Career: WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
At Maryville College, the way you’ll prepare for a career is unlike anywhere else. Not only do we have an entire office dedicated to career readiness, it’s also integrated seamlessly into your curriculum through a program called Maryville College Works. While you’re developing critical thinking, problem solving, and communications skills in all your classes, you’ll also be putting those skills to work defining specific career goals and gaining the type of experience you can put on a resume.
MCW – I. D. E. A.
![graphic icon of shining star](https://www.maryvillecollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/Images/Academics/Works/inspire.png)
I – INSPIRE
Your orientation or first-year seminar course will INSPIRE your path as a professional.
![graphic icon of magnifying glass](https://www.maryvillecollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/Images/Academics/Works/discover.png)
D – DISCOVER
The professional development course designed for YOUR major will help you DISCOVER available career paths and experiential opportunities, like internships, service, and education abroad.
![graphic icon of person climbing to reach a flag](https://www.maryvillecollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/Images/Academics/Works/experience.png)
E – EXPERIENCE
You will gain EXPERIENCE tailored to your career aspirations combined with structured support to help you maximize your Significant Practical Experience (SPE).
![graphic icon of mountain with flag on top](https://www.maryvillecollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/Images/Academics/Works/attain.png)
A – ATTAIN
Through a professional seminar, taught by a career expert, you will build the skills needed to ATTAIN and secure your next adventure after graduation.
PLUS: You will receive continuous professional career support, academic advising, and the opportunity to interact with strategic partners, employers, graduate schools, and alumni!
The goal of this program is to prepare students for lives of engaged professionalism by challenging them to investigate and explore future professional opportunities within the framework of the liberal arts tradition. Prominent features of the program are its emphasis on vocational discernment and career development and preparation as well as completion of a significant practical experience. These planned experiences may take the form of an internship, an approved semester of education abroad, an appropriate Senior Study, a semester of student teaching or another approved format.
The program focuses on three over-arching student learning outcomes:
- Students will acquire the knowledge to complete a personal vocation and career preparation and completion plan.
- Students will participate in a significant practical experience.
- Students will articulate how their educational experience and their significant practical experience apply to their professional opportunities.
Students who transfer at least 45 credit hours are exempt from the requirement as are students completing dual degree programs in Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Biological Sciences with a Pre-Veterinary Tract, Nursing, and Engineering. These students may voluntarily participate in any or all program elements.
The means by which the student learning outcomes are addressed and achieved are integrated into an incremental and cohesive program spanning four years that includes first-year seminars, disciplinary professional development courses, academic and career advising, learning modules related to career preparation, and a final reflection.
Specific requirements for the program include:
- Completion of a career-related career assessment and discussion of results with academic advisor.
- Planning and engaging in a significant practical experience.
- Completion of a career readiness educational program.
- Submission of a final reflection.
To satisfy this program, students will complete FYS 110, a 299/399 course, a 337 course, and MCW 400 course, or approved equivalents.
- A Career Center that keeps students up to date with new professional trends and that offers individual advising, resume critiques, and workshops on vocational topics
- Regular, one-on-one meetings with an advisor who is a faculty member in the student’s major or in a related field.
- A Center for Global Engagement offering opportunities and scholarships for international study and work that last from three weeks to an entire semester.
- A team of faculty and staff tasked with building partnerships with external businesses, organizations and individuals that lead to internships and other meaningful opportunities for students.
- A continually updated database of available internships, jobs, and work-study positions
- The Center for Community Engagement focused on resume-building volunteer opportunities and service-learning experiences.
- Multiple online resources providing experiences and information such as: interview practice, personalized assessments, career descriptions and statistics, and job searches.
- A vibrant athletics program, including varsity and intramural sports that help build skills desired by employers.
- Multiple leadership positions available through 50 clubs and organizations on campus.
HOW DO I GO ABOUT GETTING AN INTERNSHIP?
Students work one-on-one with a faculty member in their division to identify their professional goals and obtain their chosen internship. Because of the College’s location in Blount County and proximity to Knoxville, Tenn., and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, students have been able to intern or work with employers such as Blount Memorial Hospital, Clayton Homes, the Knoxville Museum of Art, the National Park Service, Newell Rubbermaid and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Employers value the College’s academic rigor and often seek out MC students for placements. In some cases, working in a research lab, studying abroad or creating original works of art may be the best exposure students have to a future profession.