A career development seminar for Latino and Latina college students

Abstract

The purpose of the project was to develop a career development seminar for Latino and Latina college students. The seminar was developed using career developmental theory and addressed the career concerns, needs, and challenges facing many Latino and Latina students in higher education.The seminar was developed to meet the career development needs of a growing Latino college student population that may be hesitant to utilize many campus resources and student services (Flores & Spanierman, 1998). The seminar was designed to be a collaborative effort between the university career center, multicultural center, Latino student organization, and Latino professional associations. The seminar consisted of five general workshops that addressed the topics ofRésumé developmentJob search strategiesProfessional image and etiquetteIntroduction to career servicesInterviewing techniquesThe five culture-oriented workshops were entitledSelf-Assessment and Career ExplorationOvercoming Discrimination in the WorkplaceMaking Your Culture Work for YouMentoring: Making the ConnectionLatinas at Work: Breaking the MoldThe workshop topics were selected based on themes found in a review of related literature in Chapter 2. The design and content of the seminar utilized career developmental theory and was modeled after similar programs and resources used by other university career centers and Latino professional associations.