Student Success/Career Exploration

This lesson introduces career exploration. In this lesson you will learn about career planning, career paths, college majors, professional skills, career development, professional networking, resumes, cover letters, and interviewing.

Objectives and Skills

Objectives and skills for this lesson include:

Correlate your short-term goals with longer-range ambitions^[1]
Explain the five-step process for choosing a career, which includes aligning your personal interests and skills with appropriate fields^[2]
Identify the relationship between college majors and career paths (both why they matter and why they don’t)^[3]
Explain how to acquire necessary skills, both in and out of class, for your career goals^[4]
Identify career development resources in your school, community, and beyond^[5]
Define network and identify strategies for networking^[6]
Identify characteristics of an effective cover letter and resume^[7]
Describe effective strategies to prepare for an interview^[8]

Readings

Multimedia

Activities

Explore student services.
- Contact the college's Counseling Services to learn about career counseling options.
- Contact the college Career Center to learn about career planning and job placement resources available to students and alumni.
Explore career options.
- Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Career Paths.
- Complete one or more of the following:
  Note, if your school has contracted with a specific career planning service, such as Focus 2 Career, use that service instead.
  - Complete the Monterey Peninsula College CareerLink Inventory.
  - Explore the College Board Career Finder.
  - Complete the U.S. Department of Labor CareerOneStop Skills Matcher
Create a career plan. Complete one or more of the following:
- Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Career Development and develop a task list.
- Complete the tutorial GCFLearnFree: Career Planning and Salary. Then download and fill out the GCFLearnFree: Career Planning Worksheet.
- Complete the tutorial GCFLearnFree: Job Search and Networking. Then download and fill out the GCFLearnFree: Personal Branding Worksheet.
- Use the BLS.gov: Occupational Outlook Handbook and Salary.com to research job prospects, education requirements, and current salary ranges for one or more career job titles that interest you.
Assess your soft skills.
- Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Professional Skill Building.
- Self-assess one or more of the listed skill areas. Make note of any opportunities for improvement and develop a plan to enhance your skills.
Network with professionals in your field.
- Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Networking.
- Identify professionals in your field and follow them on social media.
- Reach out to local professionals in your field and ask to interview them and/or job shadow them for a day.
- Research organizations in your area that might have internship opportunities in your field and ask what qualifications they look for in the interns they hire.
Create a resume.
- Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Resumes and Cover Letters.
- Complete the tutorial GCFLearnFree: Resume Writing. Use a sample resume template and create your own resume.
Create a cover letter.
- Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Interviewing.
- Search for available jobs in your field. Then use a sample cover letter template and create a cover letter for one of the positions.
Create or update your LinkedIn profile.
- Review LinkedIn For Students.
- Complete the tutorial GCFLearnFree: LinkedIn Basics.
- Create or update your LinkedIn profile. Add your summary, experience, and education.
Blog / Journal / Wiki
- Update your blog, journal, or wiki page summarizing your experience this week. Include a list of resources and links or contact information for each resource.

Lesson Summary

The Big Picture

Career planning recommendations include:^[9]

Understand your motivations.
Understand what is necessary to be college and career ready.
Find a mentor.
Enroll in a career exploration or planning course (such as this one).
Complete a job shadow or informational interview.
Do an internship.

Career Paths

Follow a five-step decision process to make your career path a little easier to find:^[10]

Get to know yourself
Get to know your field
Prioritize your “deal makers” and rule out your “deal breakers”
Make a preliminary career decision and create a plan of action
Go out and achieve your career goal

College Majors

Tips for selecting your college major include:^[11]

Narrow your choices by deciding what you don’t like.
Explore careers that might interest you. Ask questions.
Use your school’s resources.
Ask your teacher, counselor, and family about your strengths.
60 percent of students change their majors.
Your major isn’t going to define your life. But choosing one that interests you will make your college experience much more rewarding.
Go on informational interviews with people in careers that interest you.
There’s no pressure to decide now.
Take new classes and discover your interests.

Take advantage of available resources, including:^[12]

College course catalog
Faculty and academic advisers at your college
Fellow students and graduating seniors
Students who have graduated
Your family and social communities
A career center

Professional Skill Building

There are are two main types of skills that employers look for: hard skills and soft skills.

Hard skills are concrete or objective abilities that you learn and perhaps have mastered.^[13]
Soft skills are a combination of people skills, social skills, communication skills, character or personality traits, attitudes, career attributes, social intelligence and emotional intelligence quotients, among others, that enable people to navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills.^[14]

Career Development

There are five main stages of career development:^[15]

Growing (ages 4-13)
Exploring (teen - mid-twenties)
Establishing (mid-twenties - mid-forties)
Maintaining (mid-forties - mid-sixties)
Reinventing (retirement or new career)

PDCA (plan–do–check–act or plan–do–check–adjust) is an iterative four-step process used for continuous improvement:^[16]^[17]

Plan your approach
Do (follow) your plan
Check your results
Act or adjust based on what you have learned

Networking

Networking is the process by which people build relationships with one another for the purpose of helping one another achieve professional goals. Strategies for networking include:^[18]

Get to know your professors
Check with your college's alumni office
Check with classmates
Join professional organizations
Volunteer
Get an internship
Get a part-time job
Join a club
Attend networking events
Conduct informational interviews
Participate in online social media
Ask family members and friends, coworkers, and acquaintances for referrals
Use business cards or networking cards

Resumes and Cover Letters

Your resume is an inventory of your education, work experience, job-related skills, accomplishments, volunteer history, internships, residencies, and/or more.^[19]

Resume formats include:^[20]

Reverse chronological resume
Functional resume
Hybrid resume
Video, infographic, and Web-site resume

Resumes include:^[21]

Your contact information
A summary of your skills
Work experience
Volunteer experience
Education and training
References statement

Things to avoid:^[22]

Do not mention your age, gender, height or weight.
Do not include your social security number.
Do not mention religious beliefs or political affiliations, unless they are relevant to the position.
Do not include a photograph of yourself or a physical description.
Do not mention health issues.
Do not use first-person references. (I, me).
Do not include wage/salary expectations.
Do not use abbreviations.

Tips for a successful resume include:^[23]

Aim to make a resume that’s 1–2 pages long on letter-size paper.
Make it visually appealing.
Use action verbs and phrases. See Action Words and Phrases for Resume Development.
Proofread carefully to eliminate any spelling, grammar, punctuation, and typographical errors.
Include highlights of your qualifications or skills to attract an employer’s attention.
Craft your letter as a pitch to people in the profession you plan to work in.
Stand out as different, courageous.
Be positive and reflect only the truth.
Be excited and optimistic about your job prospects!
Keep refining and reworking your resume; it’s an ongoing project.

A cover letter is a letter of introduction, usually 3–4 paragraphs in length, that you attach to your resume. Cover letters should accomplish the following:^[24]

Get the attention of the prospective employer
Set you apart from any possible competition
Identify the position you are interested in
Specify how you learned about the position or company
Present highlights of your skills and accomplishments
Reflect your genuine interest
Please the eye and ear

Interviewing

When preparing for a job interview:^[25]

Review the Job Description
Research the Company or Organization
Practice Answering Common Questions
Plan to Dress Appropriately
Come Prepared
Be Confident

Interview types include:^[26]

Screening Interviews
Phone or Web Conference Interviews
One-on-One Interviews
Panel Interviews
Serial Interviews
Lunch Interviews
Group Interviews

Key Terms

References

← Finances

Student Success

Conclusion →

[1] Lumen: College Success - The Big Picture

[2] Lumen: College Success - Career Paths

[3] Lumen: College Success - College Majors

[4] Lumen: College Success - Professional Skill Building

[5] Lumen: College Success - Career Development

[6] Lumen: College Success - Networking

[7] Lumen: College Success - Resumes and Cover Letters

[8] Lumen: College Success - Interviewing

[9] Lumen: College Success - The Big Picture

[10] Lumen: College Success - Career Paths

[11] Lumen: College Success - College Majors

[12] Lumen: College Success - College Majors

[13] Lumen: College Success - Professional Skill Building

[14] Wikipedia: Soft skills

[15] Lumen: College Success - Career Development

[16] Wikipedia: PDCA

[17] Lumen: College Success - Career Development

[18] Lumen: College Success - Networking

[19] Lumen: College Success - Resumes and Cover Letters

[20] Lumen: College Success - Resumes and Cover Letters

[21] Lumen: College Success - Resumes and Cover Letters

[22] Lumen: College Success - Resumes and Cover Letters

[23] Lumen: College Success - Resumes and Cover Letters

[24] Lumen: College Success - Resumes and Cover Letters

[25] Lumen: College Success - Interviewing

[26] Lumen: College Success - Interviewing

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