Career Guidance and Alumni Office / King Abdullah II Fund for Development
The Career Guidance and Alumni Office/King Abdullah II Fund for Development:
Values
1. Quality and competency
2. Professionalism
3. Integrity and equality
4. Continuous development
5. Sustainability
Overview
The Career Guidance and Alumni Office was founded upon the recommendation of the Jordanian Youth Forum for 2003, which was held under the patronage of his Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein. The royal directions stressed the importance of establishing communication lines between students and local institutions in order to support and sponsor students’ innovation and creativity, and find programmes that connect alumni with and introduce them to the labour market at all Jordanian universities.
Accordingly, the Career Guidance and Alumni Office/King Abdullah II Fund for Development was founded at all public and private Jordanian universities in the aim to encourage creativity and innovation, and produce highly qualified alumni who are capable of realising the development objectives. The Office looks to adequately invest in the underlying capabilities of our youth, increasing their chances for employment and paving their way towards successful careers.
In 2004, the Career Guidance and Alumni Office/King Abdullah II Fund for Development was founded at the Jordan University of Science and Technology under the name King Abdullah II Fund for Development’s Office for Professional Guidance and Qualification. The Office’s activities were limited to offering students a number of services.
On December 24, 2014, the Council of the Higher Education Accreditation Commission (HEAC), in its session no. (24/2014), passed the decision no. (538/24/2014), which specifies the following: (Approval of adding an article to the General Accreditation Standards for Universities Operating in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan that obligates universities to find an office at the Deanship of Student Affairs called – the Career Guidance and Alumni Office/King Abdullah II Fund for Development).
The services offered by the Career Guidance and Alumni Office/King Abdullah II Fund for Development:
1. Career guidance services
2. Training services
3. Activities and partnership (networking) services
4. Alumni follow-up services
First: Career Guidance Services
Career guidance in all of its forms aims to guide and direct students throughout all stages of their education to choose the right major and profession according to their cognitive and physical abilities, and their educational and professional interests.
Forms of Career Guidance:
1. Individual Career Guidance
The Individual Career Guidance looks to establish a professional relationship between the guide and the student in order to obtain and analyse information and data that helps in understanding the student’s behaviour and personality. The process allows students to discover their interests and problems (if any) and how to solve them. The Individual Career Guidance consists of psychological tests that measure personal abilities such as: competency tests, preparation, personality, and interest, which help students in choosing their careers.
2. Group Career Guidance
The Group Career Guidance introduces students to the requirements of the labour market and teaches them positive work behaviour and skills. It helps them overcome the challenges that face students in the labour market, and offers solutions to problems that might occur in the future. Students are guided in groups to positively affect their behaviour and prospect.
3. Online Individual Career Guidance
The Online Individual Career Guidance offers students online guidance services to help them better understand their behaviour and personality. The process allows students to discover their interests and problems (if any) and how to solve them. The Online Individual Career Guidance consists of psychological tests that measure personal abilities such as: competency tests, preparation, personality, and interest, which help students in choosing their careers.
4. Group Guidance
Aims to guide and teach students about specialised subjects in the field of employment and work.
Second: Training Services
Training is identified as the organised effort that teaches students skills and information, and develops their capabilities and propensities. It attempts to initiate a positive change in their skills and capabilities in terms of behaviour on one hand, and propensities on the other. Training develops students’ skills and abilities through courses, workshops, voluntary work, and lectures in a manner that prepares them for local and international labour markets.
The current available student training includes:
1. Employment and work skills, such as:
a. Skills required to look for a job opportunity.
b. CV writing skills
c. Cover letter writing skills
d. Interview skills
e. Work ethics
f. Labour Law
g. Social Security Law
h. Training students according to their majors to facilitate and accelerate their employment.
2. Entrepreneurship and freelance training, such as:
a. Establishing projects
b. Entrepreneurship
c. Business planning
d. Gaining finance
e. Administrative and financial skills
3. Training on interpersonal skills, such as:
a. Communication skills
b. Body language
c. Customer service skills
d. Linguistic and neural programming
4. Language training, such as:
a. English
b. Technical writing skills in English
5. Computer applications training, such as:
a. Financial analysis using Excel
b. Microsoft Office applications
c. AutoCAD
d. Any programmes and courses that benefit students in the fields of their studies and in the labour market.
6. Awareness, social, and voluntary programmes, such as:
a. Democracy
b. Human rights
c. Voluntary work
d. Drugs
e. Extremism
f. Women’s rights
g. Children’s rights
h. Special needs’ rights
i. Community service
Third: Activities and Partnership (Networking) Services
Activities and partnerships (networking) establish communication lines and strategic relationships with concerned parties from the public and private sectors, donor institutions, civil institutions, professional associations, business associations, alumni, and employment companies. The goal is to maintain, cement, and develop these relationships to realise the Office and the University’s strategic objectives.
Activities and partnerships (networking) offer the following services:
1. Training employed alumni to progress their careers
This type of training helps employed alumni to progress their careers through the cooperative relationships with public institutions, civil organisations, and donor entities for such projects.
2. Volunteering opportunities
Volunteering opportunities at institutions and organisations helps students to develop their everyday-life skills.
3. Part-time jobs
Part-time opportunities help students to develop their everyday-life skills, and earn an income to afford life expenses.
4. Career Day
The Career Day provides students and job seekers with the opportunity to connect with employers and review their available vacancies, as a number of local and international companies participate in the event.
5. Job applications
Connecting and coordinating with public and private institutions to be informed with their available vacancies, and announcing them inside the University in order to help students in their employment.
6. Employment websites and companies
Employment websites and companies facilitate job seeker’s hunt for opportunities in local and international labour markets. Networking with such websites and companies will allow the Office to introduce students to these entities and their requirements, resultantly helping them in finding job opportunities.
Gaining Finance
Networking with donor institutions aims to:
1. Finance training courses projects for students.
2. Finance individual and group career guidance projects.
3. Finance internal development projects at the Career Guidance and Alumni Office (training halls, organisation, and references).
4. Finance alumni database projects.
5. Finance Career Day expenses.
6. Finance special studies by determining needs and studies.
7. Finance alumni conferences.
8. Finance student initiatives and volunteering projects.
Fourth: Alumni Follow-up Services
Alumni Follow-up entails the continuous communication between the University and its alumni to follow-up with their careers and align the University’s outputs with the requirements of the labour market. Alumni Follow-up can realise the following secondary objectives:
1. Establishing an alumni database.
2. Following up with alumni’s careers and employers.
3. Conducting various studies on alumni and the labour market.
4. Organising alumni reunions (alumni conferences and forums).
5. Reporting on alumni’s success stories.
Alumni follow-up offers the following services:
1. Alumni database
A database that includes information such as name, sex, nationality, birthdate, academic qualification, year of graduation, faculty, department, current position, country of work, phone number, and e-mail.
2. Alumni conferences
Annual conferences that alumni are invited to in the aim to cement their relationships.
3. Virtual clubs
Forums developed by universities to establish a communication line with alumni using social media platforms.
4. Following up with alumni’s career status
The process is carried out through special surveys. The study is vital to measuring alumni’s likeliness to be employed in local and international labour markets, and propensity to find their own entrepreneurial projects.
5. Data and studies
a. Higher education data at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
b. Workforce data, including statistics on the number of employed and unemployed Jordanians as issued by the Department of Statistics.
c. Data on the employees subject to the Civil Service System and Social Security.
d. Inactive and saturated majors at the Civil Service Bureau.
e. Studies on the majors required in the labour market.
f. Studies on alumni and the labour market.
g. Studies on the jobs and skills required in the labour market.
h. Studies on preparing alumni for joining the labour market.