After years of working with college students as an advisor, which included endless hours of discussing career ideas and potential career opportunities to pursue, Jim Jump decided it was time to develop his own strategies on how to best guide and direct students through the career planning and development process. Thus, JumpForward Career Services was born!
Jim felt there was a better way to utilize the resources to move students through the career planning process more effectively. Jump first turned this into his own career planning guide entitled Career Smart: Career Planning Guide after a conversation with Dr. Ken Trzaska, the President at Lewis & Clark Community College, about his career planning and development strategies. The JumpForward Career Services idea was given direction as a viable solution to coaching and mentoring students through the career process. Dr. Trzaska wanted to see if this new approach could be more student-focused. Thus, a partnership was formed.
The JumpForward Career Services are to engage students in the career process by helping them find their career aspirations through engagement with career professionals so they have an opportunity to decide what career best fits them. Along the way, they are assisted with resume writing, interview techniques, and all the necessary tools. They become fully equipped in the entire career planning and development process. The final piece, as Jump describes, is the game changer: having students learn the career planning and development process through an eight-week course with the idea of writing their own career plan before they leave their respective colleges.
As you have learned, this new careers concept is a more student-centered approach to the career development arena. As Jump explains, “It will be a cultural shift to the way students are brought into and fully developed in the careers process.”
Jim Jump, Owner and Director of JumpForward Career Services, has served in a variety of university roles over the years.
St. Louis Community College, Lewis & Clark Community College, McKendree College, Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville, and Lindenwood University
Ranken Technical College and Lindenwood University
Lindenwood University – North County Campus and Westport Campus
Lindenwood University
Ranken Technical College and Lindenwood University
