Development series to focus on leadership

More employers are looking far more closely at how students tell their story in behavioral interviews.

A grant from Target has provided 25 students the opportunity to participate in a professional development series throughout this fall.

Andy Ditlevson, a member of the Career Services Center faculty, has been involved with the project to prepare students for leadership roles.

The leadership series began as a program for an organization advised by Ditlevson, who said he thought that it would be a great opportunity for students to develop skills they would need in the future for their career.

He has taken information from students and employers to develop the program and said he was happy to find that he would be able to expand the program to students throughout campus.

“We get feedback from employers, and we hear many of the same things. Some things include that students aren’t polished enough, students aren’t prepared enough, there are certain skills they don’t have,” Ditlevson said. “These things are nothing new, we have heard them for years.”

Ditlevson said that employers are looking for students to be more prepared, especially when it comes to talking about themselves and their past leadership experiences.

The fall leadership series is planned to involve four sessions at about one hour and a half long each.

The first two is expected to be “Identifying your strengths,” the third will be based on the highly popular book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Leaders,” and lastly “How to Lead a Project.”

The program is planned to continue in the spring due to a grant extension from Target, and is expected to expand from the current program.

Examples of sessions that may be included in the spring are how to lead a team, how to lead a diverse work force, effective e-mail communication and effective resume and cover letter writing.

25 students are expected to be able to participate in the spring leadership series.
Students that are interested can speak with Ditlevson after Nov. 23, which is when the schedule is expected to be complete. A time has not yet been determined.

The spring series is expected to begin in either late January or early February. The career services center is in the process of preparing for the second career fair prep party of the year, as well as the diversity career fair, both of which are planned for January.

The students that commit to the series are asked to commit to attending the entire series. In return, they may include the experience on their resumes and take part in programs that may help them in their future careers.