Rising 2nd year students and beyond, are you ready to kickstart your career development? Launching Fall 2025, the 2-credit Career Catalyst Course, hosted by the Wilson Center, will be offered the first 7 weeks of the semester and will focus on how to design and pursue a career that aligns with your interests, skills, experience, values and strengths within a supportive and energetic environment. Look for WIL 295 – Career Catalyst when registering for classes!
Specific course outcomes include:
- An individual career blueprint detailing goals and action steps
- An inventory of skills you have developed and skills to build on
- High-quality and up-to-date application materials
- A polished LinkedIn profile with professional headshot
- An understanding of your strengths and talents (Top 5 CliftonStrengths theme results) and how to apply them through an individual development plan
- Interview-ready S.T.A.R. method interview stories
- A compelling self-introduction/elevator pitch
- A list of professionals identified through networking platforms relevant to interests and goals along with a communication plan
Academic catalog description:
The second and third years of college bring vexing decisions before students. What is the relationship between my academic interests and my post-college goals? How might my interests, values, and strengths inform this process? What additional experiences do I need (and how do I get them)? What knowledge, skills, insights, and relationships will I need to realize my post-college goals? This course, Career Catalyst, is designed to provide students with the personal insights, tools, action plan, and overall career development foundation to fuel and guide their planning, decision-making, and goal-setting at Grinnell and beyond.
Instructor information:
This special topics course will be facilitated by Dani Perkins, Director of the Exploratory Career Community in the Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS). Dani joined Grinnell College in the summer of 2019 and is here to support students as they explore and clarify their career interests and pursue opportunities. She has her BFA in Drawing from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, MS in College Student Services Administration from Oregon State University, and is currently completing her doctorate in Postsecondary Education: Student Affairs at the University of Northern Iowa.
Questions or accommodation needs? Email Dani Perkins at perkins1@grinnell.edu.
