Career & Experiential Learning
Gain Experience, Make Connections
Career & Experiential Learning offers resources, events, and programs on campus to further the educational and career goals of students and alumni. Our navigators and staff can assist with:
- Preparing for your job and internship search
- Developing personal and professional skills to help you succeed
- Creating pathways to successful career planning
Through AlamoEXPERIENCE, students participate in experiential learning opportunities to supplement their classroom learning, develop their skills and build connections for their future careers.
What is experiential learning?Experiential learning provides a real-world understanding that enhances academic success. It is the process of learning through experience, where students are actively involved in the experience, reflect on the activity, and apply the value of the experience to broader areas of life. Self-reflection empowers students to take charge of their own learning and make connections to launch their career journey. |
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Four categories of experiential learning
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Why is experiential learning important?A college degree or certificate often plays an essential role in achieving career goals, but the skills obtained through experiential learning can give students confidence in their career path and make an application stand out to potential employers. Experiential learning can play a critical role in providing students with hands-on experience and personal reflection. The soft skills gained can also give them the marketable skills they need for employment after graduation. |
Explore OpportunitiesThe AlamoEXPERIENCE portal allows students to capture their work, connect with people within the Alamo Colleges District, and build their resumes with the AlamoEXPERIENCE Transcript. Log in with your ACES username and password. |
Meet our Team
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Students
Academic and Career Exploration Resources
Learning Express - Job & Career Accelerator: Browse career information, find tools to get hired, build a resume, and search for jobs and internships from a national database.
Big Future Career Browser: Browse academic and career profiles by categories, keyword, or interest.
Texas H.O.T. Jobs: Search for health-related career info specific to Texas.
Texas Reality Check: Use one of three methods to compare occupations, lifestyles, and salary goals to find recommended careers.
Occupational Outlook Handbook: This guide includes career information for hundreds of occupations!
O-Net Online: This site is the nation's primary source for occupational information.
LearnHowtoBecome.Org: This site uses expert-driven content to offer a comprehensive guide to begin, further, or change your career path.
Education and Career Planning
Career Coach: Find a career by knowing current local data on wages, employment, job postings, and associated education and training. Also, build a resume with the free resume builder!
Focus 2 is an online tool that lets you plan out your educational goals and explore career options.
- Explore majors based on personality self-assessments
- Research careers associated with specific majors
- Compare multiple occupations at once
- Learn important industry data and facts
- Create a personal Action Plan and Career Portfolio
Create your profile today! Use the Palo Alto College access code: palomino
Jobs and Internships
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Palo Alto College has partnered with Handshake, a platform designed to help guide students through their career search journey. Create your profile to find jobs that are right for you, search through job roles based on your interests, and discover new career possibilities. |
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Employers: |
Before you start your job search, you need to be prepared. Things to do:
- Create/edit resumes, cover letters, and other documents needed for the application process.
- Create a list of three to six references. Don’t forget to ask permission!
- Make a check list: full-time or part-time? Do you have the skills to work in fast food, retail, manufacturing? Knowing and employer's wants and needs will help you search more efficiently.
- Schedule a mock interview with your advisor! Practice makes perfect, and a practice interview is one way to help you make a great first impression.
Use these additional websites to widen your job search
- Glassdoor: Allows you to search for jobs but also provides good information about salaries, interviews, and companies.
- JobStar Central: Lets you search “all,” “what,” and “where.”
- Indeed: Use this site to post your resume and search for openings by: company name, keyword/title, location.
- Snagajob: Provides postings for full-time and part-time hourly jobs. You can search by location, category, industry, position, and even company!
- Texas Internship Challenge: Provides an opportunity to search for internships by keyword and location across the state. It is a partnership between the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Education Agency, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Create a profile, upload your resume, and start finding your internships today!
Use these websites to find a great internship!
- Alamo Colleges Internships
- City of San Antonio - Student Internship Program: Link theory to practice, gain real world experience, and develop specialized skills while working in departments within the city’s organization.
- Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU): Find internship opportunities, available scholarships, and job search.
- Texas Internships: Find internship opportunities in a variety of industries all over Texas!
- internships.com: Identified by Forbes as a “Top 10 Career Website,” this site lets you search through over 70,000 openings by using keywords and location.
- WayUp: Search for volunteer and paid internships by companies, cities, or categories. Sign up and create your profile to let recruiters find you!
Self-Assessment Tools
Keirsey Temperament Sorter: Take this assessment and find out if your personality is a guardian, idealist, rationalist, or artisan!
Jung Typology Test: This test is based on typological research on personality types. Once complete, you’ll know your four-letter type. Discover careers, find out which famous people share your type, and more!
Work Study
Work Study Programs are a great option for current students! In addition to multiple on-campus opportunities, the Alamo Colleges District offers community-based (off-campus) work-study jobs that allow students to work with employers in the community to gain real world work experience, ideally in your field of study.
Multiple positions are available. Only students who qualify for work study may apply. To check if you qualify, visit Student Financial Aid in the Palomino Center, Room 102.
To apply:
- Visit alamo.edu/jobs
- Select Work Study.
- Select the appropriate institution or consider a position located in a community based organization.
- Read the job description and instructions for applying.
- For resume assistance, please contact your Certified Career Experience Navigator using the contacts below or visit the S.H.A.R.E. Center (Student Center room 101) to schedule an appointment.
Below is a list of some agencies that are eager to hire Alamo Colleges District students:
- American Indians of Texas Association
- Any Baby Can
- Avance
- Catholic Charities Services]
- Children's Bereavement Center
- Chromosome 18 Registry/ Research
- City of San Antonio Public Library
- Communities in Schools
- Daughters Of Charity Services of San Antonio
- Down Syndrome Association Texas
- Family Service Association, Inc.
- Girls Inc.
- Good Samaritan Community Services
- Methodist Healthcare Ministries
- Mexican American Unity Council
- Playhouse SA
- San Antonio CAN High School
- San Antonio Council on Alcoholism/Drug Abuse
- San Antonio FoodBank
- San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind
- SA Works
- SAMMinistries
- University Health System
- YMCA
Student Employee Initiative
The Student Employment Initiative uses student employment as a high-impact practice to improve student engagement, learning, acquisition of transferable skills, and academic and career success. For additional resources, visit the Student Employee Initiative via AlamoExperience.
Employers
Jobs and Internships
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Handshake is the premiere job search platform for colleges and universities and the #1 way students get hired. Create your free profile to begin posting job opportunities for full-time, part-time, and internship positions. By connecting with the Alamo Colleges District, your organization and postings will be accessible to our 60,000 students and alumni.
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Already have an account? |
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Partnership Information
Our employer partnerships are a collaborative effort to help our students explore career choices, make informed career decisions and answer the ‘why’ as students learn new skills.
An internship is a field of study-related work experience that allows students to work in a professional environment to gain valuable knowledge, training, and skills.
This experience also allows college students the opportunity to explore and better define their career interests. Alamo Colleges welcomes businesses of all sizes to create internship opportunities for our students to consider.
Alamo Colleges will partner with businesses interested in providing internship opportunities that –
- Agree to compensate the intern and to abide by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Accommodate the student’s academic calendar
- Present a learning experience that provides for applying knowledge gained in the classroom
- Offer an experience that has a defined beginning and end
- Provide a job description with desired qualifications
- Arrange for supervision and feedback by a professional with expertise in the student’s field of study
- Supply the resources, equipment, and facilities that support student learning
Employers offering internships will…
- Agree and sign Memorandum of Understanding with Alamo Colleges District
- Agree to provide orientation, company expectations, and a safe work environment
- Agree to provide the student with a supervised work experience
- Assist in developing learning objectives related to work experience
- Participate in site visit between student and college representative
- Evaluate the students’ work and learning objectives
Employer benefits…
- Reduced recruitment and training costs
- Access to diverse student talent
- Investment and savings related to entry-level wages, fringe benefits
- Formal partnership between industry and institution
Employer checklist –
- Fill out and submit the Employer Partnership Form
- Sign and return ACCD Memorandum of Understanding
Align opportunity with Alamo Institute and/or course
Faculty and Staff
Experiential Learning
Experiential Learning Advisory Group (E.L.A.G.)
Purpose: A working group that brings consensus, share’s awareness, celebrate the work, and brings understanding to EL
- Utilize ELAG to promote campus wide understanding of EL and to ensure staff/faculty develop and document EL opportunities
- Commitment: Attend monthly meeting, details sent out from Project Listo representatives
- Involvement from: Faculty, staff, students
- Outcomes: to develop and implement the activities identified on logic model in support of EL
Interested in joining? Reach out to Alexandro Luna at aluna195@alamo.edu to get started today! Also check out our ELAG Logic Model Subcommittees for more information.
Faculty and Staff resources
AlamoEXPERIENCE Resource Guide
AlamoEXPERIENCE Model Overview
Contact Information |
Location: Email:
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