SF State and Braven Career Accelerator (AU 220)
The SF State and Braven Career Accelerator (AU 220) is a 3-credit course designed to help prepare undergraduates for the competitive, globalized job marketplace.
During AU 220, undergraduates are immersed in an experiential learning environment that gives them the roadmap and tools to channel their ambition and hard work towards their academic and professional careers. Undergraduates will:
- Create a professional portfolio (e.g. a resume, LinkedIn profile, cover letter);
- Work in small, interactive cohorts led by a volunteer professional coach;
- Practice interview skills with professionals from partnering organizations; and
- It counts toward graduation!
What San Francisco State University Braven Fellows are saying about the course
"People should take this course because of the relief you get after knowing your resume, your LinkedIn profile, and your cover letters are in a good state. People will take a look and be impressed by how clean it looks. I've taken a lot of skills out of this course that I will forever take with me in my professional career."
Kathia Noriega Toloza
San Francisco State University
Journalism Major
"Braven taught me so much about how I can prepare myself for the real world - even things that I didn't know that I needed to do in order to get myself where I wanted to do. AU220 is one of the best classes that I've taken so far. It is not your typical classroom lecture style. It is introspective and relies on you looking within yourself to prepare yourself to be more successful.”
Gabriel Janssen
San Francisco State University
Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Major
“I didn't realize just how many people wanted to help someone with no expectation of anything in return until I took this course.”
Jordan Calley
San Francisco State University
Communications Major
"I got Carlos Flores as my mentor Leadership Coach (LC). He was the CEO of Sonesta Hotels and grew it from nothing to like 900 hotels. I really looked up to his wisdom. My resume showed amazing soft skills like leadership, communication, and organization. He really inspired me to focus on my degree, a computer science degree, and developing my hard skills, because that's what's going to get me in the front door. He woke me up to that and I really spent the last couple of months really nailing that down and focusing on coding and personal projects. And changing my resume to reflect what a more technical person could do. The transformation that he helped me have in my resume is night and day. Every LC interaction was just amazing and gave me great ideas."
Ryan Winter
San Francisco State University
Computer Science Major
"Go for every opportunity that comes out of your way."
Hosna Mohd Zaman
San Francisco State University
Psychology Major
"This is the perfect launching pad going from student to trying to be gainfully employed. It gives you all the tools you need to navigate the job system. It gives you hope. It inspires you to be like, "You know what? I can. I can do this. Don't feel defeated by this."
Paul Wilson, Jr.
San Francisco State University
Industrial Systems Design Major, Air Force Veteran
"Braven pushed me to make a connection. I was able to get a connection to her [Professor Brown] and also the people she knows. I've noticed that so many people want to help. This program has changed me for the best."
Madison Dixon
San Francisco State University
Public Health Major
Why AU 220?
- Join a growing national network of 9,100 Fellows whom students can connect with and lean on for professional connections.
- Discover more internship opportunities. Compared with graduates nationally, Braven 2023 graduates from their partner schools were 23 percentage points more likely to have at least one internship or similar career-accelerating experience during college.
- Start your career strong. 76% of Braven graduates nationally are already outearning their parents at the same age in their first job out of college. By comparison, by age 30, Americans have a 50-50 shot of outearning their parents.
Nationally, Braven Fellows who have graduated have achieved a 91% six-year on-time graduation rate.
Sophomores and new transfers are encouraged to enroll in the SF State and Braven Career Accelerator course.
Metro College Success Program participants are highly encouraged to enroll during the spring of their second year.
Offered as an All University Course for 3 credits, this course is also offered as a major elective in Family, Interiors, Nutrition & Apparel (FINA), General Business, and Public Health.
The SF State and Braven Career Accelerator is broken down into three sections. Throughout the course, students (called Fellows) are teamed up in cohorts with other SF State students from various majors, allowing them to connect with peers and form connections outside their academic area of study.
Design Your Career: While bonding with a cohort of Fellows by sharing core value stories, students will explore leadership, values, and career interests, which will help them create a career project plan.
Launch Your Career: Students build or refine their resumes, develop their interview skills through mock interviews and informational interviews with professionals, and learn to communicate their stories and strengths clearly and concisely, verbally and in writing. They receive extensive feedback on their cover letters and mock interviews and practice their skills at networking events.
Capstone Challenge: Each semester, Braven partners with an employer for the Capstone Challenge, a five-week project where Fellows use design thinking to solve a real-world problem proposed by the employer. Fellows present their solutions to employers and develop teamwork, leadership, project planning, and public speaking skills.
Upon completion of the Accelerator course, students receive access to additional optional opportunities to develop leadership and career readiness skills, engage in an enduring professional network, and stay on track to securing strong internships and jobs. Students may:
- Be a part of a 12-week professional 1:1 mentoring program in their desired field as they get closer to the time of their job search.
- Receive Braven-specific emails announcing job and internship opportunities.
- Benefit from one-off professional development and networking events like workshops and skill builders with employer partners.
Join the Braven National Network with peers from other colleges and universities nationwide for community support and resources after the course to launch their careers!