Career Skills Assessment in a Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum

摘要

>Objective. To assess students’ knowledge of, perceived importance of, and confidence in six career skills areas (curriculum vitae/resume writing, interviewing skills/business attire, phone interviews, thank you notes, business/dining etiquette, and networking) before, immediately after, and six months after participating in a career skills workshop.>Methods. All students in a senior-level seminar course participated in the same simulation/performance-based workshop that was coupled with verbal or rubric-based feedback for each of the areas.>Results. Ninety-one students participated in the study and all students’ knowledge significantly increased over the study as determined by study baseline, conclusion, and six-month follow-up assessments. At study follow-up, knowledge increased an average of +7.1 percentage points from baseline. Multivariate analysis indicated significant increases in confidence from baseline to follow-up ranging from +0.15 to +0.29 across the six workshop areas, with resume/CV preparation having the highest increase. From study onset to follow-up, students perceived that the six career skills areas were above the average importance midpoint (3.0).>Conclusion. The workshop was effective in increasing students’ knowledge and confidence of essential career skills vital to pursuing post-graduate employment. These career skills are important for helping students distinguish themselves in a competitive job market.