Career Exploration

EDL 100

Ricardo Trevino Jr., Instructor

E-mail: TrevinR@miamioh.edu Office: Wilson Hall – Resident Director Office Phone: 513-529-7089

Office Hours: By appointment

Learning Outcomes

Students will gain an understanding of their personal strengths, interests, and values as they relate to career possibilities and majors.

Students will be exposed to multiple career paths and industry opportunities.

Students will explore a career path of interest.

Students will learn about the various components of a career to consider when making career choices.

Students will be able to articulate the importance of networking.

Students will develop a plan to support their career exploration in college.

Students will develop a comprehensive portfolio that supports their ability to market themselves to employers.

Course Overview

As a first or second-year college student, you have endless opportunities for what to pursue in your future. Maybe you came to college knowing exactly what it is you want to do,

maybe you came to college with no idea, or maybe you came to college with a million ideas about what you want to do. Regardless as to where you are in thinking about your future, this

course is designed to help you explore your own interests and talents, and connect them with the kinds of opportunities that are available to you when you graduate. Through this course, you will be exposed to different careers and understand how they

connect to the broader economy. You will have the opportunity to talk with people who are currently working in the careers you find interesting. Having the opportunity to explore careers

can provide you with good information on what you do and do not want in your future career path. It can also provide you with access to information on what kinds of experiences you can prepare yourself with during college to not only help you further explore careers of interest, but

gain the skills and experiences required to ensure you are ready for your future job search. Finally, this course will expose you to the elements of the job search. You will learn

about how to build an effective resume, online profile, and market yourself to future employers. Through building a career portfolio, you will have an opportunity to develop a first draft of your story to share with others. This is one you can continue to refine throughout college as you build

new experiences and acquire new skills. This course is largely driven by you and your peers and the kinds of experiences you

want to learn about. It is important to be an active member of the learning community so you can contribute to your own learning and that of the people around you!

Required Readings

Brooks, K. (2009). You majored in what?: Mapping your path from chaos to career. New York,

N.Y: Viking. Pollak, L. (2012). Getting from college to career: Your essential guide to succeeding in the real

world. New York: Harper Business.

Rath, T. (2007). Strengths finder 2.0. New York: Gallup Press.

Course Expectations

Participation: You are responsible for completing all required readings in advance of each class

session. Completing the readings increases your own learning, as well as the learning of your

classmates and instructor. Active participation in class discussions is also expected and essential

to learning. Active participation includes:

demonstrating that you have completed the readings by including aspects of the readings in our class conversations and in a meaningful way in written assignments

contributing thoughtful comments about and examples of concepts being discussed; this includes comments about ideas you’re still trying to understand (class conversation is about learning, not always having the “right” or most profound comment)

raising thoughtful questions, including asking for clarification when you don’t understand a concept (again, class conversation is about learning, not already having all of the

answers) listening carefully to your classmates’ contributions and respectfully responding to

others' comments

Attendance: As a discussion-based course, you are expected to attend all class sessions. Your

grade will be lowered as a result of missed classes. There are no excused absences in this class

without prior consent, but please note even excused absences may result in a lowered grade. If

you miss more than two classes you will be dropped from the course as this is a shortened course

and there are a limited number of class meetings.

Timeliness: Out of respect to your classmates and instructor, please be ready to begin class when

it starts and to stay the full duration. If a prior commitment will affect your ability to arrive on

time or requires you to leave early, please notify me prior to class. Repeated problems with

timeliness can impact your final course grade.

Phones, laptops and anything else with the internet on it: Please disengage with these

devices where they are not necessary. In other words, when we are having discussions that do

not involve articles on your laptop, tablet, or phone, please do not have them open on your desk.

If you use your laptop during class for taking notes or looking at class readings, I trust that you

are not also surfing the web, checking e-mail, or on Facebook. Technology is wonderful, but

please do not use it in a way that detracts from our classroom learning.

Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is central to our community. Miami has a webpage describing academic integrity: http://www.muohio.edu/integrity. Often times, academic misconduct is a result of not being familiar with certain policies or misunderstandings about

policies. Please be certain to review these documents and websites.

Respect for Diversity: Our Miami University values emphasize the value of an inclusive

community. Similarly, the Miami University Statement Asserting Respect for Human Diversity emphasizes inclusiveness. The text below is reproduced directly from: http://www.miami.muohio.edu/documents_and_policies/diversity_statement/index.cfm

Miami University is a multicultural community of diverse racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds, national origins, religious and political beliefs, physical abilities, ages,

genders, and sexual orientations. Our educational activities and everyday interactions are enriched by our acceptance of one another; and, as members of the university community, we strive to learn from each other in an atmosphere of positive

engagement and mutual respect.

Because of the necessity to maintain this atmosphere, bigotry will not go

unchallenged within this community. We will strive to educate each other on the existence and effects of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, religious intolerance, and other forms of invidious prejudice. When such prejudice results in physical or

psychological abuse, harassment, intimidation, or violence against persons or property, we will not tolerate such behavior nor will we accept jest, ignorance, or

substance abuse as an excuse, reason, or rationale for it.

All who work, live, study, and teach in the Miami community should be committed to these principles that are an integral part of Miami's focus, goals, and mission.

Note regarding accommodations for disabilities: If you have a disability that will affect your

ability to participate fully in the course or if you require accommodations, please speak with me

about this as soon as possible so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged.

Class Assignments

Best Self Reflection (20%)

The goal of the best self-reflection is for you to bring together what you know about yourself and what you learned from the strength finder exercise and write a 2-3 page paper that 1)

summarizes what you are doing when you are at your best based on your own experiences (you can pull from stories of work you’ve done, activities you’ve been a part of, etc.), 2) provides your own thoughts about whether or not you agree/disagree with the themes you saw across the

strength finder activity and why, and 3) how you believe your own ideas about who you are, and what you enjoy can combine with the strengths finder exercise can to support you as you look at

future paths. In other words, are there patterns or themes you see emerging from your own ideas and those of the strength finder exercise that you would like to leverage as you think about a future career? Your paper should not just list answers to the three requirements but should be an

integrated reflection that tells a story about your thoughts.

Career Research Paper (25%) and Presentation (20%)

You and a partner will select a career cluster on which you would like to do research. As a part of the course, you will research the following elements of that industry and summarize your

findings in a 3-4 page paper that includes citations for where you found your information: 1) What kinds of companies and non-profits fall under that career cluster? 2) What jobs are available in this cluster?

3) What challenges are facing the industry today? 4) How does the industry play a role in the United States and/or global economy? In other

words, is it a growing/shrinking/steady industry? Why? How is it connected to other industries? Provide any details you can on how this industry plays a role in the broader economy.

From there, you will select one specific career within the cluster you would like to look at and do the following:

1) Identify 4 job descriptions that align with that career and try to understand what skills and preparation are common among those job descriptions. Are there significant differences or similarities among the job descriptions? What are they? Why do you think they exist?

2) Find two people (per group) who currently work in that career and do an informational interview using the questions you will develop in class.

3) Use what you learned from the paper and your career research to develop a 7-10 minute presentation on both the career cluster and specific career you researched that will help your peers learn more about this career so they can consider it for their own futures.

Include information on where the specific career fits in the overall career cluster you researched for your paper.

Final Career Portfolio (25%)

The final career portfolio is a starting point for your career development journey at Miami

University. The portfolio should include the following: - A copy of your first draft resume signed by a Career Assistant in Miami’s CS office with

feedback - A second resume draft that reflects changes made after the meeting with the Career

Assistant - A copy of your Mapping Your Miami Experience plan with your goals

- A copy of your LinkedIn profile (a print out from the internet or screen snapshot that

captures the information would be sufficient) - A reflection (1 page) on your experience in the course and how you intend to move

forward with your career planning after the course finishes

Class Participation (10%)

You will be graded on your class participation. Students who are actively engaged (i.e., verbally and non-verbally) in the class and come prepared for each class (i.e., have clearly completed

readings) will receive an A. Students who come to class and are sometimes engaged and sometimes have done the readings will receive a C. Students who are unengaged and unprepared

regularly will receive a grade of F.

Class Preparation/Outline

On the syllabus, where it says “read” please come to class having completed the reading listed

for that class. Where it says “do” please make sure the assignment is done PRIOR to class.

Class will be divided into two portions; the first portion will be for content delivery/discussion on the readings for class and the day’s topic. The second portion will be used as a lab and group work time. Knowing this, it is critical to come to class prepared so you can use the class time

well, otherwise you may have more work to do on your own outside of class. Class Topic Prepare For Class In Class After Class

2/3 You want to do what?

Career Services 101/Finding Your Future

Read: New Syllabus

2/5 What do you value?

Read: Summary Ch1. 1, 2 & 3 Brooks & Ch. 1 Pollak

Discuss: Ch. 1, 2 & 3 Brooks & Pollak Ch.1. Discuss: Focus 2 Results

Read: Brooks Ch. 1, 2 & 3 & Pollak. Ch. 1 Do: Focus 2

2/10 Why your classes matter.

Read: Brooks Ch. 4 Summary

Discuss Brooks Ch. 4 Read: Brooks Ch. 4 Do: Strengths Finder

2/12 What’s in a career?

Read: Brooks, Ch. 5 Summary Discuss: Brooks C. 5 Discuss: Strengths Finder

Read: Brooks Ch. 5

2/17 Exploring Possibilities and Finding Your Passion

Read: Brooks, Ch. 6 & Pollak Ch. 3 Summaries

Discuss: Brooks, Ch. 6 & Pollak Ch. 3 Researching Careers

Read: Brooks, Ch. 6 & Pollak Ch. 3

2/19 Exploring Possibilities

Do: Find three job descriptions that look interesting to you Do: Best Self-Reflection Due in Class

Discuss: Job descriptions

2/24 Networking to Support Career Exploration

Read: Pollak, Ch. 4 Summary Do: Develop a list of informational interviewing questions

Discuss: Linked-In Discuss: Informational Interviewing

Read: Pollak Ch. 4

2/26 Networking Do: Create a Linked-In Profile Linked-In profile critiques

3/3 Setting Yourself Up for Success

Read: Pollak Ch 5 & 6 Summaries Do: Career Research Paper Due

Discuss: Pollak Ch.5 & 6

Read: Pollak Ch.5 & 6

3/5 Having a Resume

Read: Brooks, Ch 8 & Pollak Ch. 7 Do: Come to class with a resume

Resumes 101

3/10 Sharing Careers Read: Career Research Papers Do: Visit a Career Assistant to have a resume review

In-class Presentations

3/12 Sharing Careers Read: Career Research Papers In-Class Presentations

3/17 Mapping Forward: Goal Setting and Planning

Do: Come to class with 3-5 career related goals written down

Mapping Your Miami Experience: Career-related Goal Setting for Your Next Four Years

3/19 Wrap Up! Do: Final Portfolio Due in Class