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Superior Preparation. Extraordinary Results.
The Bren School has an excellent and comprehensive Career Development Program that is designed to help students become highly sought after applicants and effective environmental professionals. The Program is committed to helping students develop short-term and long-term career goals, acquire professional experience, and develop effective job search and career development skills.
What are the strengths of the Bren Career Development Program?
Innovative and Highly Successful Job Search Approach
The Bren School Career Development Team has developed a job search approach that has allowed students to find jobs quickly in both weak and strong job markets. Some of the School’s best placement statistics have fallen during recessionary times. The unique three-tiered approach helps students find the jobs they want while also allowing them to get into the workforce in a timely manner. Over the past 5 years, a majority of the students have landed jobs prior to graduation with 99% finding jobs within 3-4 months of graduation. While one of the goals is to help students find jobs quickly, the main goal is to help students land the jobs they want. Through the three-tiered approach, a majority of the students say they have actually obtained their ideal job following graduation.
Personal One-On-One Service
The Career Development Team is available for one-one-one advising sessions on any career and professional development topic. In addition to workshops, career video modules, mock interview sessions, career speakers, career events, online resources, job announcement listservs, and many other career activities, the Career Development Team makes it a priority to meet with students and help them with all their individual career needs. Feedback from students and graduates always highlights the Career Development Team’s extensive knowledge base, professional approach, and friendly service.
Career Development and Job Search Strategy Expertise
The Bren School Career Development Team brings many years experience to the career and professional development arena. In addition to extensive experience in counseling and guidance, the team has the following unique training, skills, and experience:
- Certified in Behavioral Interviewing
- Over 10 years experience in Human Resources
- Over 15 year experience in the Career Development field
- On and off campus recruitment and hiring experience
- Graduate degree in Counseling and Guidance
- Graduate degree in Business
- Experience in college admissions programs
- Expertise in resume design, interviewing skills, networking, and salary negotiations
- Extensive experience in marketing, brand management, and professionalism
- Proficiency in performance evaluation systems, compensation structures, and internal hiring practices
- Experience in Management Training, Change Management, and Team Building
- Unique and proven job search strategy for finding jobs in weak and strong markets
- Extraordinary customer service, with a personal and friendly approach
Advanced Career Development and Job Search Workshops
While the Bren School Career Development Team will help students and graduates with any of their career development needs, many of the workshops focus on elevating the students’ career and professional development skills to the next level. What makes your resume stand out? What is the best way to package your skills, training, and experience on your resume? What will help you stand out in an interview? How do you effectively answer behavioral interviewing questions? What do you need to do to find jobs in a weak job market? What makes a cover letter grab attention and get you in the door? The School’s goal is to have everyone come out of the Bren School program with exceptional career and professional development skills that will last a lifetime.
Networking Skills Focus
From day one, networking and mingling are a priority at the Bren School. Through the Career Development Program, students receive training during their first quarter on all forms of networking. Workshops are followed up with practical internal and external events that allow students to practice what they have learned. Feedback from the training and events has been excellent. The goal is to have Bren students and graduates feel comfortable in any setting.
Extensive Contact List and Internal Social Networking Program
The Bren School Career Development Team knows where most of the 800 Bren School alumni are working and it takes advantage of this strong network for job and internship opportunities. Additionally, many of the graduates are on the Bren School Alumni Network where current students can access this network for advice and assistance. In addition to the Bren School alumni, being part of the School means you are now part of the University of California, Santa Barbara community and the University of California network. The Bren School also has its own unique social networking program that allows students to interact with alumni, employers, corporate partners, and other environmental professionals. Additionally, the Bren School maintains its own LinkedIn group and Facebook site. Furthermore, the Bren School has also developed a number of very engaged groups of outside (real world) contacts through the School’s Corporate Partner Program, Dean’s Council, Advisory Board, and a number of professional associations.
Professional Development and Real World Emphasis
The goal of the Career Development Program is to have all students and graduates feel comfortable in all types of settings (when dealing with clients and stakeholders, during the job search and hiring process, in new jobs, at lunch meetings, during presentations, or when given writing assignments). The Career Development Team also wants the students and graduates to represent themselves and the Bren School well in all these settings. Employers want to hire people who are professional and who they will feel comfortable putting in any situation. In addition to professional development training in client interaction, mingling, networking, email correspondence, memo writing, general writing, and presentation skills, the Career Development Team schedules events and activities to get the students out of the academic setting and into the real world. Students have plenty of opportunities to come in contact with employers, Corporate Partners, and other professionals. Additionally, the summer internship program and year-long master’s thesis group project process puts students in a real world setting where they can apply their newly acquired skills and knowledge.
Internships
Nearly 100% of the Bren students complete summer internships between their first and second year of study. Through the internship search workshop, students learn the best ways to locate and land summer opportunities. The unique three-tiered job search approach applies equally well to the internship search. With the hundreds of internship announcements sent out through the Career Development Program, the internships that are available through the group projects, the internships that develop through the Bren School alumni network, all the internships available through the corporate partners and the Bren School community and connections, the new internships developed each year through the Career Development Program, and the internships that the students locate on their own, students are able to locate and complete rewarding internships all over the world.
Innovative Programs
The Bren School Career Development Team is always looking for ways to make the Career and Professional Development Program better. The job search workshop was redesigned at the end of 2008 following a drop in the economy. Placement statistics following this new workshop (2009 and 2010) were quite impressive even though the economy and job market were extremely weak. With the focus on networking and mingling, unique workshops have been put in place to help students develop the skills needed to successfully connect with people and effectively navigate a reception and event. The Career Development Program also places considerable emphasis on teaching students how to market and package themselves. Each workshop and program is well thought-out and designed in a way that allows students to approach the job search process in a variety of ways. There is an understanding that not all approaches work for all people. Everyone is different. This is very apparent in the salary negotiation workshop. While some students feel very comfortable asking for a higher salary, many students and graduates are reluctant to negotiate. To overcome this, the Career Development Team has developed an approach where students and graduates feel much more comfortable negotiating for a higher salary, and they understand why it is important to go through this process.