Career Ready

How we’re preparing a 21st century workforce for Indiana

Our career readiness activities support the work of IU’s Office of Completion and Student Success in the following specific areas:

  1. helping academic advisors and instructors of early college general education and pre-major requirement classes to better connect their course learning objectives and outcomes with career-related knowledge, skills, and abilities [read more]
  2. expanding the use and impact of technologies being used by IU to promote career development (e.g., Handshake, Career Edge”) [read more].

Synthesizing career and academic development

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers often rate employability skills as equal to or more important than technical skills alone. At the heart of Charting the Future’s career readiness interventions is a coaching approach that helps students connect with advisors and translate their coursework into the skills-based language of the modern labor market. 

Charting the Future is partnering with Ascend Indiana, which helps connect Indiana employers with talent that matches their job postings. We’re working with them to define skill pathways and identify resources for advisors and faculty to adapt in their advising and coursework for use across the state.

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Expanding impact of career development technologies

Exploration. Development. Graduation. Employment. These are vital areas for helping students to align college choice, college success, and transition to the workforce.

IU Career EDGE is a series of online modules in Canvas that can be embedded in courses or other organized activities and used by instructors and academic and career advisors to support students. The modules walk students through career exploration, job search strategies, accepting job offers, and applying to graduate or professional schools.

The Charting the Future project’s goal is to revise and expand the use of EDGE modules throughout IU classes and programs. We are also working to develop the Highs School EDGE as part of the project’s K–12 collaborations.

Indiana University also uses the Handshake platform as a one-stop resource for jobs and career events, for both students and employers. Our career development technological support prepares students to utilize new career network platforms and assess the use of such platforms.

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Want to know more?