HR Clinic to help St Petersburg University students choose the right career path
At the initiative of the teaching staff at the academic programmes in the area of study "Personnel Management" at St Petersburg University, the University has developed a project ‘School of career consultants at St Petersburg University’. The pilot launch of the project took place in 2022. Its mission is to prepare certified career consultants (a junior level).
The teaching and learning process at the School of Career Consultants, which will be part of the HR Clinic at St Petersburg University, is underpinned by an innovative training and mentoring programme, which expands students’ opportunities in building their professional career. Having tried yourself in peer to peer (P2P) career counselling for university students, you can become a freelancer or proceed to employment in companies that offer career counselling programmes for employees.
Importantly, the University should approach its overarching priority in effectively employing graduates of the academic programmes by involving the students who have undergone special training as career consultants in career events for students in all areas of study. This means a wide range of opportunities for conducting career consultations for future graduates.
Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities at St Petersburg University
Training is conducted by practicing consultants, representatives of large companies (for example, Headhunter, Gazprom Neft Snabzhenie) and leading experts in areas related to career counselling at St Petersburg University. The Association of Career Consulting and Support is also taking part in the implementation of the project.
This academic year, admission is open for the second time. According to Olesia Verediuk, a curator of the school and Associate Professor at St Petersburg University, the new admission differs from the first admission campaign both in terms of the variety of students who are studying personnel management, psychology, sociology and economics, and in terms of the lecturers.
The school of career consultants is implemented at the Centre for the Development of HR Competencies (HR Clinic) at St Petersburg University. It also involves lecturers, partners, the council of the academic programme in the area of study "Personnel Management", and the Career Centre at St Petersburg University.
‘We were guided by what the students asked us for. They were mostly interested in the initial stage of professional self-determination; the rules for writing CVs; and the questions of what to include in the section about experience if you do not have any experience, when it is better to enter the labour market, what salary to apply for, and what niches are promising for work and internships’, explained Olesia Verediuk. ‘This year, the programme has been updated. It includes a psychological block and a block of working with the hh.ru database. We focus on practice, including job shadowing, i.e. following an experienced career consultant, work within the group and with external clients, i.e. the University students.’
A consulting module will begin in the spring of 2024. It is aimed at helping St Petersburg University students find effective employment. The HR Clinic will expand the opportunities for students to receive high-quality professional training for future professional activities as career consultants.