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PROJECT 18: Career Management |
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OVERVIEW: |
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Finding and securing
a job is a crucial step but it is only the beginning. Your career will
continue throughout your lifetime and you must give a great deal of thought
to your success in this new career. This project will provide you with
insight into issues you will encounter both as a new hire and throughout your
career. This project is particularly
recommended for students close to accepting a current job, for those already
holding job offers, or for those already working. The goal is to be looking
ahead to the next promotion or job
change. This project could also be used for students planning graduate study
career planning as a tool for a job search following that graduate study. It
may help you confirm that, given your goals, graduate study is the best
option for you. |
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PROJECT
INSTRUCTIONS: |
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Read Chapter 22 in
the textbook. Read sections in
career-related websites dealing with on-the-job success. Link to sites through
Career
Links and the UCSO website under Career
Resources. The following websites will be particularly useful to you
in this project: Complete ONE of the options listed
below. Your finished project
should fulfill ALL of the
requirements below. OPTION A: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL A. Employee
Evaluation Reviews: Read the
section on Performance Appraisals in Chapter 22 of the textbook. B. Research
on Reviews: From the Oncourse
website you will see Lectures.
Click Performance
Appraisal to open and review the content of that lecture. Any HRM
textbook will also have a chapter on Performance
Evaluation which you can use instead of, or in addition to, this lecture
PowerPoint. You will also find some articles and forms on performance
management through this link: HRM
Articles. Scroll down the left frame to “Performance Appraisal.” C. Write one to two pages summarizing what you have read
about performance appraisals. Discuss the process, goals, timing, meetings
with supervisors, and the results of evaluation meetings. D. Evaluate
Yourself Empathetically: Using one
of the interview forms linked below as a performance appraisal form, complete
any one of the forms considering how an employer would view your performance
on a job. Keep in mind any of your previous work experiences. Fill out the
form from the employer’s perspective. You can use a previous part-time job,
full-time summer job, or an internship. Send a short email to yourself from
your “boss” indicating that your performance appraisal is due next week and
include a paragraph that briefly describes the job. In the last paragraph
indicate that your purpose is to establish goals for the next six months. E. Improvement: Write a one-page email describing strategies for correcting
any of your deficiencies and setting forth some specific future objectives.
This should be an email from you to your boss. Indicate in the email that the
completed review is attached. Deliverables: If you choose Option A, you should turn in to your Career Counselor: Ø
One- to
two-page summary of performance appraisals Ø
Completed
evaluation form (2-3 pages) Ø
One-page email
acknowledging the review. OPTION B: FIRST DAYS ON THE NEW JOB A. New Job
Advice: Review several career
websites for advice about early behavior on a new job. List your sources.
Also read Chapter 22 on Career
Management in the textbook. Read a book on success. Research the web.
Read about mentors. B. Write at least one page summarizing what you learned,
including any advice offered. C. Job Tasks:
Describe your first week,
day-by-day, on your first job out of college. Discuss probable job
activities, clothing, behavior, and free-time activities. Use timelines.
Refer back to your job description to use as a guideline of responsibilities
that you need to convert to daily tasks. D. Beyond
Expectations: Consider what you do
when you don’t have enough work to fill your time; what do you do and how do
you find meaningful activities to do. Higher salary increases and promotions
go to superior performers. What will you do to distinguish your performance? E. Monitor
Use: How do you expect to find
your “niche” in an office hierarchy? Who do you ask for advice on office
procedures and protocol? How will you obtain a personal mentor/coach? Deliverables: If you choose Option B, you should turn in to your Career Counselor: Ø
One-page
summary of new job advice, including sources. Ø
Description of
first week and first quarter on the job. Operationalize your job description. Ø
Strategy for job
success, including image building, dressing for success, goal setting,
obtaining multiple mentors, etc. Your
project should total two to four
pages. OPTION C: JOB SATISFACTION A. Job
Satisfaction: Review several
career websites for advice about job satisfaction on a new job. List your
sources and the articles you read. Use a search engine like Google to locate
articles and research on Job
Satisfaction. Submit copies of at least three articles. B. Research
Summary: Write at least one page
summarizing what you learned, including any advice offered. C. Job
Comparisons: Think of a job you
have previously had. It could be a summer internship, a part-time job, or
other work experience. List all the things you liked about the job including
the environment, tasks, schedule, benefits, salary, contact with other
employees and clients, etc. List all the things you disliked about that job.
How do you compare your past experiences to the information in the three
articles you selected in part A? D. Ideal
Work Setting: Write one to two
pages analyzing what sort of position and corporate climate is likely to
bring you the most job satisfaction. Be specific. Deliverables: If you choose Option C, you should turn in to your Career Counselor: Ø
One-page
summary of advice on job satisfaction, including sources Ø
List of likes
and dislikes on former job Ø
Comparison of
experiences with readings Ø
One to two
pages on ideal work setting. Your
project should total two to four
pages. OPTION D: CHANGING JOBS A. Job
Satisfaction/Turnover: Review
several career websites for advice about job satisfaction on a new job. List
your sources and the articles you read. B. Research
Results: Write at least one page
summarizing what you learned, including any advice offered. C. New Job
Search Strategy: Using the
information contained in Chapters 14-16 of the textbook, prepare a job search
plan. Indicate the sources that you plan to employ with your unique career
interests. Be specific about which websites, search firms, newspapers, and
other resources will be most beneficial for you. Discuss how each of the
sources of job leads mentioned in Figure 15.2 will be of value to you. This
should be no more than two pages. D. Telephone
Solicitations: The telephone will
play a very important role in your future job searching. Create a telephone
script using ideas from Figure 15.4 and 15.5. This will be your sales
commercial. Keep it under one minute when read on the telephone. It must
motivate the listener to schedule a 30-minute meeting with you. You should
keep this script to about one single-spaced word-processed page so that you
can read it when the headhunter or prime employer calls. Read this script out loud to your
Career Counselor during your lab meeting. E. Use of
Agencies: Using the Search Firm Letter in Figure 15.10 of
the textbook as a guide, write a similar letter that emphasizes your unique
competencies for the future long-term job that you eventually want to have.
You are welcomed to include some hypothetical information that currently may
not fit you but which probably will in a few years. F. Prospect
Cards: Identify two firms hiring
for the type of position for which you will eventually aspire. Copy these
positions from a specialized job website. They should require at least three
years more experience than you now possess. Using the prospect card (Figure
15.8 in your textbook) as a guide, submit prospect cards for these two
organizations. You do not need to currently be qualified for these positions. Deliverables: If you choose Option D, you should turn in to your Career Counselor: Ø
Sources for
articles you read on the web with one-page summary of what you learned Ø
One to two
pages of job search plan Ø
Telephone
monologue – about one page Ø
Letter to
search firm based on text example Ø
Two prospect
cards. |