Photos By: Josiah Ann Nelson

The college success course “Career Experiences” (COLL 235) is piloting a new integration that provides students with virtual internship and job-shadowing opportunities.   

Offered in the fall and worth two credit hours, Career Experiences students are now using the website virtualinternships.com to learn more about potential careers in a programmatic, hands-on twist. This class also supplements work-based learning for students who may belong to a program that does not require an internship. 

This fall, the class is capped at five students as a trial run. Each student will work 10 hours of project-based work for the company they belong to each week, for a total of 80 hours at the end of the semester. Dr. Valerie Mann, Head of the College Success Department and former professor of Career Experiences, reports that students are at various stages at the beginning of the semester in becoming employed.  

“Most of the ‘classwork’ is happening within the Virtual Internships platform, where they fill out an online application and/or resume, and then that [platform] works with them to make sure their materials are employer-ready to help place them with a company,” Mann said.  

Mann says this transition to working virtually is an investment that ultimately serves the purpose of promoting student involvement in campus leadership, volunteering, and other job opportunities.  

“While [students] may not be compensated, it does add to skills in really great ways that translate nicely when getting that job, and it does help you answer questions in an interview in a more educated way than just ‘I studied this,’” Mann said. “You can say, ‘Well, I actually did this in some sort of an experience,’ and that’s why the class is called Career Experiences.” 

Career Experiences falls into the Career Development branch of College Success alongside classes in the Learning Strategies and Personal Development sectors. In addition to classes offered, students have access to career exploration tools and free resources at the Career Development Center.  

Career coaches Lisa Crawford and Lorie Humphrey aim to help students explore career pathways through one-to-one coaching, workshops, and interactive tools. Both coaches aim to highlight resources for JCCC students that adhere to the Center’s three pillars: discovering, exploring, and preparing.  

Humphrey says students, regardless of enrollment in college success courses, can complement their in-class learning and career exploration with workshops.  

“I think there’s a way to learn through and with other people, and I think that’s also the benefit to our workshops when we have them. You’re learning from and with each other…that’s generating a lot more thought,” Humphrey said.  

According to Crawford, the CDC provides many resources and opportunities that can set you apart from the rest.  

“What’s incredible about [JCCC] is we’ve all worked in a lot of different locations around the country and even outside the country, and there are more resources here than most places we’ve ever worked before because the majority of all these resources are provided by the Johnson County taxpayers, providing 70 percent of the basis of all of our funding for everything that we use,” Crawford said. “We have the ability to offer a lot more depth of services that other places don’t have or would have to charge for, and it’s unfortunate that our students don’t know about it.”  

To learn more about the Career Experiences and other College Success courses, as well as the Career Development Center, visit their websites.