My Career
The purpose of this centre is to empower students in job searching and at the same time to offer equal employment opportunity for all. The Career Office is an integral part of the Universum College, which works to interconnect students with the labor market.
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The Career and Welfare Office helps students to engage in career planning and experiential education to pursue educational opportunities and achieve professional success. The purpose of this centre is to empower students in job searching and offer equal employment opportunities for all. The Career and Welfare Office is an integral part of the Universum College, originally founded in 2010 aiming to foster and increase the employment of students by equipping them with the right skill set for national and international labor market.
In cooperation with the office, the coordinators of Universum College have incorporated “Career Orientation” module in the academic curriculum. The course is mandatory for all junior year students of respective faculties. This course earns students 4 ECTS (credits), and internship is an undividable component of the course. Internship can be conducted with one of our partner companies or others. The curriculum of each academic program at Universum College is developed with the intention to prepare students labor market. Each student is obliged to register in the “Internship and Career Orientation” module usually provided on their second or third year of studies.
The in-class work and internship will be done simultaneously. Whilst in class students will learn how to write a CV, how to prepare an application form. If students are unable to secure an internship, The Career and Welfare Office will assist them om their search. On some cases, students intern at our institution where they are be able to perform different tasks and duties set by their mentors.
Who can receive services provided by Career and Welfare Office?
This service is provided to all students of Universum College and some of the services are provided to alumni.
SERVICES
The Career Office is interdisciplinary and offers a variety of services:
- Career counseling
- Training & workshops
- Networking [Employer Connection]
- Psycho-social counseling
- Services for alumni
CAREER COUNSELING
This service is provided free of charge to all UC students. Within this service, students receive professional advice from career office and welfare staff. The staff helps them to plan and clarify steps and objectives for professional success and achievement.
- Personality tests
- Identification of strengths & weaknesses
TRAINING & WORKSHOPS
The Career Office provides numerous training opportunities, seminars and roundtables to teach students essential tools and skills for job application process.
- How to write an impressive CV?
- How to prepare for the interview?
- How to write a cover letter?
- How to fill out job applications?
- Interview simulation
NETWORKING [Employer Connection]
The office is highly dedicated to building good relationships with businesses, corporations and public institutions. Universum College has signed numerous agreements to enable our students to meet with potential employers with whom they can reach agreements for internships and employment.
- Job fairs
- Universum Talks
- Study visit
- Public meetings
- Coffee, career with Alumni!
- Public Lectures with representatives from companies, institutions and organizations
SERVICES FOR ALUMNI
Career Service Office offers programs, services and resources that will help alumni to engage in career planning, experiential education, pursuit of educational opportunities and achievement of desired work. The purpose of this office is to empower students in job searching and at the same time to offer equal employment opportunity for all.
Academic Registrar Division and the Career Service Office handle Alumni Services, especially in advising alumni on future employment and collecting information from alumni on employment once they are employed. Alumni are entitled to use some of the services provided by career office:
- Career Resources – Career Office provides information to graduate students on employment and internship opportunities whenever requested.
- Ideas for Projects – Universum fully supports the commitment and dedication of the students to solve various social issues. “Ideas for Projects” is a service that will enable alumni to carry out projects that would contribute to the common good. With this service, Universum will develop projects together with alumni enabling self-employment in projects that they want.
- Alumni Community –We have created a strong alumni community, which will be associated with and will support the College in the future. The idea is that through alumni feedback, we incorporate further academic and institutional development at the College in order to meet the demands of the society we serve.
All information related to student eng students is stored and kept under the program filed and registrations as set by standard. Moreover student’s work and their activities are also recorded accordingly. The academic integrity of work and protection of individual work is assured through integrated software which check the plagiarism and authenticity of the work submitted.
To foster our partnership with local companies in Kosovo we developed the Bulletin of Scientific and Professional Services for Businesses and Institutions. This bulletin contains a variety of services that we provide for businesses and corporations alike, including Dual Studies, Needs Based Corporate Syllabus (Co-op), Market Research & Business Academic Solutions (ACCASSOL), and Professional and Scientific Trainings.
DUAL STUDIES
Universum College has been approached by various institutions to form professional partnerships and collaborations that aim to contribute to the economy and development of the sectors. Universum College has developed quality and prestigious partnerships and implemented projects that have fostered positive change, contributed to the development of society and the community which have increased the skills and knowledge of the younger generations. One of the most successful projects turned out to be dual studies which enables Universum College students to pursue studies for academic degrees while being employed in a company in their respective fields.
During this year, about 120 students have benefited from the dual studies program. Whereas, during the last academic year only after the first year over 30% of students have been engaged in projects as staff of partner companies. Companies providing services to the international market have engaged 60% as lease staff. Beneficiary students are from all directions. This is a special opportunity for companies that benefit from meeting human resource needs.
NEEDS BASED CORPORATE SYLLABUS (CO-OP)
Universum College has created the Co-op program, through which it enables businesses and institutions to design academic syllabi where through this program they will develop one or more specific courses in accordance with their needs and interests, which after approval by the Council Academic of Universum College, is offered as an elective course in the Universum curriculum. Courses can be designed and developed by professionals delegated by the company in collaboration with Universum College academy staff. This form of cooperation has proven to be successful because companies have been offered concrete solutions to their requirements.
MARKET RESEARCH & BUSINESS ACADEMIC SOLUTIONS
Universum offers academic and professional solutions to businesses and institutions by contributing to strengthening the link between education and market demands. In this regard, the collaboration between higher education and the business community enhances creativity and contributes to innovative solutions. High professional and academic capacities guarantee the construction and development of research on behalf of businesses and institutions through advanced consulting services. This provides support and coordinates the research efforts of business and institutions in developing successful practices with concrete results. The new model of methodological cooperation, with new tools and concepts transfers the most successful knowledge, knowledge and practices for application in businesses and institutions that bring competitive advantages and contribute to development. In this way, businesses and institutions present the requirements which Universum College through academic and professional expertise addresses and offers concrete solutions.
Objectives
- Market research to improve best practices for businesses and institutions
- Conduct market surveys, opinions and research on issues and policies related to businesses and institutions
- Present the findings of research conducted with the most advanced scientific-research methodology
UC has incorporated Career Orientation and Internship course in academic curriculum. This course is mandatory for all junior year students of respective faculties. From this course students earn 4 ECTS (credits). Internship is an undividable component of the course. Interns earn 4 ECTS. Internship can be conducted in one of the associate companies, organizations or institutions.
| Assessment by the student-internship | |
| Assessment by the employer-internship | |
| INFORMATION-internship | |
| Basic information |
Recently we incorporated wellbeing component as part of our career office. We provide psycho-social support to all students, to assist them on their journey in college. We also organize events aiming to raise the awareness on mental health. As an example of that, we have invited a professional psychologist for an open discussion with students where she addressed issues such as: stress, anxiety, the effects of COVID in students and the stigma that is associated with mental health in Kosovo. Students have been able to ask questions and were provided with mental health resources. We intend to invite two to three mental health professionals every semester for similar developments.
We are very keen to utilizing social media as a means to informing our students and the public on matters related to wellbeing. So far, on our facebook page we have provided various online resources such as self-care techniques and informational videos on stress, anxiety, problems with sleeping and fatigue. We send bi-weekly newsletter to students to report our latest developments and event dates. Currently , we are designing a blog that will be part of our website [under wellbeing column], and as such it will be open for access to everyone. We plan to build the content with professionals that work on the field of mental health, including our latest partner Stress Free Corner [ICK Start-Up] with whom we have just recently signed an agreement of collaboration.
Given the lack of research on the field of mental health in Kosovo we consider that it is vital to conduct research to learn more about the issues corresponding to mental health and wellbeing. This will help us to build informed strategies for the upcoming years and engage in initiatives that contribute positively to our student community. Coupled with career counseling we consider that this component has contributed significantly in raising the awareness on the importance of self-care and wellbeing. We have yet a lot to accomplish but we are confident that through the provision of services provided by career and welfare office Universum college will accomplish a lot not only with regard to wellbeing but also student success and retention.
Is an annual activity being organized by UC in order to equip youngsters with the necessary skills that determines their success in building their career and landing the jobs they wish for. Career Academy gathers various applicants from the high schools around Kosovo and trains them intensively on soft and hard skills such as: communication, building a cv, innovation, creative thinking, writing, entrepreneurship, sales and so on. Upon the completion of training candidates are assessed and evaluated by UC experts. Successful candidates receive scholarships for studying at UC. Each year UC gives dozens of 100% ,50 and 30% tuition fee scholarships in an attempt to help and develop the capacity of youth in Kosovo. Each year thousands of high schoolers are trained and their capacities are developed. Hence apart form its own students UC, focuses in the general development of youth in order to contribute to the economic and social consolidation of the country and the region.
- Research “Labor Vacancies”
- Employment Barometer
- Questionnaires with current students
- Questionnaires with alumni
- Questionnaires with employers