AP/SOSC 3715 3.00

The Urban Professional

This course focuses on professional development with emphasis on professionalism, networking, ethical awareness, work-life balance and broadening the students’ skillset to make an effective transition from academia to a career in the urban field. The course helps students develop both hard skills such as technical writing and soft skills such as communication, problem solving, and time management. The course provides students a general overview of key aspects of the urban professional’s work such as ethics, keeping up with the literature, evidence-based policy making, etc. Classes consist of a blend of seminars, workshops, and in-class training sessions that provide students the opportunity to gain more hands-on skills to complement their academic knowledge and training in producing research and analytical papers. The course not only prepares students for the fourth-year experiential placement course in the program, but also gives students a head starts in choosing a career path upon graduation. Students have the opportunity to explore future career paths in the urban field and the different roles of the urban professional between the public, private, or non-profit sectors. The course seeks to develop students’ ability to effectively network, search, apply, and interview for jobs, and build their professional skills to strengthen their resumes and improve their employability prospects. Students in the course benefit from a range of teaching expertise and skills from faculty and practitioners, including alumnae of the program. Assignments in the course consist of written and experiential exercises to facilitate students’ professional development combining skills training and networking strategies.