Professional Orientation

Admission requirements

This course is only available for students in the BA Urban Studies programme.

Description

The BA Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary programme with expertise from a wide array of academic fields. This interdisciplinarity offers numerous options when it comes to life after your graduate. The second year of the programme is the ideal time for students to start exploring the job market, allowing them to define their own unique career path. In order to be able to do this, it is important to take conscious steps in this area. The outline of the second year means you will be making important choices that can influence the rest of your programme and career (such as specialisation courses, electives, and the possibility of a minor).

The Professional Orientation course will help you in making these choices. We do not do this by giving study information (you already receive this via other channels) but instead by helping you to develop skills to actively shape your career. You will learn to formulate personal goals and to translate them into concrete actions. You will also learn to reflect on these actions and, if necessary, adjust your goals. Orienting on your career does not end after this course – it is a lifelong process. In this course, you will learn how to continue giving shape to this process, also after the end of the course.

The course consists of lectures and assignments focusing on a number of career-related questions:

• Career perspectives and orientation on the professional field: How do career develop?

• What does the professional field involve? What are potential jobs for Urban Studies graduates?

• What opportunities are there for me in the professional field? Where am I at the moment?

• How can I investigate my opportunities?

• What are my career and lifestyle preferences?

• What will be expected of me in the professional field?

• How can I best utilise my academic background in practice? What will my role in my future professional field be?

Course objectives

General learning outcomes

See tab Additional information for the overview of the programme's general learning outcomes. In the assessment methods below is outlined which general learning outcome will be tested through which method.

Course objectives, pertaining to this course

• 1) Students will learn about the importance of timely career orientation

• 2) Students will learn how to orient themselves on their future career, taking into account their own interests, values and skills

• 3) Students will acquire scientific knowledge and insights regarding career development

• 4) Students will learn about the importance of problem-solving skills

• 5) Students will acquire insights on their future career wishes, allowing them to make better choices during their remaining studies

Timetable

The timetables are available through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

• Lecture

• Tutorial (compulsory attendance)
  This means that students have to attend every session of the course. If a student is unable to attend a tutorial, they should inform the lecturer in advance, providing a valid reason for absence. The teacher will determine if and how the missed session can be compensated by an additional assignment. If they are absent from a tutorial without a valid reason, they can be excluded from the final exam in the course.

Assessment method

Assessment

• Participation during tutorials
  -measured course specific objectives: 1-5

• Presentations during working groups
  -measured programme's general learning outcomes: 18
  -measured course specific objectives: 1, 2, 5

• Completing polls/questionnaires

• Written assignments
  -measured programme's general learning outcomes: 18, 27
  -measured course specific objectives: 2-5

Weighing

End grade

To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:

• The end grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average with the additional requirement that the written assignments must always be sufficient.

• Please note that if the grade for the written assignments is lower than 5.50, you will not pass the course, regardless of the grade for the other assessment components.

Resit

If the end grade is insufficient (lower than a 6.0), or the grade for the written assignments is lower than 5.5, there is a possibility of submitting an improved version of the insufficient assignments replacing the previous written assignments grade. The deadline for resubmission is 10 days after receiving the grade for the written assignments. No resit for the participation grade and/or completing polls and/or presentation is possible.

Faculty regulations concerning participation in resits are listed in article 4.1 of the Faculty Course and Examination Regulations.

Inspection and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.

Reading list

Literature will be announced in the Student Handbook.

Registration

• Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.

• Students will be enrolled for Exams by the Administration Office, as long as they have a valid Tutorial enrolment.

• General information about uSis is available on the website

Contact

• For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.

• For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Student Affairs Office for BA Urban Studies

Remarks

None.