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COURSE PROJECT |
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DUE Nov. 25 This is a course about business management. The most important business that you will ever manage is YOU. I require my undergraduate and graduate students to participate in this project which explores "self" and the fit of one's self with a career.
The individual project for the course is the development of a career management plan. The project is divided into six assignments which are scheduled for completion by the syllabus (See below for the schedule). Once completed, you will have:
The information that the project provides should assist you in your career development. For business students, it is highly recommended that you submit your resumes and project materials to your faculty advisor to be held by the School for possible intern or summer job placement and further career/academic advising. There are six assignments and each will be graded on a point scale. The completed project will be returned to the student for an information presentation in-class and for retention for possible future value. The project is to be completed according to the student's own scheduling, but it is due near the end of the semester. The contribution of the project to the final course grade is sufficiently great that failure to turn-in a completed project will preclude passing the course. Expect that the project will take several days to complete, so delaying until the last minute has a high probability of causing your failure in the class. Begin work on this as soon as you can and keep a good pace - part of the test is to see if you can manage a simple, highly structured project with a critical due date on your own. Meeting this requirement is a minimum management skill standard. Below are the project requirements. The complete project assignment is available in a MS Word file that you need to download (see top of page) and print. The downloaded document is the authoritative document for the assignment - should there be any discrepancies with the information available here. This website page is provided as a convenience to the student by providing direct links to project requirements that are on the Internet. Parts of the project will require use of PC and the Internet - these resources are available in the School of Business Computer laboratory and the University's ATM (5th floor of the Harvey Library).
THIS ASSIGNMENT IS BEST DONE OFF-LINE USING THE PROJECT DOCUMENT. This is a two-part exercise. In the first section you are to briefly (1-2 sentences) answer 21 questions. In the second part of the assignment you will need to go to the download page and obtain the form for the Career Anchor. This will require you to prioritize among possible career anchors. This assignment is best done off-line using the downloaded document. From this document you can "cut and paste" the questions for Section I and then type your answers directly to your word document. Section II of this assignment will require you to use the materials available only in the downloaded document. Section I. Describe Yourself 1. Describe yourself in one sentence: I am: "I
am" skills are the broadest ones in that they reflect
your capabilities, talents, and general areas of strength.
They even border on being personality characteristics. For
example, you might say: "I am artistic, I am
mechanically inclined, I am easygoing, I am
detail-oriented." The skills in this category are
highly versatile and can be valued in any number of career
fields.
3. What abilities, skills and interests do you want to cultivate (I like:)?
6. What challenges you the most? Consider: What kinds of problems interest you? Think:
7. Are you a creative person? Analytical? Mechanical? If
you think you are: Give an example or illustration of this.
20. What are the 5 most important things you are looking
for in a job (can include things like: travel, challenge,
stability, 40 hour work weeks, benefits, kinds of people
work with, rewards, power to implement my own ideas,
flexible time, praise, minimal paperwork.)
Complete the section "Your Career Anchor", available in the download document.
ASSIGNMENT II. Self-Assessment THIS ASSIGNMENT IS BEST DONE ON-LINE FROM THIS PAGE. This assignment brings to your career analysis the benefit of scoring your preferences on three well known and widely used "personality" tests. This assignment is best done on-line from this page because the tests are located on the WWW and can be accessed directly from this page. You are required to take 5 self-administered tests and report the results:
The tests are all on-line, meaning you will have to sit at your computer while taking the test. The tests will be scored automatically for you. I estimate that this assignment will take 1 to 2 hours. Follow the on-line instructions. If you cannot access the preferred test, for many tests I offer alternative sites or tests. The alternatives are acceptable for submission; or, you may use alternative tests to compare results if you do not believe that the preferred test rendered an accurate portrayal. When finished you will need to document that you completed the test and record the scores (these will be needed later). The easiest way is to document the test is to print the page on which your test results appear- DO NOT print the entire test or interpretative information, unless you personally want it. To print a page click "File" at the top of your browser, then "Print" (or "Print Frame"). If this does not work, you will have to use your mouse to highlight the text on the page. Using the right mouse button click "Copy", then go to the computer's word processor and open a blank page. On the blank page click your right mouse button "Paste" and paste the contents of your test score. Then, print out the page from the word processor. The best of these "attitude" or "personality" tests is reliable only about 75% of the time. So, take the tests and "bounce' the results against your own self-image or compare results with alternative tests. You are what you make of yourself -- the tests only report a profile of the kinds of personalities that typically respond to the kinds of questions posed. Don't make more of it than this. But, these tests can be helpful in matching a type of personality with a type of career. This is why your instructor requires you to take the tests -- you may discover something about yourself that you did not know. Or, better yet, find a career that matches you -- and, you did not think of it. While there is research that shows that a particular personality type may select one career over another, I know of no research that shows that one personality type is apt to be more or less "successful" in a career than another type. (Some companies do use these tests to determine possible fit of a candidate for hiring or for specific jobs.) Web links change faster than I can keep up, so if you find a "dead" link, please let me know. Links were checked Summer 2002. A. The following tests may be different than those in the downloaded project document because websites change or simply disappear. Use these, they are free:
REMEMBER: Print out your results. B. From the web site Keirsey.com take the Keirsey Character Sorter test. (You are NOT asked to buy the full report. The free report is sufficient. You are required to provide your email address at this site.) The Keirsey Character Sorter test -- a 36-70 question test -- is widely used for career assessment. This is based on Jung's theories of personality and has replaced the famous Myers Briggs test for career testing. The test identifies personality traits as four "Temperaments" with 16 variants. On completing the test a score is generated and personality profile is reported. PRINT OUT your profile or copy your profile to a word processor page. If you cannot access this site, you may take the Jung Typology Test at this site. Also, the U.S. Dept. of Interior has a chart that relates Myers-Briggs types to different career choices, to see this click here. C. From the Princeton Review web site take the sample Birkman Temperament Test (Read this page. You'll need to register - no cost. Test start button is an arrow at bottom of page.) (An alternative is to take a similar test by Career Match.). This an abbreviated Myers Briggs type test that matches personality to careers using a color scheme to identify personality traits. After taking the test PRINT OUT your results and on the results page go to the job listing (on the left hand side of the page) and click on a career(s) that interests you. Print the career summaries. Also, for the career(s) that interest you (and are compatible with your personality profile) check out the following at Princeton Review (Print out this information, you will need it for Assignment V):
(Not required, but if you want to know more about these kinds of tests and their reliability, refer to the academic discussion of personality testing at the American Psychological Association's site and use the search engine to find specific information, such as a test, measurement, validity, or the psychological issues involved with these kinds of tests.) REMEMBER: Print out your results. In your final report you are to turn in your print-outs of scores to document that you have completed the assignments.
ASSIGNMENT III. Preliminary Career Assessment THIS ASSIGNMENT IS BEST DONE OFF-LINE USING THE PROJECT DOCUMENT. From the downloaded project document, print out the MS Word file. It will contain a test "Self-Diagnostic Activity on Career Orientations". Complete the "Career Orientations Inventory" and score the test using "Self-Scoring of Career Orientation". Read "Comparing Orientations and Your
Anchor" and complete the "Final Career anchor
Self-
ASSIGNMENT IV. Career Fit Analysis THIS ASSIGNMENT REQUIRES NO INTERNET. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AND USE THE FORM IN THE PROJECT DOCUMENT.
USE THIS PAGE FOR ASSIGNMENT RESEARCH, BUT USE FINDINGS TO FILL OUT THE FORM IN YOUR DOCUMENT. In this assignment you are to collect information about jobs consistent with your career choice. You will need the form from the downloaded document to complete this assignment, but the research is best done on-line from this page because links are immediately accessible. Use the form provided in the Career Fit Analysis.
Identify the career that you desire to pursue.
From the U.S. Bureau of Labor "Occupational Outlook Handbook" report the information available about the career, preparation, expected earnings, and the projected demand for the occupation. You can check current salary information for most jobs by location at salary.com. (The Washington Post also provides a good list of links for this kind of research.) From ManagementGuru's section on Companies or other source (try: Hoover's Handbook On-line) provide the following information about one of the companies that is hiring in your chosen occupation:
Turn in the Job Analysis sheet with your final report..
ASSIGNMENT VI. Personal Development THIS PAGE HAS RESOURCES TO ASSIST WITH THIS ASSIGNMENT, BUT THE INTERNET IS NOT REQUIRED. Part A. Education Plan: REQUIRED OF UNDERGRADUATES ONLY Either on your own or with your advisor construct your degree plan for earning your baccalaureate here at HU. Predict your GPA at graduation. Use the HU catalog as a "go-by" for required courses in your major. Select 3 graduate schools that you would consider attending at some time. You may use Princeton Review's grad school information to assist you with this part of the assignment, or use the links at my site. Explain how graduate school would or would not advance your career (1-2 sentences). Turn in your plan of study, your selection of graduate schools, and your statement on graduate study.
Your are to write your job resume and cover letter. A. Job Resume. There are several web sites that can assist you with this part of the assignment. Although collegegrad.com is selling a book, if you can ignore the obvious commercials, this site has very sound information. I recommend that you visit the site and read Chapters 3 and 4 on resumes and cover letters. Here are the 19 steps this author recommends for a resume:
For this assignment use regular white paper and go to no extra expense, but construct your resume for the jobs that you identified in Assignment V. B. For the cover letter, use the following checklist:
Below are sites you might check out to help you in your career development:
Compile all of the assignments that you have turned in. Remember: For grading there must be adequate evidence that each assignment has been completed. Bring all work to completion and re-do any aspects of your work that you feel can be improved upon. There is no need to retake or re-do any of the self-assessment tests, but make sure that your scores are reported either by print-out of the report page from the site or by copying and pasting the results into a work processor document. On a manila file folder that will be provided to you, print your name and student ID number on the tab leaf. Make sure that all work is neat and typed. Then, insert your work into the folder using the following format:
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