Strengthening the professional skills identified by IQS students is the key objective of the Professional Development Plan (PDP) designed by IQS Career Services.
Strengthening the professional skills identified by IQS students is the key objective of the Professional Development Plan (PDP) designed by IQS Careers. This development plan begins in the 2nd year of all undergraduate programmes and continues throughout master's degree and PhD programmes.
Through analysing the labour market, listening to companies and students, and reviewing the academic literature regarding the subject, we have defined and launched the PDP with the following aims: accompany students, create institutional bonds with IQS, strengthen professional skills aligned with the current labour market, define a personalized professional strategy for each student, and improve employability.
“We aim for our students to strive for excellence and distinctiveness,” says Gisela Domínguez, Director of IQS Career Services. She states that, beyond a student's level of preparation, it is essential to work on Power Skills, or, leadership, teamwork, verbal and non-verbal communication, emotional and time management, and more.
Professional development for excellence and distinctiveness
The development process begins in the 2nd year of undergraduate studies with Personal & Professional Skills (PPS), which prepares students for the internships they will carry out in their 3rd or 4th year, depending on their studies. “Our 2nd year students are already beginning to visualize how they will join the workforce to do their internship just a year or two in the future, and they must be prepared for this great new challenge,” says Domínguez.
This training, through the Talent Interview and Mentoring tools, covers aspects that the labour market demands of future professionals. The process helps students to identify their starting point in terms of the professional skills they have acquired to subsequently reflect on how they can strengthen them and, finally, how they can be applied to the professional world. When students are in their 3rd year, they get professional preparation in order to carry out their internships through Mentoring, Coaching, and NLP tools.
The 4th year of undergraduate studies features an upgrade with Talent Week, which involves various activities and training programmes and culminates with the Employment Forum. In this way, and thanks to tools linked to the enneagram, discernment, and emotional management, students discover themselves, work on managing teams, and learn to present themselves to the labour market successfully. This part also includes networking, job search strategies, professional roundtables, and the Employment Forum.
At IQS, master's degree students also benefit from the Professional Development Plan. Through the Start Up Your Career programme and Mentoring, graduate students identify their goals (passion and career plan), work on professional tools (hiring processes), and present themselves to the labour market (professional networks and networking).
Domínguez highlights the results for students thanks to the PDP: “they feel like we're there for them and that they're a part of IQS, students define their professional profile, and they are able to create a professional development strategy. Above all, they improve their standing in the labour market.”
Through the “PhD Talent Programme” that IQS launched in 2022, PhD students also learn about Power Skills. The aim is for the students to be recognized in the labour market both for their technical skills and for their personal and social skills.
