TPP Supports College’s Job-IQ Program

The Patuxent Partnership has a longstanding partnership and collaboration with St. Mary’s College of Maryland, which includes workforce development. The college is now launching Job-IQ, an online career literacy curriculum that teaches real-world job search skills and offers a professional contacts directory that connect students with alumni, community, and friends of a college. Many of TPP’s members have ties to the college and employees who are graduates.

A pilot program had been planned for the spring semester, limited to students enrolled in career development classes. With the change to online learning, the college has decided to expand accessibility to its class of 2020 graduating seniors who face many challenges due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to an online literacy curriculum, focused on real work job search skills, Job-IQ features a professional contacts directory that:

• Provides virtual matching between students with working professionals from the college alumni, community, and friends
• Builds relationships between students and allowing access to internships and jobs
• Allows students to create their own “personal board of directors” and seek advice, connections, and mentoring
• Increases meaningful engagement for college community and an opportunity to help students transition from college to career

Because Job-IQ is virtual, students can start networking even as they are social distancing. There are currently nearly 100 members of the professional contacts directory and they want to add more members as quickly as possible.

Graduating seniors will sign up for the directory to get access to members who can provide much-needed support and guide them during a job search. St. Mary’s College of Maryland students are also a great resource for employers seeking short- or long-term staff to meet their needs.

The Patuxent Partnership asks those willing to connect with a graduating student and share their career stories, offer support and mentorship, or make other connections, to become a member of the professional contacts directory. Click here to register.

Learn more by viewing this Job-IQ brochure.

For more information, contact Kelly Schroeder, associate director of alumni relations at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, at [email protected] or 240-895-4280.

About The Patuxent Partnership

The Patuxent Partnership is a nonprofit member organization that fosters collaboration between government, industry, and academia to advance education through STEM-based initiatives; to advance technology through speaker programs, forums, and networking; to advance science and technology transfer through the exchange of ideas, information, and data related to technologies; and to increase workforce development through an array of initiatives.

To learn more about The Patuxent Partnership and its programs, visit its Leader member page.