CAREER DEVELOPMENT & RELATIONSHIP MANAGER

The Social Sciences Office of the Associate Dean (Academic) supports nearly 5,000 undergraduate students registered in programs offered by 12 academic units. The Office of the Associate Dean (Academic) handles the admission, academic advising, enrollment and reviewing of all undergraduate students in the Faculty of Social Sciences. It is also the home for the Careers & Experiential Education initiatives offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences to our students including the coordination of course placements, internships, and career preparation opportunities.
Job Summary:
Responsible for planning, organizing and coordinating career development placements. Promotes student development, success and retention, and encourages career achievement by conducting interviews with students dealing with career choice, educational direction and goal progress.
Purpose and Key Functions:
• Identify, develop, and cultivate strategic employer relationships in the business community.
• Interview students to assess suitability and make decisions on admittance to the program.
• Interview employer partners to understand recruitment needs.
• Provide individual coaching services and guidance in developing self-marketing and branding tools including, but not limited to, job search strategies, resume critiques, preparation of cover letters and personal statements, interview skills, networking, portfolio development, and negotiation skills.
• Conduct mock interviews by creating specific questions that are relevant to the field of employment students are pursuing, and then provide constructive feedback to students.
• Conduct post-work placement interviews with students to discuss experiences and future goals.
• Write career and skill development materials, and design interview tools.
• Write a variety of documents including, but not limited to, reference letters, correspondence and workshop plans.
• Create, implement and maintain policies and procedures related to the program and career services offered.
• Facilitate or lead career development workshops.
• Coordinate and accompany students on site visits and discuss work objectives.
• Create promotional materials to market program to potential applicants, visitors, and representatives from other institutions at fairs and open house events.
• Plan and coordinate costs, logistics and resources, including catering and audio visual equipment, for career events, information sessions, workshops and speaker presentations.
• Calculate travel expenses for attendance at site visits, seminars, conferences
and professional development.
• Track attendance of students using services and compare statistics from previous years.
• Gather, compile, and analyze information identifying labour market data, trends, and job opportunities.
• Review current labour markets and research current trends within professional careers and employment requirements including skill level and comparable salaries offered.
• Request participation and invite employers to post-employment opportunities within the department.
• Act as a liaison between faculty, staff and students to ensure the timely communication of information and adherence to policies and procedures.
• Participate in meetings with students to discuss and provide guidance regarding individual career options.
• Assemble and distribute materials and packages.
• Understand and stay current on employment legislation and government mandates.
Supervision:
• Provide direction to others in how to carry out work tasks.
• Ensures adherence to quality standards and procedures for short-term staff and volunteers.
Requirements:
Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
Requires 4 years of relevant experience.
Assets:
For Department use only.
• Experience working in a post-secondary environment.
• Experience facilitating workshops, courses, etc.
• Demonstrated ability to use (or learn) digital tools and communication platforms (e.g. learning management systems, survey tools, etc.).
• Familiarity with Social Sciences programs and career pathways.
• Familiarity with McMaster student support resources and general academic regulations.
• Experience using an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion perspective, including in advising, developing materials, or delivering workshops.
Additional Information:
In this role, the Faculty of Social Sciences’ first Career Development and Relationship Manager (CDRM) will play a key role in the development and implementation of new Co-op programs, working alongside longstanding experiential programming and outreach staff. In particular, the initial priorities of this CDRM role will focus on the student-facing dimensions of programming, as outlined below.
The full Job Summary and key functions for this position are described above. Some of the key functions listed above have been identified as particular focal points for this CDRM role in the short and medium term, namely:
• Create, implement and maintain policies and procedures related to the Faculty’s upcoming Co-op programs.
• Act as a liaison between faculty, staff and students to ensure the timely communication of information and adherence to Co-op and internship program policies and procedures.
• Provide individual coaching services and guidance to students applying to Co-
op and internship positions, as described in the section above.
• Write career and skill development materials, and design interview tools.
• Facilitate or lead career development workshops, including the Social Sciences 2EL0 career course, which is required for Co-op and internship students but available to all students in the faculty.
• Create promotional materials to market the new Co-op programs to potential applicants, visitors, and representatives from other institutions at fairs and open house events.
• Conduct post-work placement interviews with students to discuss experiences and future goals.