Professional Development

Workshops and Events for Professional Success

Take advantage of these events and learn more about job opportunities, graduate school prospects, the application process, how to set up your LinkedIn, best practices for resumes and cover letters, interview success guidelines, and more.

Five professional development events are required for the FILA 450 portfolio, with up to two additional events possible for extra credit.

FILA 450 Information Sessions

Seniors are encouraged to attend the information sessions offered by Dr. Martin, which cover all the basics of the FILA 450 portfolio structure and process. These sessions are a great opportunity to ask questions about the portfolio as well!

Students may attend one of the in-person sessions offered in early fall or one of the Zoom sessions offered mid-fall and late-fall in preparation for spring portfolios. These sessions are typically announced on MyBC and via the senior class listserv.

Professional Development Sessions by the Center for Career Development

Most of the professional development events we currently offer for seniors are offered by the Center for Career Development. These focus on skills that are not major/discipline specific and can be used after graduation, even if you decide to switch professional paths and go into a different career.

The workshops and sessions offered cover a wide range of professional development topics, from optimizing your LinkedIn profile to writing a killer cover letter and setting up your resume to get past automated tracking systems. There are also a number of career and graduate school fairs you can attend through the Center for Career Development, which also count toward professional development for your FILA 450 portfolio.

The live calendar of events offered by Career Development is below andĀ is always up to date. Please be sure to sign up for events on Handshake (the event links on the calendar will take you to the sign-up page)

Professional Development Sponsored by Individual Academic Departments

Some academic departments already offered some professional development content to students in their majors. When this is the case, up to two (2) professional development events from a student’s own department/major may count toward the FILA 450 portfolio.

Why only two? The FILA 450 senior portfolio is an interdisciplinary project, and the professional development portion is also interdisciplinary: it should go beyond a specific major and provide students with skills and tools that can be applied to a variety of fields and industries. This way, if you graduate and make any career changes down the line, you will still be well equipped with professional development savvy that works in many settings.