instructions for career project - charles a. dana · pdf fileframeworks for mathematics and...

Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate Learning Version 2.0 (2013)

Version 2.0 (2013)

The Charles A. Dana Center at Career Project Assignment The University of Texas at Austin

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Instructions for Career Project In order to succeed, millennials reported they need to pursue higher education, obtain transferable skills, hold a variety of jobs and perhaps even pursue multiple career paths. The research also shows that millennials would like their work to be personally meaningful.

—How the Recession Shaped Millennial and Hiring Manager Attitudes About Millennials’ Future Careers, 20111

Purpose This project is intended to help you step more confidently into the future, career-wise. In keeping with current trends, you are encouraged to think less about a specific job and more about career clusters—areas that offer a variety of opportunities for your skills, talents, and interests as you move through college and beyond. Use this opportunity to shift your perceptions toward becoming more of who you can be (remember the concept of possible selves/possible lives). See this project as an opportunity for self-exploration and investigation into career options you might not otherwise have considered.

Directions Drawing on all the activities and resources you have completed in class—visiting the Career Center, talking with academic advisors and career counselors, thinking about the impact you want to make on the world around you, and your life goals—you will research a career field, analyze data about that field, and develop an action plan for achieving your goal

This project has three distinct assignments: • Identify possible career paths by completing the Possible Selves/Possible Lives Mind

Map and Reflection. • Analyze one of the possible selves mind-map branches by completing a SWOT

(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. • Develop an action plan based on the results of the SWOT analysis.

This project will be completed independently and mostly outside of class. You will need to take advantage of campus resources (having one-on-one conversations with an academic advisor, taking one or more career-related assessments, talking to a career counselor about researching career fields, and so on) in order to complete the project assignments.

1 Alexandra Levit with Dr. Sanja Licina. (2011). How the Recession Shaped Millennial and Hiring Manager

Attitudes about Millennials’ Future Careers. Chicago, IL: Career Advisory Board, presented by DeVry University. Retrieved January 4, 2013, from www.careeradvisoryboard.org/public/uploads/2011/10/Future-of-Millennial-Careers-Report.pdf.


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Possible Selves/Possible Lives Mind Map and Reflection Due date: _____________________________________

Grading This assignment is worth a total of _____ points. Your grade is based on the degree to which you discuss the themes/patterns you see and what you have learned about yourself.

Instructions 1. Complete a Possible Selves/Possible Lives Mind Map (see examples at the end of these

instructions). Use your notes from the class discussion about the impact you want your life to have on the world around you to get started.

a. If you have trouble coming up with possible selves, visit the career center and work with a career counselor. A counselor can help you fill out a career assessment, which should provide some ideas for you to consider.

2. Write a one-page reflection on your Possible Selves / Possible Lives Mind Map. Discuss the following: a. What themes/patterns do you see across the possible selves you’ve identified?

b. What branch of your mind map are you most committed to pursuing? You will focus the remainder of this career project on this branch, so choosing the path you are most invested in will make sure this project is a good use of your time and resources.

c. What motivates you to pursue this particular branch? d. List any specific questions you have about this branch/career field that you want to find

answers to in the remainder of this project. Try to identify at least one question you want to investigate.

Deliverables You should turn in the following documents:

• Mind map • Reflection


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SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) Analysis

Due date: _____________________________________

Grading This assignment is worth a total of _____ points. Your grade is based on the degree to which you demonstrate that you have done the background research into your career field and have thoughtfully analyzed internal and external factors that influence your career prospects. Each section of your analysis should be at least one page long.

Instructions 1. Write one paragraph of background information about the career field you are focusing this

analysis on. What is the field and what are the basic qualifications of entering this field? 2. Complete the four sections of your SWOT analysis for this field; make sure your responses

are specific to the career field you are analyzing.

Internal / Personal Factors External / Objective Factors STRENGTHS

• What relevant skills, talents, abilities, education, qualifications, and experiences do you already have?

• Why do you consider these to be important for this future direction you are exploring?

OPPORTUNITIES • What have you discovered about the

openings available in this field? What is the potential salary range? What evidence can you provide to verify that?

• What opportunities are currently available on the websites of the identified company or companies? What specific education, skills, and abilities are they looking for?

• Who do you know who is in this career field already?

WEAKNESSES • What gaps in your skills, talents,

abilities, education, qualifications, and experiences do you have that might concern a recruiter?

• How motivated are you to address these gaps? How long might it take to address the costs and what might it cost (e.g., additional credentials, advanced degree, and so on)?

THREATS • What changes are likely to happen within

this field over the next 1 to 3 years? Is it in a growth area or is it in an area where downsizing and other unhelpful changes are happening?

• How competitive is this field? What qualifications might other candidates have that would give them an edge over you?

• Might this field involve relocating or other changes to your current lifestyle?


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Additional resources that provide data relevant to this analysis include: • Mapping Your Future, available at www.mappingyourfuture.org. (Click on the

CareerShip tab.) • Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at www.bls.gov/ooh.

Deliverable You should turn in the following document:

• SWOT analysis


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Action Plan Due date: _____________________________________

Grading This assignment is worth a total of _____ points. Your grade is based on the degree to which you have shown evidence of fully exploring, reflecting upon, and creating a plan of action to pursue your selected future career (including future coursework and higher education, where relevant). You should produce a 3-4 page report for this assignment.

Instructions 1. Use your SWOT analysis to set three goals that you can work toward that will help you

move forward on this career path.

2. Outline the specific actions you intend to take to reach these goals. The following prompts are provided to help you identify important information to address in your action plan, but they are not the only questions you should be answering with this action plan. a. What college courses do you need (and intend) to take to ensure you are a compelling

candidate in this field? How often are these course offered and in what semester will you be taking these courses?

b. What final GPA are you planning to achieve and how will this GPA improve your attractiveness to recruiters in this field?

c. How do you plan to address the issue of an advanced degree or further qualifications, if relevant to this career area?

d. Demonstrate that you have thought through the possible changes to your current lifestyle highlighted in your research (e.g., moving to a new location; the working hours involved; the amount of travel required, and so on). How do you intend to address those issues?

Additional resources that provide data relevant to this assignment include: • Class notes about goal setting • Previous possible selves mind map and SWOT analysis

Deliverable You should turn in the following document:

• Action plan


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Career Project: Possible Selves / Possible Lives Mind Map (Blank)


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Career Project: Possible Selves/ Possible Lives Mind Map (Completed)

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Instructor Notes for Facilitating the Career Project

Mind Maps A mind map is a way of graphically representing information so you can more easily see patterns within the information. This note-taking strategy is discussed in more detail in week 7. Mind maps are used in this project to help students brainstorm the many different ideas they may have for future career paths. Some years ago, psychologists came up with the term possible selves to describe what we might become or would like to become at some point in the future, in order to help us set appropriate goals. Later authors (see Chapter 5 of Katharine Brooks’s 2009 book You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career) changed to term to possible lives. Often our goals are informed by our self-identified skills and abilities, and we often limit ourselves to options that align with our perceived skills and abilities. However, our options are often much broader than we realize—either because our beliefs limit us or we haven’t been curious enough and explored all our options. Creating a mind map, like completing career assessments available through career service centers, helps expand the possibilities. Previous classwork identifying the impact we want to have on the world also helps expand the realm of possible career choices.

SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis SWOT analysis is a common strategic planning tool used in organizations to help with setting goals, crafting vision statements, and identifying gaps in a company’s resources or an individual’s skill set.

The SWOT analysis assignment is intended to set students up for success by helping them anticipate and address obstacles or challenges in advance, rather than discovering them when it may be too late to address them. You might want to share with students this humorous definition of the mid-life crisis: Finding that you climbed the ladder of job success only to discover it was up against the wrong wall. Putting in time and effort early in your college career to understand the field you think you want to enter and analyze how your personal talents and preferences fit with the demands of that field helps ensure that you choose the pathway that’s right for you. It’d be a real shame to spend years studying to become a teacher or lawyer or physical therapist only to discover, once you begin working in that field, that it’s not fulfilling or enjoyable for you after all!

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