Big Ideas for a Great Year from CCC Career Advisory

 

 

Welcome to the California Community College's Career Advisory new communiqué- Big Ideas. This year we will share some of the Big Ideas from career centers and counselors from around the state. Our first Big Idea comes from Santa Barbara City College's <http://www.sbcc.edu/careercenter/>  Career Center. SBCC produced a nine-minute career video, Xtreme Career Makeover <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncG_FBfKAMo>  ©, which follows five students on their career journey. After you view the video, read the steps they followed to turn their Big Idea into a great reality.

Get a Big Idea: Kristin Frascella, responsible for marketing and employment services at SBCC Career Center, experienced her own extreme career makeover when she moved from the international world of non-profits to education at a California Community College. Based on her personal journey, Kristin conceived the idea of an extreme career makeover video to help students better understand the career process.

Gather Support: Kristin shared her idea with SBCC's Career Center Team. Based on Kristin's outline of the project, the team enthusiastically supported her Big Idea. Career Counselor, Cami Vignoe, volunteered to collaborate with Kristin to bring the idea to fruition. Armed with Kristin's personal journey and marketing prowess and Cami's knowledge of the career process and student connections, the two began documenting an inspiring story.

Overcome Obstacles: Cami and Kristin knew there was not money in their budgets to support such an ambitious undertaking. They engaged student interns from SBCC Media Arts Program to create a short trailer about the project.

Using this trailer (see video)  as part of their application for a Student Success Grant, they won $5,000 to fund the project. They used their funds to hire a professional videographer to help them record their story. Although it took time and more than a little perseverance to complete, the video, conceived in October of 2007, rolled out in May 2008.

Complete the Project: Cami identified and invited five students into the Xtreme Career Makeover © project. Students completed a series of assessments, participated in individual and group counseling sessions, conducted informational interviews, and attended resume and job interview practice sessions. Before the "real" interviews, students were dressed for success. They received new hairstyles, make up and interview outfits to make the transformation complete. The videographer recorded each part of the journey, edited the video, added the graphics, and packaged the final version.

Share your Product: This unique video tells a story that engages students, parents, and professional audiences alike -- providing insight into the extraordinary services and activities offered in California's Community Career Centers. The Career Center staff is showing the video at parent and student orientations, campus meetings, and in the community. In addition, Kristin and Cami will present the video and tell their story at the ICDC Convention <http://www.careerccc.com/index.html>  in November.

Got a Big Idea? We know you all have Big Ideas- innovative, creative ideas. We want to encourage and support your efforts to develop your ideas. If you have a Big Idea, let us know and we will send you a Logitech QuickCam to record and upload your story to us -- and you get to keep the webcam. Call or email Rita Jones for more information. She can be reached at 714-432-5672 or rjones@occ.cccd.edu.

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Big Ideas is brought to you by the California Community College Chancellor's Office Statewide Advisory Committee for Career Development.
Please contact Rita Jones (rjones@occ.cccd.edu), Chair of the statewide Career Development Advisory Committee with any questions.