I recently completed the Strategies for Today’s Jobs (4-weeks / 8-days) career development course through Austin Community College (ACC), designed to help job seekers clarify their goals, polish their materials, and build confidence in today’s job market. Overall, I felt that the class was good and thoughtfully put together. While much of the content felt like “Career 101” and seemed primarily catered to those entering or re-entering the job market, I still found many gems of insight that were useful for refining my current job search strategy and long-term career planning.

Even though I’ve already navigated multiple stages of professional development, this course served as a helpful refresher and provided space for intentional reflection. I appreciated the structured pace, the supportive instructors, and the opportunity to revisit foundational strategies with fresh eyes and a lens of AI support.

Below is a breakdown of each day, including key takeaways that stood out to me:

Day 1: Orientation + Self-Assessment

Focus: Identifying personal strengths, values, and workplace preferences.

Takeaways:

• We kicked off the class with discussing personality assessments for career alignment like YouScience offered through ACC, which served as a reminder of how I operate best in a team and workplace setting.
• Reflecting on core values, missions, and motivations helped reaffirm my commitment to working in sustainability and mission-driven environments—something that’s remained consistent in the later half of my career.
• The structured self-assessment activities gave me a career direction clarity and helped create a more intentional mindset heading into the rest of the course.