ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND / WHY WE’RE DOING THIS
Creating a list of goals is great, but figuring out how to actually put those goals into action and achieve them can be challenging. Luckily there are individuals out there who have already gone through many similar experiences to what we’re facing, and now have careers or lives that are similar to what you wish to achieve.
These initial papers will give us insight into our profession and will allow us to think more critically about what we may want to do with our careers.
OBJECTIVES
By the time we’re done with this project, we will be able to do the following:
- Better understand steps necessary for moving towards our personal and professional goals.
STEPS
///////// INTERVIEWS
The following steps will help you complete the assignment. Remember, simply completing the below directions will not necessarily guarantee an ‘A’ — please refer to the syllabus for a breakdown and description of letter grades.
- Find 3 different individuals who have our ‘dream jobs,’ and interview them. There are many different questions you can and should ask, and for this assignment you are required to get answers to the following questions at minimum:
- What is your educational background?
- What kind of work did you do after you graduated?
- How did you get your foot in the door doing what you’re doing now?
- Do you have any advice as to what I should focus on in school?
- If you could give your younger self advice on the day you graduated, what would it be?
- Although only 3 interviews are required, it is strongly suggested that you try contacting more than 3 individuals, as one or more may not respond in time. Correspondence via phone or email may be the quickest, although if you can meet your interviewees in-person, that is great. In order to get credit, you must produce 3 completed interviews, or present proof that you made requests and follow-ups to at least 15 people.
- After completing your interviews, write a 200–250 word summary for each interview (at least 3). Make sure to include the name of the individual, where they are located, what their title is, where they work (if applicable), how you contacted them and when you interviewed them. These required elements do not count towards your 200–250 words.
- Each student will be required to post their interview summaries on a blog on Blackboard (each interview should be a separate blog post – you will create 3 blog posts).
- Each student must then post 3 comments written in at least 3 complete sentences on 3 different people’s posts (you can’t do all 3 of one person’s posts).
GRADING
To get credit for this assignment, you will need to submit the following:
- THREE blog posts: each post is a 200–250 word summary about your interviewees’ responses to your questions, due on Blackboard (3 points each)
- THREE, 3-sentence comments on other people’s posts (3 points each)
///////// AUTOMATIC FAILURE
- Assignment not received on time
- Summary does not answer the above questions
- Summaries are longer than 250 words, each
- Missing one or more interviewees
- Missing required comments