SJSU COB Community

Lucas College and Graduate School of Business

PRO Points

Career Fair

To request PRO points for participating in a career fair you will need to include the below information.

  • Title of the career fair
  • Term in which it was completed
  • Sponsoring organization
  • Details of the career fair (e.g., where, when)
  • What you learned
  • How the career fair relates to coursework or your career goals

Overview

Professional Achievement BadgesProfessional achievement includes relevant industry experiences, career knowledge, leadership, communication skills, ability to work in a team, and readiness for the workplace. Professional achievement is different from academic achievement, both are important. Employers today expect that new hires will have the skills and knowledge to perform their job and the relevant career experiences, communication skills, and leadership to hit the ground running. A high level of professional achievement shows that a graduate can apply learning to practice and is ready to achieve success in the workplace. Academic achievement is measured by GPA, professional achievement is measured by professional achievement (PRO) points.

The key elements of the Professional Achievement program include:

  1. Showcase professional achievements on an portfolio that displays your professional achievement badge.
  2. Gain recognition for professional achievement on leaderboards, awards, and receive exclusive opportunities to meet with industry executives and participate in events.
  3. Use Reward points at the Points store to purchase swag.

The key components of the program are:

  • Portfolio: A web site that displays professional achievements that highlight your skills and body of work, the site is dynamic, updated frequently, and pushed to search engines.
  • Professional Achievement (PRO) points: Earn PRO points for approved professional development activity (e.g., internships).
  • Reward points: Each earned PRO point also earns a Reward point. Reward points are used for purchases in the Points store.

Next, learn how to Get Started.

Study abroad

Earn PRO points for study abroad related to your major. Pre-approval is not needed, points are awarded after you complete study abroad professional development activities related to your major.

Eligible activities include:

  • Blog about and show extensive knowledge about the local industry related to your major
  • Paid or unpaid work experience related to your major
  • Participate in professional events such as conferences related to your major

To request PRO points for study abroad you will need:

  • Create a post on your portfolio that highlights the above activities.
  • Send an email to the department:
    • Subject heading: Summer/Semester study abroad PRO point request
    • Include a link to the above post
    • Attach proper documentation (e.g., letter from employer, badges at events, link to blog)
  • If your request is approved, the department will award the relevant PRO points.
  • All rejections are final. Partial PRO points are not awarded. Re-submissions are not allowed.

Note

  • If your study abroad involves an internship, request PRO points for the internship (only).
  • Request additional PRO points for study abroad only for activities that go beyond an internship.

Register as an alum

Congratulations on graduating! Register as an alum to earn PRO points. Registration allows you to continue your professional development by gaining access to exclusive alumni events, activities, and discounts. Registration also preserves your portfolio and unused Reward points.

Registering as an alum involves:

  1. Initiate the registration process near the end of the last term of your degree.
  2. After successful registration, we will associate your Community account and ID to your personal email address. The process to convert your account will take 5-7 business days.
  3. For confirmation, look for an email on your personal email account with a new password.
  4. In the future, access Community using your existing ID, new password, and personal email.

Full-time job offer

Congratulations on receiving a job offer! We are proud of your accomplishment. Earn PRO points for reporting the full-time job offer.

To request PRO points for receiving your full-time job offer you will need:

  1. Official job title (e.g., Analyst)
  2. Name of the organization where you will be working (e.g., QVC)
  3. Job date: The job start date
  4. Job description paragraph (all three items below are required). Note: once approved, the job description is automatically displayed in a post on your e-portfolio.
    1. Information about the organization (e.g., type, size, location, specific division/department in which you will be employed)
    2. Job function (e.g., overall role, assigned tasks)
    3. How the job relates to your major (describe how you will apply course work to the job or which course(s) helped you get this job).
  5. Supporting documentation: A PDF file that includes (a) the offer letter on official letterhead OR (b) an email from the responsible person at the organization. The offer letter or email must include job title, salary, and the responsible person’s title and contact information.
    Note: We keep all salary information confidential. Salaries are only reported as averages across graduating seniors.

 

 

Work experience

Earn PRO points for internships that provide valuable work experience. PRO points are only awarded for paid internships that directly relate to your major and course work.

Type Description
Full-time major-specific
internship		 Highly recommended for all students. Typically a summer internship working for an organization on tasks that relate to your major. This is the best way to prepare for the workplace and improve career prospects.
Short-term full-time major-specific
internship		 Typically a shorter internship in the summer working for an organization on tasks that relate to your major.
Part-time major-specific
internship		 Typically a part-time job during the academic term working for an organization on tasks that relate to your major.
Major-specific work experience
on campus		 Typically an on-campus job working for a department or program on tasks that relate to your major.
Student worker On-campus job working as an assistant in a course.
Externship Typically shorter, often unpaid and more observationally-based versus role-based than an internship, giving a brief, inside look into a career.

Requirements

  1. You can only earn PRO points once for a single internship at a single organization, i.e., multiple internships at the same organization cannot be stacked even if they are of a different type.
  2. Points can only be requested after you have completed the internship/work experience or completed the specified time period, i.e., if you are claiming a 15 week internship, then you can only request points after the 15 weeks are complete.
  3. You can only earn PRO points for one semester of working as a student worker.
  4. For minimum time periods, point values, and other requirements, review the points table.

To request PRO points for an internship you will need:

  1. Official job title (e.g., Analyst)
  2. Name of the organization where you worked (e.g., Pfizer)
  3. Job date: The term in which the work experience was completed.
  4. Job description paragraph (all four items below are required).
    1. Information about the organization (e.g., type, size, location, specific division/department in which you are employed)
    2. Job function (e.g., overall role, assigned tasks)
    3. Examples of projects (e.g., list the projects you worked on and what you accomplished)
    4. What you learned and how it relates to your major (e.g., describe what you learned from this internship in the context of specific courses).
      Note: once approved, the job description is automatically displayed in a post on your portfolio.
  5. Supporting documentation: A PDF file that includes (a) the offer letter on official letterhead OR (b) an email from the responsible person at the organization. The offer letter or email must include job title, term of the position, and the responsible person’s title and contact information.

 

Research project

Earn PRO points for working on a research project with a faculty member.  Contact individual faculty to find out about their research and available projects. The faculty member specifies the requirements, decides on the PRO point value, and approves the allocation of points.

To request PRO points for a research project you will need:

  • Title of the project
  • Term in which it was completed
  • Project description: Include the name of the instructor, goals, results, implications, publication status, project URL (if applicable), and what you learned in a brief paragraph. Note: once approved, the project description is automatically displayed in a post on your portfolio.
  • Note: Make sure you have advance approval of the instructor on the research project point value.

 

Class project

Certain class projects are eligible for PRO points. These projects involve a professional development aspect and are associated with specific instructors. For more information on the specific requirements, please consult the instructor.

To request PRO points for a class project you will need:

  • Title of the project
  • Course and term in which it was completed
  • Name of instructor
  • Project description: Include the goals, results, project URL (if applicable), and what you learned in a brief paragraph. Note: once approved, the project description is automatically displayed in a post on your portfolio.

 

External challenges, competitions, and events

All external challenges, competitions, and professional development activities should be pre-approved by the school.

To request PRO points for participating in an external challenge, competition or event you will need:

  • Title of the activity
  • Term in which it was completed
  • Sponsoring organization
  • Details of the activity (e.g., where, when)
  • What you learned
  • How the activity relates to coursework or your career goals
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