WEEK 9 – At a Glance

Announcements: Oncourse and Career Services (USCO)

Lecture Evaluation

Reading Assignments:

Chapters 21 and 22

Lab 9 Counseling Session:

Review Projects

Lecture 17:

Balancing Career and Life Priorities--What Matters?

Projects:

P18: Career Management

P19: Graduate Study Research

P20: Graduate Study Application

P21: Which Employer? Which Job Option?

Lecture 18:

Using Technology in Career Strategies

X420 Lecture Schedule

 

Discussion Sessions have concluded for the semester.

 

LECTURES: Schedule

This is the last week of lectures. The only activity next week (Week 10) will be for Career Counselor appointments to review your final projects and your grade record.

 

Lecture 17: Balancing Career and Life Priorities--What Matters?

The first on-the-job experience almost always starts out on a very positive note. The employer wants to see their judgment about you and the career positively confirmed. You want to prove that your background is perfect for the job. Both parties do whatever they can to make the career side of your life work smoothly.

 

What strategies do you wish to employ to help develop your career potential to the highest possible level? How can you influence your promotability with your first employer? Is your long-term goal to work for yourself? How will advanced education influence your future career direction? How often should you put yourself back on the job market? Where can you see yourself in 10 years?

 

The faculty and guests will focus on a forward view of your career potential. Using examples, you will see what others have achieved. This very popular presentation will inspire you to greater heights.

 

A positive start and upward mobility is everyone’s goal, but life’s needs can get in the way of career progression. What is really important to you when a reasonable balance between work and career must enter into the equation? What’s important to you matters!

 

You may have to choose between a loved one and a career. A tragedy may occur that influences your career mobility. Stuff happens. Demands on you build up. More activities create more time demands. A job can become all-consuming in your career development. Family interests can override the importance of career. Peaks and valleys are part of everyone’s life. Balance is not just a fine line between career and life needs.

 

There are ups and downs on both sides. Factors beyond the control of you or the employer can take control. Can you plan for these events? The economy takes a toll on people and employers. Unforeseen circumstances drive personal and career decisions.

 

This presentation addresses the balance issue. What is important? How can I recognize issues? How do I respond to pressing priorities?

Lecture 17 Topics:

Ø      Career/Life Balance

Ø      Job Satisfaction/Passion

Ø      Health Issues

Ø      Stress and Pressure

Ø      Entrepreneurship

Ø      Discrimination

Ø      Significant Others

Ø      Economic Adjustments

Ø      Mergers and Acquisitions

Ø      Children Time Demands

Ø      Family Concerns

Ø      International Options

 

Lecture 18 Using Technology in Career Strategies

Æ CareerBuilder Website

 

Not all students will gain employment through the UCSO. Many students will be interested in working in a particular geographic location. Others will be seeking non-traditional jobs. And many students who would like to have a job from UCSO interviewing will not have one through no fault of their own but due to reduced opportunities or other factors. All these situations and others will find it beneficial to extend their job search to the World Wide Web. Our guest speaker will share tips and strategies to make the best use of web technologies and online career services. Our guest, who will be from one of the major job search websites, will introduce us to the newest career-seeking technologies.

 

The job search websites pervade the Internet. A new boutique website opens almost daily. The so-called “Big Boards” like CareerBuilder, Monster, HotJobs, and Americas Job Bank do much more than list jobs. Not only can you upload multiple special interest resumes, but you can form “agents” that only send you very targeted job information via email.

 

These websites go beyond job search, resumes, and cover letters. They now use intelligent software that searches for your biographical data, provides online interviews, tests candidates, and assists in career planning activities. There are undoubtedly more tools on the horizon to help bring job candidates and employers together in a much more efficient manner.

 

Efficiency is not the only reason for the big and boutique web-based job boards. They can also provide research on employers, career fields, job market outlooks, salary comparisons, and other criteria to help you in your career choices. Perhaps the future holds candidate testing and job criteria matching to build a better match between jobs and applicants.

 

Each year a website is featured to show you what you can use to enhance your long-term career management strategies. These web tools should greatly help before, during, and after your career planning job search activities.

Lecture 18 Topics:

Ø      Internet Search Tools

Ø      Employer Research

Ø      Career Option Exploration

Ø      Job Leads

Ø      Resume Distribution

Ø      Career Comparison

Ø      Job Description Reviews

Ø      Salary Data

Ø      Job Choice Analysis

Ø      Contact Identification

Ø      Economic Job Outlook

Ø      Continuing Education

 

Lab Counseling Session – Lab 9

General Project Directions:

Ø      Send projects as an attachment via Oncourse Messenger Email to your Career Counselor.

Ø      Send to your Career Counselor before your lab appointment.

Ø      Bring a copy with you to the appointment so your Career Counselor can mark on it with you present.

Ø      Counselor will grade, sign, and return at your appointment time for verification.

Ø      Save your projects. They could be useful to you later. Be prepared to make an oral presentation to your counselor on your project.

 

Follow project directions carefully. See full descriptions of projects in project section.

You must attend your assigned lab for review of your projects.

 

Career Resources (UCSO) / Career Links (On Oncourse)

Ø      Use textbook as a resource for your projects.

Ø      Many career-related websites follow your textbook Table of Contents structure.

Ø      The UCSO Career Resources also provides links to helpful research resources.

Ø      Career Links is a more extensive list of research websites.

 

Project 18: Career Management

Always number this as Project 18, not by the number of projects you have turned in.

Overview: (See full descriptions of projects in project section)

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 as a tool for a job search following that graduate study.

Project Instructions:

Actual project instructions are located in the Projects Section of the syllabus.

 

Project 19: Graduate Study Research

Always number this as Project 19, not by the number of projects you have turned in.

Overview: (See full descriptions of projects in project section)

For many students the option of graduate school is a foregone conclusion; but, which school is the right one for them to attend? What coursework should they pursue? This project will provide an opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with graduate school options by examining admissions requirements, admissions procedures, courses of study, and placement statistics.

 

It is recommended that you do Projects 19 and 20 as a set.

Project Instructions:

Actual project instructions are located in the Projects Section of the syllabus.

 

Project 20: Graduate Study Application

Always number this as Project 20, not by the number of projects you have turned in.

Overview: (See full descriptions of projects in project section)

This project will provide an opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with graduate school admissions requirements and admissions procedures.

 

It is recommended that you do Projects 19 and 20 as a set.

Project Instructions:

Actual project instructions are located in the Projects Section of the syllabus.

 

Project 21: Which Employer? Which Job Option?

Always number this as Project 21, not by the number of projects you have turned in.

Overview: (See full descriptions of projects in project section)

 Most job seekers, like you, eventually receive multiple job offers. You have options and, thus, decisions to make based upon a well thought out analysis. Which opportunity is right for you?

 

What factors should you evaluate? How important is each factor to you? What interests you about each opportunity? Even a short-term job decision, like an internship, can influence your future career success. Success must be defined by you, not others.

 

Whether you are choosing between an internship or a full-time job several years hence, the analysis is very important. You could be making a lifestyle decision. Money, location, training, type of work, security, future family concerns, advancement, friends, etc. can be influenced by your decision.

 

This project is designed to teach you how to conduct a logical analysis, not just evaluate the decision at hand. Therefore, even if you have already accepted employment, chosen a graduate school, decided on a future option, there is great value in you doing this project, Which Employer?

 

To do this project you need to first describe your situation. What is the decision to be made? How many employers are you comparing? Even if you are sure of your choice, it is important for you to go back to a comparison point in order to maximize your learning experience.

 

If you are not comparing to another offer, you should compare the option to your own standards to see if you should continue your search.

 

You may have more than two choices but for the purposes of this project, use only two. Phase I is an analysis of two different employment options. Phase II is a comparison between these two options. Phase III is your decision and the last phase, Phase IV, is a written statement of your reasoning.

 

If you are in the pre-employment phase and still trying to decide on a career option that best fits your needs, you can modify this project by substituting “the Employer” (Figure 19.1) with “the Job Description” (Figure 19.2). The analysis between career fields and specific employers is similar. You have your choice depending on which analysis might best fit your current needs. 

Project Instructions:

Actual project instructions are located in the Projects Section of the syllabus.

 

Discussion Sessions

DISCUSSION SESSIONS have concluded for this semester.