Career Development Certificate (CDC)
Contact Information
Marion Lajoie
Career Counsellor
613-562-5800 x 2884
What is the Career Development Certificate (CDC)?
Activities associated with the CDC are designed to provide you with the self‑understanding and necessary tools to establish a meaningful career. Participating in Career Centre activities ensures that you are equipped, in addition to your academic knowledge, with career management skills to be successful at the end of your studies.
Upon completing a series of career-related activities, you will be able to obtain your Career Development Certificate!
By enrolling in the program using our Career Launch platform, your Career Centre activities will be tracked automatically:
*Please note that you only need to register for the certificate once.
You can complete the activities at your own pace: in one year, over the course of your 4 years at Telfer, or anywhere in between.
Why Participate?
The workshops and activities associated with the Career Development Certificate will provide you with the tools you need to find meaningful work. It can also help you market yourself more effectively, as employers recognize the certificate as a valuable step in your career planning process.
You will have the opportunity to do the following:
- Identify your interests and preferences
- Learn about passive and active job search techniques
- Strengthen your resumé and LinkedIn profile
- Ensure your application stands out to employers
- Enhance your networking skills
- Learn how to ace the interview process
Career Development Activities
To obtain the Career Development Certificate, you must complete 10 Career Centre activities (9 mandatory activities and 1 activity of choice).
* Certificate requirements were updated in the summer of 2021 to include one additional “mandatory activity”. If you enrolled in the program prior to this date, please note that you can choose to follow either set of requirements.
Mandatory Activities
You must attend at least one of the following two networking events:
Held in September for 3rd and 4th year students only
Held in January for all undergraduate students
- Who Am I: Self-assessment and Career Testing (or 2 individual results sessions)
- Jump Start Your Job Search (or 1 individual job search meeting)
- Rock Your Resumé (or Let's Talk Resumés)
- Ace Your Interview (or Let's Talk Interviews)
- Network Like a Pro (or Let's Talk Networking and Coffee Chats)
- Individual Resumé Critique
(with a Career Counsellor or Advisor) - Individual Practice Interview
(with a Career Counsellor or Advisor - LinkedIn Profile Critique
(with a Career Counsellor or Advisor)
Activities of choice
You have the opportunity to choose one activity from the wide variety of options below in order to complete your certificate:
- Intro to LinkedIn
- Get to Know Case Interviews
- Get to Know How to Apply to Government
With a Career Counsellor or Advisor
- Self-understanding and Career Awareness
- Career opportunities related to my program
- Comparison of job possibilities between business fields
- Career Action Plan
- General Job Search Strategies
- Interview Preparation and Techniques
- Adapting your resumé to the Canadian context
- Introduction to the Cover Letter
- Cover Letter Critique
- Building a LinkedIn Profile
- Writing a compelling LinkedIn Summary
- Boosting my online presence and visibility with LinkedIn
With a Relationship Manager
- Networking, Exploring the Hidden Job Market and Coffee Chats
- Industry-Specific Information
- Company-Specific Information
- Job prospects in my field
- Building my alumni network
- Contacting an employer: best practices
- Pivoting my job-search strategy for changing market conditions
- Coffee Chats
- Resumé Day: Rapid Resumé Reviews by Professionals
- Working in Canada Panel: Job Search for International Students
- Industry Panel: Management Consulting
- Industry Panel: High Finance
- Alumni Panel: A Day in the Life
- Marketing Toronto Trip
- Startup Career Fair
- Ambassador Program
- Connexions Internship Program
- Microprogram Capital Markets
- Microprogram Management Consulting
How to participate?
Simply enroll in the certificate on CAREER LAUNCH under the Mentorship and Development Programs tab found on the left-hand menu or by selecting the Sign up for a Program tab found on your dashboard.
- Enroll in the certificate by clicking the "Enroll" button next to the name of the certificate.
- Register for associated events through the Calendar of Events or book an appointment.
- Attend (and be sure to sign in).
- The Career Launch portal will automatically track your events and activities.
- When you are near the completion of the activities, we encourage you to schedule an appointment with our Career Counsellor in order to review your progress.
- The Career Development Certificates are available for pick-up in March each year at the invitation-only Career Centre Celebration event.
Frequently Asked Questions
Securing a job can be challenging. That being said, if you understand how to approach the process strategically and how to market yourself effectively, you will ultimately boost your confidence as well as your chances of finding meaningful work.
The curriculum associated with the CDC will ensure that you touch on the key topics that are essential for job search success.
Additionally, employers are impressed by students who choose to focus on personal and professional development throughout their studies. By highlighting the CDC on your resumé, you can show industry leaders that you took concrete steps to integrate a career development thread into your time at Telfer.
You only need to register for the CDC once.
N.B. You can continue tracking your progress over multiple years.
Mandatory activities are offered in both the fall and winter terms (sometimes multiple times).
N.B. You can book individual appointments during the spring/summer term if you would like to continue working on your CDC.
Mandatory Activities: Some mandatory activities require you to first click on the box associated with the workshop or service. To get credit for your completed activity, you must then click on the “ADD this” button.
Activity of Choice: To get credit for your “activity of choice”, you must first click on the large box that lists your options. Next, you will need to scroll down to see your list of completed activities, choose one, and then click on the “ADD this” button.
N.B. This process must be completed for 2 “activities of choice” (if you started the CDC prior to September 2021).
To get your CDC, you must complete 9 mandatory activities and 1 “activity of choice”.
- OR 8 mandatory activities and 2 “activities of choice” if you are already following the old program.
However, there are two additional steps. The first is a verification step (completed by the Career Centre) and as a final step, we ask that you complete an exit survey.
(10 activities + 2 steps = 12)
N.B. If you started the CDC prior to September 2021, you can choose to follow either set of requirements. Both sets of requirements include 10 activities (with 2 additional steps).
