Undergraduate PD courses

Your path through undergraduate Professional Development (PD) courses will vary depending on your faculty. Discover additional information regarding your specific PD course requirements.

Important dates

Please consult the Registrar’s Office’s general list of important dates for the most up-to-date information. If you’re an undergraduate student looking for course-specific deadlines, please consult your PD course outline on LEARN or contact the course staff.

Which courses do I take?

Find out more about each of our PD courses, as well as which ones are required for your faculty and when you should take them. 

Undergraduate compulsory courses (by faculty)

Arts, Environment, Health

PD1: Career Fundamentals and PD12: Critical Reflection for Growth in the Workplace are both required compulsory courses.

PD1: Career Fundamentals

PD1: Career Fundamentals gives students the tools they need to find their first job, develop core career skills, and succeed in the workplace. You'll learn:

  • How to engage in self-assessment and reflection on skills, values, interests, and personality as the first step in managing a career.
  • How to assess your skills and values to create representative application packages.
  • How to plan and practice answers to different styles of interview questions.
  • How to learn to navigate and apply to jobs using WaterlooWorks.

PD12: Critical Reflection for Growth in the Workplace

PD12: Critical Reflection for Growth in the Workplace helps students develop their skillset in relation to critical reflection and gain an appreciation for the importance of critical reflection for personal and professional growth. You’ll learn:
 

  • How to set a SMART goal that supports professional growth.
  • Strategies to give and request feedback through email correspondence.
  • How to develop effective strategies for navigating workplace stress.

Mathematics, Science

PD1: Career Fundamentals and PD11: Processes for Technical Report Writing are both required compulsory courses.

PD10: Professional Responsibility in Computing is required for only Computer Science and Software Engineering students.

PD1: Career Fundamentals

PD1: Career Fundamentals gives students the tools they need to find their first job, develop core career skills, and succeed in the workplace. You'll learn:

  • How to engage in self-assessment and reflection on skills, values, interests, and personality as the first step in managing a career.
  • How to assess your skills and values to create representative application packages.
  • How to plan and practice answers to different styles of interview questions.
  • How to learn to navigate and apply to jobs using WaterlooWorks.

PD11: Processes for Technical Report Writing

PD11: Processes for Technical Report Writing gives students the tools they need to write compelling, thorough technical reports. You’ll learn:
 

  • How to improve your report writing skills through research and analysis.
  • How to identify workplace problems worth solving.
  • How to write and refine a technical report using personalized peer feedback.

Engineering

PD19: Tactics for Workplace Success and PD20: Strategies for Career Success are both required compulsory courses.

PD19: Tactics for Workplace Success

PD19: Tactics for Workplace Success provides an opportunity for students to kick-start their professional development. You'll learn:

  • How to apply workplace success strategies, including setting workplace goals and conducting informational interviews. 
  • How to compare and contrast the roles and importance of technical and professional skills.  
  • How to understand strategies for addressing technical and professional challenges.  
  • How to reflect on your work term experience with the goal of improving future workplace success.

PD20: Strategies for Career Success

PD20: Strategies for Career Success expands on the content from PD19: Tactics for Workplace Success, leading students to move beyond a tactical approach to the development of their professional skills to one that is strategic. You'll learn:

  • How to set goals to develop workplace competencies and professional attributes specific to engineering that you'll be expected to have for graduation.  
  • How critical thinking and communication skills are used to assess good reasoning, interpret textual and visual information, and work through ethical and professional situations.  
  • How to develop strategies for workplace success through self-reflection. 

Note: Engineering students who started studying during the fall 2020 term or later complete PD19: Tactics for Workplace Success and PD20: Strategies for Career Success as their two compulsory courses.

Engineering students who started studying before the fall 2020 term complete PD20 and PD21: Engineering Workplace Skills II: Developing Effective Plans.

Undergraduate elective courses

* Indicates co-op student eligibility only (not available to EDGE students)

PD3: Communication

PD3: Communication focuses on the nature and function of communication in the workplace. You’ll learn:
 

  • How to adapt communication methods based on the audience and purpose of the message.
  • Skills for resolving conflict and communicating with coworkers in a succinct, open, and persuasive manner.
  • How to identify opportunities, strategies, and tools for improved communication.

PD4: Teamwork

PD4: Teamwork introduces the theory and research underpinning effective teamwork and small-group communication. You’ll learn:
 

  • Tools for evaluating team dynamics in groups and brainstorming ways to improve cohesiveness.
  • How to identify skills and practices necessary to make effective decisions, improve interpersonal relationships and negotiate conflict in team settings.
  • How to effectively participate in teams or group settings.

PD5: Project Management

PD5: Project Management introduces the basic tools and techniques used to manage projects in a wide range of industries and workplaces. You’ll learn:
 

  • How to use common project tools, including a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart.
  • The qualities of a successful project manager.
  • How to prepare for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam.

PD6: Problem Solving

PD6: Problem Solving focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to approach and tackle complex problems in the workplace. You’ll learn:
 

  • How to determine the root cause and solution to a problem using analysis.
  • How to use different methods to creatively solve problems.
  • How to determine barriers to problem solving and learn to address them.

PD7: Conflict Resolution

PD7: Conflict Resolution helps students understand, avoid, and resolve conflict in the workplace. You’ll learn:
 

  • Conflict resolution skills by analyzing scenarios and applying different approaches.
  • How to identify strategies to work through challenging situations using appropriate communication styles.
  • How to recover from conflict and make a good apology.

PD8: Intercultural Skills

PD8: Intercultural Skills provides the knowledge and skills students need to succeed in today’s diverse workplaces. You’ll learn:
 

  • How to recognize cultural differences in verbal and non-verbal communication styles.
  • Ways to explore personal biases and how to counter them.
  • How to examine the impact of different cultural values and apply effective strategies to be successful on cross-cultural teams.

PD9: Ethical Decision Making

PD9: Ethical Decision Making introduces the complex concepts underpinning ethical behaviour in the workplace. You’ll learn:
 

  • How interests and incentives affect the decisions people make.
  • How to reflect on personal ethical views and how these views affect all parties in making decisions.
  • How to recognize personal responsibility in individual and group contexts.

PD10: Professional Responsibility in Computing

PD10: Professional Responsibility in Computing focuses on the legal and ethical issues that surround the use and development of software. You’ll learn:
 

  • How to navigate legal and ethical responsibilities as a software developer and user.
  • The risks and benefits of software in safety-critical applications.
  • How to understand data privacy issues, privacy laws and how to obtain meaningful consent online.
  • How to apply the IEEE-CS/ASM Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice to workplace scenarios.

Please note: PD10: Professional Responsibility in Computing is required for Computer Science and Software Engineering students.

PD11: Processes for Technical Report Writing*

PD 12: Critical Reflection for Growth in the Workplace*

PD12: Critical Reflection for Growth in the Workplace helps students develop their skillset in relation to critical reflection and gain an appreciation for the importance of critical reflection for personal and professional growth. You’ll learn:

  • How to set a SMART goal that supports professional growth.
  • Strategies to give and request feedback through email correspondence.
  • How to develop effective strategies for navigating workplace stress.

Note: This PD course is only offered to co-op students.

PD 13: Research in the Workplace

PD13: Research in the Workplace introduces the importance of research across disciplines and workplaces. You’ll learn:
 

  • How to design an infographic for a broad audience to communicate the results of a peer-reviewed research article.
  • About a variety of commonly-used research methods.
  • Essential research terminology and how to understand and utilize it.
  • How to critically evaluate research to determine validity of sources and practices.

PD 22: Professional and Ethics in Engineering Practice*

PD22: Professionalism and Ethics in Engineering Practice helps students prepare for the Professional Practice Exam (PPE), a requirement for students who want to become professional engineers in the province of Ontario. You’ll learn:

  • The ethical and legal responsibilities of professional engineers to protect the public and its interest.
  • How to prepare a case study for the Professional Practice Exam for engineering students in Ontario.
  • The governance of engineering practice as laid out in the Professional Engineers Act and Ontario regulations.

Note: This PD course is only offered to co-op students.

Course offerings by term

Not all elective courses are offered every term. When you’re thinking about your next elective PD course, consult the course offerings by term table to make sure the course you want is offered during your next work term.

PD course Spring 2025 Fall 2025 Winter 2026
PD1 (nonENG only) offered offered offered
PD3 not offered offered offered
PD4 offered not offered not offered
PD5 not offered offered offered
PD6 not offered not offered offered
PD7 offered offered not offered
PD8 not offered not offered not offered
PD9 offered offered not offered
PD10 offered offered offered
PD11 offered offered offered
PD12 offered offered offered
PD13 offered offered not offered
PD19 (ENG only) offered offered offered
PD20 (ENG only) offered offered offered
PD22 offered offered offered

Questions?

If you still have a question about working through your PD course requirements, contact Centre for WIL staff or consult your faculty’s undergraduate calendar.