fIve Texas colleges
offer board-cerTIfIed cfp (cerTIfIed fInancIal planner)
undergraduaTe programs—angelo sTaTe unIversITY,
baYlor unIversITY, Texas sTaTe unIversITY aT san marcos,
Texas TecH unIversITY, and THe unIversITY of norTH Texas.
Create a Career
portfolio
Work-based Learning Classes “Teachers go to the job sites and make sure the One valuable tool that can help you get
The biggest springboard to the real world students are reporting to work, and check on the ready for college and beyond is a career
available to high school students is the quality and progress of their work experience,” portfolio—a collection of items that
cooperative, or “co-op,” class. Cashin says. document your achievements both in
Juniors and seniors in cooperative education It doesn’t hurt for students to earn paychecks and out of school, assembled in one
programs split their days between the classroom while still in school, but the experience they earn convenient package.
and a job. “Students are matched with community is worth a lot more in years to come. “Students A career portfolio is not simply
partners, businesses that have a history of get a paycheck, but more important than that, a resume, although it can certainly
sponsoring students,” says Christopher Cashin, they acquire real-life experience,” says Cashin. include one. So what should go in a
who teaches in Houston at John H. Reagan “Some of the co-op students have gone on career portfolio? A variety of things,
High School’s business academy. “The students to intern while they’re in college, and attain depending on your own personal
go to work, just like a regular job, typically in the professional careers with these companies.” experiences. It could include transcripts
latter part of the day. They’ll go to class from, Matthew tells a similar story. The Dallas and grades; writing samples; letters
say, 8:30 in the morning until noon, and then finance academy has placed co-op students at of recommendation from teachers,
they’ll go to a paid job, and they’ll earn high Deloitte & Touche, one of the world’s largest mentors, or employers; awards you’ve
school credit. business consulting firms. received; and items that document
other activities, such as internships and
job shadowing experiences.
S P o T L I G H T
“You need to be specific—dates, how
many years, any awards, what they
meant, and who you received them
from,” says Grace Brauchle, who helps
PLANNING to WIN
students put their portfolios together
DECA Competitors master Skills in Finance
as the career center coordinator for
Lehman High School in Kyle.
T
here’s a lot more to starting a business than plans, international
Brauchle says portfolios come in
most people realize. a business plan—a detailed marketing plans, or
handy when students apply for jobs or
blueprint that lays out how a business will work and financial accounting
admission to college. “First impressions
how it will make a profit—is quite complicated. plans for starting a
are a very big thing,” she says, “and
students in finance must learn how to create a plan business.”
you want to be the one whose papers
for selling a product in overseas markets or tackle the The competitions
get passed around the office. You want
math involved in financial planning. cover 37 different
to be the one where the admissions
In deca, students can test their professional areas, such as financial accounting, entrepreneurship,
counselors say, ‘Wow, look at this one!’”
abilities by competing with other students from across and international marketing. Texas’s 10 districts hold
And a portfolio doesn’t have to be
the nation. competitive events each January, with judges recruited
simply a collection of papers. Artists
deca is a national nonprofit association of from business professions that use the talents and
and photographers use their portfolios
students “interested in marketing, management, and knowledge being tested. district winners advance to
to provide visual examples of their
entrepreneurship,” says lori Hamff, state advisor for compete in state and national events.
work, and so can you. Do you have
Texas deca. with chapters in high schools across the many state and national competitors have received
photos of someone giving you an
state, the organization helps prepare students for the scholarships, and some even get job offers. “The
award? Put them in. How about a video
world of finance by giving them the skills, leadership judges are so impressed that they tell the kids to
of a performance? Include it on a DVD.
abilities, and understanding they need to get ahead contact them,” says Hamff. but for all the students
Do you have experience in Web design?
in business. who compete, “the real benefit is the experience, the
Make an online portfolio to showcase
“our competitive events put students in real-world networking, and the opportunities to be with their
what you can do.
situations,” Hamff says. “They’re developing business peers, learning the industry.”
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