

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

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 PRFU 1290
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.

Course Offerings

Winter 2025