ENGL
496: Career Path Portfolio
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The purpose of this project is to afford you the opportunity
to build a Career Path Portfolio as you begin the transition from your
undergraduate education as an English major toward meaningful work in the world
after graduation. Your Career Path
Portfolio will consist of: 1) Search for a Position, 2)
Resume Created for that Position,
3) Cover Letter to Apply for that
Position.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most people change careers three times in their lives and change jobs at least seven times. This project will help you prepare for your “next move” along the path of your professional life. You will begin the process of seeking a job, internship, volunteer service placement, or graduate /professional degree program upon completing your B. A. in English.
The project consists of three components, each of which
you will keep in your “Career Path Portfolio”:
1) Search for a Position: This involves using a variety of tools as you search for a job, internship, volunteer service opportunity, graduate or professional school program. You will find an advertisement for a particular job, or an announcement about a graduate or professional school program, an internship, or a volunteer service organization for which you would like to apply. You will use the information in this ad or publication in order to create or revise your resume and write a cover letter in which you apply for the position. You will also keep a copy of all materials you gather (ads, web sites, brochures, announcements, printed materials, etc.), which you think will be potentially useful in your search for a position. These will also go in your Career Path Portfolio.
You may use any number of sources to find your “ideal” placement for next year, given your immediate and future goals: the Internet, the RU Career Placement and Planning Office, the career opportunities sections of national newspapers or other publications, the career opportunities section of local newspapers from the city in which you would like to work, web pages or recruitment materials from various universities with graduate and professional degree programs, or other sources of job ads. You will keep in your Career Path Portfolio a copy of all the materials you examine in your search.
Job ad or information about
other future placement due: April 10
2) Resume tailored to the position you seek. You will create or revise your resume so that you present your education, work experiences, volunteer activities, community activities, and other kinds of expertise in a way that emphasizes your qualifications for the position you seek.
3) Cover letter in which you apply for the position you seek. You will write a cover letter in which you explain why you are seeking the position with this particular place (what, specifically, about the place do you value?), what interests you about this opportunity, how your education has provided you with “transferable skills” that will enable you to succeed in that position, how the skills you have acquired in other jobs also prepare you for it, and how your skills and qualifications will fit into and enhance the mission of the place to which you are applying.
If you already have a resume, copy it onto a floppy disk and
bring it to all the classes that will meet in
Due Date: Career
Path Portfolio is due either at the end of our last class meeting (April 24) or
at the beginning of the final exam time.
I urge you to submit it on the last night of class.
Here are some web sites to help you get started:
Google Career Opportunities: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-&q=career+opportunities&btnG=Google+Search
Monster Job Site: http://www.monster.com/
Google Volunteer Service Opportunities: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=volunteer+service+opportunities&btnG=Google+Search
AmeriCopr Volunteer Service Opportunities: http://www.cnvs.org/amcorps.htm
Catholic Network of Volunteer Services: http://www.cnvs.org/
Jesuit Volunteers International: http://www.jesuitvolunteers.org/
Google Internship Opportunities: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=internships&btnG=Google+Search
You can also go to http://www.google.com and do a search for the kind of position you are seeking (e.g.: volunteer service, career placement, internships, international internships, teaching positions, jobs in publishing, jobs in human resources management and labor relations, etc).
Baker's Home Page | 496 Description | 496 Requirements | Course Descriptions and Syllabi