BMATWT 492b -- Career Development in the Building Materials

Course Syllabus

Location: Room 308, Holdsworth

Day/Time: Wednesdays, 12:20 PM - 1:10 PM  

Instructor: Dr. David T. Damery ddamery@nrc.umass.edu

Course Objective:

Students learn to write cover letters, create resumes, develop relevant interviewing skills and meet industry leaders. Each week a different business professional meets with students in this class to discuss careers in the industry. Often, the speakers are potential employers who are accepting resumes. Some speakers will schedule interviews for internships and full-time job placement.

Course Outline:

This course is a series of seminars. Classes meet once per week on Wednesdays as outlined on the schedule sheet provided to each student. Outside speakers from the building materials industry provide the lectures as our invited guest speakers. They have been asked to share their work experiences with the class. Typically, our guests will discuss how they chose their career and will talk about the company or organization they currently work for. Speakers will share personal information about their backgrounds, current jobs, and provide general advice about working in this industry. The goal of this seminar series is to provide students with a better understanding of what it is like to work in this industry. Students have the opportunity, and are encouraged to ask questions during and after class. Interactive classroom discussion makes the class much more interesting, so please INTERACT! These seminars provide students with a valuable opportunity to get an inside look at this industry. Speakers will answer all respectful questions.

Grading:

Each student begins the semester with a grade of 100. Perfect attendance is expected. Students will be penalized 10 points for each unexcused absence. Miss one class and you get a 90 for the course. Miss 2 classes and you get a 80. It’s that simple. Clearly there are emergencies that arise, but these must be discussed with the instructor. All absences must be discussed prior to the class that will be missed. Class begins at 12:20 sharp! Students who arrive late will be penalized. Each unexcused late arrival will be docked 5 points from the final grade. For example, the first offense will decrease the course grade from a 100 to a 95. The second late arrival reduces the grade to a 90, and so on.

Schedule: