Networking and Career Design - Study guide

After having completed this course or a corresponding course, the student:
- has increased self-awareness and developed career planning skills
-has created a personal career design portfolio with strengths, values and ideas for alternative career paths and experiments
- understands the fundamentals of the Finnish labour market?
- has learnt effective networking techniques and started to build a professional network
- has tools and skills for lifelong career design and wellbeing

No prerequisites.

This course integrates networking principles with career planning strategies. Students will explore both theoretical concepts and practical techniques to enhance their employability and design a successful career path.

By the end of this course, students will have honed their networking skills, created a career design aligned with their aspirations, and established valuable professional connections.

When the implementation type of the course is CONTACT, ONLINE or BLENDED it is required that the student is present during those teaching hours that are marked in the study schedule. If you are absent more than 25 %, your grade will be lowered by one. If you are absent more than 50 %, the course is failed.

Student:

• participates in networking events and the project
• reflects on networking activities in the career design portfolio according to the instructions
• submits a career action plan

Student:
• participates actively in networking events, project and class discussions
• reflects thorougly on networking activities in the career design portfolio with some evidence of networking efforts
• can identify own strengths and areas for development very well and submits a well thought out career action plan in the career design portfolio

Student

• participates proactively in networking events, project and contributes significantly to class discussions
• is able to critically reflect on networking activities and efforts and lessons learnt in the career design portfolio
• can identify and reflect on own strengths and areas for development in a professional way and submits an analytical and creative career action plan and development strategy to enter the Finnish labour market

Lectures and class activities, events and do-good project assignment.
Individual learning assignments.
Experiential and reflective learning, problem-based learning.

Digital material on Moodle and other materials provided during the course.
Literature and reading list published as the course starts.

Liaising with the local business environment and organisations. Participation in job fairs, guest lectures and possible study visits to local companies.

Porvoo Campus

No exam.

English

International and inter-cultural aspects and perspectives into Finland.

12.01.2026 - 13.03.2026

Career and Networking Porfolio: 1. Project report (do good voluntary work) 2. Career Design Portfolio Develop a career narrative to guide your continuous career design. 3. Learning Log or Diary: Reflection of networking events and your activity in them and class work, deadline 16 May

Weekly Schedule

WEEK 1:
Course start & introductions & networking fundamentals
• Project teams, team creation
• Networking
Career design principles & steps
• Future of work and changing careers
• Principles of career design & career design cycle
• Do good -project ideation (45 min)

WEEK 2
Job search and CVs
Career compass
• role of identity and narratives in career design
• importance of questioning assumptions
• elements of your career compass.

WEEK 3
Do good project planning, Social wellbeing
Meaningful work & purpose
• Why & what & myths of meaningful work
• Pathways to meaningful work
• Ideating purposes

WEEK 4
Career prototypes
• Three career prototypes
• Prototyping experiences
• Ideating prototype tests
Checkpoint and Visit
• Do good project
• Company visit/guest lecture

WEEK 5
Physical Well-being
Deadline for do-good project plans
Do good project, consultation, planning and finalizing 3x 45 min

WEEK 6
Networking event: Porvoo Connections:
Meet, Network, and Grow
Testing prototypes/ interviews

WEEK 7
Do good implementation
Submit your Testing Prototypes summary
Career design portfolios
Creating a visual narrative (strengths, values, interests, purposes) & a roadmap

WEEK 8
Deadline for career design portfolio submission
Portfolio feedback session
Presentations of the Do good projects.
Closing and reflection
Submission of Assignment 3: Learning Diary / Log

DBE2PCDBI
CONTACT
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ABE2PCAVI

Demonstration of competence as recognition of prior learning, please contact ….
For more information see Haaga-Helia student pages on Recognition of Learning.

Liisa Wallenius, Niina Moilanen, Kirsi LaPointe

15 - 60

Project plan, implementation and reflection on the do-good activities or voluntary work 30 %

Career Design Portfolio: Submission of the personalized career action plan. 30%

Participation and reflection of events: Compile evidence of networking efforts (event attendance, connections made) with reflection, and active contribution and engagement in class discussions 40 %

Continuous assessment: active participation in the lectures, activities, and events.
The students are required to pass all parts of the course and to submit all the assignments on time.
Assignments will be downgraded in case of possible late submissions.
Assessing one’s own learning is a compulsory part of the course.

When the implementation type of the course in contact it is required that the student is present during those teaching hours that are marked in the study schedule. If you are absent more than 25%, your grade will be lowered by one. If you are absent more than 50% the course is failed.

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0.00 cr

H-5