Guidelines for the Personal Career Plan Paper The Personal Career Plan Paper should be between 15 and 25 pages in length (including Appendices).  Higher quality papers are typically longer and more comprehensive than passing, but lower quality papers.  The Personal Career Plan should integrate and extend your learning and thinking as developed throughout the course, but particularly through the completion of the reading and various Career Action exercises in the Coursepack/DML text, as manifest ideally by including both the complete CA exercises (templates on Moodle) in the Appendix, and an analysis of their implications in the narrative.  That is to say, this paper should reflect the insights, recommendations and concepts presented in this text.  In addition, as specified below, the contents of homework assignments should be integrated into the paper.  While it is possible to earn a passing grade on this paper with a minimal inclusion of the Career Action material, papers aiming for the grade of “A” should explicitly integrate and/or include as much of that material as possible.   Specific recommendations for which material to include are provided below.  The paper should be professionally written, word-processed, and ideally, printed on a high quality laser or ink-jet printer, presented in an appropriate professional binding of an appropriate size (NOT a three ring binder!).  All pages should be numbered, and a Table of Contents based upon appropriate headings and subheadings, (including those specified below), should be used.  In addition, personally tailored introduction and conclusion sections should be employed, depending upon the contents of the individual paper.  The conclusion section should comment on the overall learning value of the course and this paper to you personally .  Spelling, grammar, style, and print quality will all be important components of the paper grade.  The paper should be organized around the following headings and content.  That is to say, you should use the following headings in this specific order to structure your paper . Introduction Explain the purpose and scope of the paper as it relates to your personal goals. Personal History This section of the paper should outline aspects of your personal background that relate to your attitudes, values, abilities, and occupational preferences.  Please specify your age, year in school, and major/minor as of this writing in this section.  Background material that is relevant to your talents, interests, and career aspirations should be presented here.  In particular, I would like to see a discussion of the development of your attitudes, values, abilities, and career interests from childhood until now .  Comments on the development of your values, interests, and abilities should ultimately be related to your current occupational interests, choices and goals. Skills, Talents and Abilities This section should identify the specific competencies and/or aptitu ...

1. Guidelines for the Personal Career Plan Paper
The Personal Career Plan Paper should be between 15 and 25
pages in length (including Appendices). Higher quality papers
are typically longer and more comprehensive than passing, but
lower quality papers. The Personal Career Plan should integrate
and extend your learning and thinking as developed throughout
the course, but particularly through the completion of the
reading and various Career Action exercises in the
Coursepack/DML text, as manifest ideally by including both the
complete CA exercises (templates on Moodle) in the Appendix,
and an analysis of their implications in the narrative. That is to
say, this paper should reflect the insights, recommendations and
concepts presented in this text. In addition, as specified below,
the contents of homework assignments should be integrated into
the paper.
While it is possible to earn a passing grade on this paper with a
minimal inclusion of the Career Action material, papers aiming
for the grade of “A” should explicitly integrate and/or include
as much of that material as possible.
Specific recommendations for which material to include are
provided below.
The paper should be professionally written, word-processed,
and ideally, printed on a high quality laser or ink-jet printer,
presented in an appropriate professional binding of an
appropriate size (NOT a three ring binder!). All pages should
be numbered, and a Table of Contents based upon appropriate
headings and subheadings, (including those specified below),
should be used. In addition, personally tailored introduction
and conclusion sections should be employed, depending upon
the contents of the individual paper.
The conclusion section should comment on the overall learning
value of the course and this paper to you personally
. Spelling, grammar, style, and print quality will all be

2. important components of the paper grade.
The paper should be organized around the following headings
and content. That is to say,
you should use the following headings in this specific order
to structure your paper
.
Introduction
Explain the purpose and scope of the paper as it relates to your
personal goals.
Personal History
This section of the paper should outline aspects of your
personal background that relate to your attitudes, values,
abilities, and occupational preferences. Please specify your
age, year in school, and major/minor as of this writing in this
section. Background material that is relevant to your talents,
interests, and career aspirations should be presented here. In
particular, I would like to see
a discussion of the development of your attitudes, values,
abilities, and career interests from childhood until now
. Comments on the development of your values, interests, and
abilities should ultimately be related to your current
occupational interests, choices and goals.
Skills, Talents and Abilities
This section should identify the specific competencies and/or
aptitudes that you possess that can be related to your various
occupational prospects, and should
identify your immediate career or occupational target

3. . As described in the Coursepack CH 7 “Career Exploration,”
your competencies should be categorized as (a) functional skills
(i.e., transferable competencies), (b)
work content skills
(i.e., job-specific skills), and (c)
adaptive skills
(i.e., personal qualities and work performance traits).
This section should reflect your work done on the assigned
Career Action exercises
. Specifically, you should integrate your responses to CA2-3:
Workplace Skills and Competencies Profile; CA2-4: Career
Competencies Inventory; CA3-1: Education, Training, and
Activities Inventory; CA3-2: Experience and Skills Inventory;
and from CA3-4: Values, Preferences, and Personal Qualities
Inventory, specifically Part 3: Personal Qualities and Work
Performance Traits.
You should summarize the relevant results of these exercises in
brief, neatly typed tables
in the body of the text. It would be preferable to use brief
summary tables in the body of the text (including 3-5 or more of
your strongest skills in each of the three categories, drawn from
across the five listed Career Actions), with the more elaborate
and complete content (including the files you created using the
Moodle templates for each exercise) presented in appropriately
labeled and referenced appendices. Your goal in this section is
to identify and explain the unique set of capabilities that you
will personally bring to your chosen occupation and employer.
Better papers will provide many examples of relevant skills
from multiple Career Actions, and will provide narrative
examples and explanations of their relevance to your career
target.
Note that this section could be a revision and elaboration of
the Work Abilities portion of Homework #1.
Personal Values

4. In this section you should
outline and explain the personal and work values that you hold
which relate to your goals for life and work, and describe your
preferred working environment
.
Identify the values and satisfactions that you seek in your
life’s work, as well as the type of lifestyle you hope to enjoy.
Include in this section a discussion of the
salary
,
type/region of the country
and/or world
that you would like to live and work in (e.g., urban, suburban,
or rural employment in the northeast, Midwest, Brazil, London,
etc.), as well as a brief description of the
type of working environment
in which you would like to be employed. This section should
integrate your work on CA3-4: Values, Preferences, and
Personal Qualities Inventory, specifically Parts 1: Values and
Part 2: Work Environment Preferences,
as well a
s the Ryan Brook Values Inventory
(contained in the Coursepack and available electronically on
Moodle). You should
summarize the results of these exercises in neatly typed tables
either in the body of the text or in appendices. As in the
previous section, it would be preferable to use brief summary
tables in the body of the text (listing your 3-5 top values and 3-
5 top work preferences), with the more elaborate and complete
content from the Moodle templates and overall summary of the
Ryan Brook Values Inventory presented in appropriately labeled
and referenced appendices. Better papers will explain why the
set of values and work preferences that you have are a good
match for your career target. Note that this section could be a

5. revision and elaboration of the Work Values portion of
Homework #1.
Concrete Career Goals
This section should be tailored to your thinking at the present
time through the selection of one of the following two possible
emphases:
Long Term Emphasis:
Select this approach if you are reasonably certain of your long
term occupational interests and goals. Specify the general
occupation that you plan to engage in during your lifetime, and
identify a potential career path or career ladder that you might
follow to achieve your long term goal over the next 5 to 15+
years. That is, identify one or more entry level positions that
you might seek upon graduation from college, as well as a
sequence of logical promotions and/or transfers during the mid-
career stage which can be expected to facilitate your
achievement of your long-term career goal.
Short Term Emphasis:
Select this approach if you are still relatively uncertain of your
long term occupational interests and goals, and wish to gain
some full-time work experience in order to clarify these. In this
approach, you should identify two to five occupational
prospects and/or entry level jobs that interest you and would be
a good match for your personal background and characteristics.
Briefly explain why each of these prospects/jobs would be a
good match for you. Out of this list of two to five prospects,
identify the single prospect that is your top choice at the present
time.
Integration of Personal Characteristics and Occupational Goals

6. In this section you should specify the occupation and/or
position that you hope to obtain upon graduation, and explain in
detail why that occupation/position is appropriate for you. That
is,
explain how the requirements and opportunities offered by the
job prospect
(in terms of the Occupational Outlook Handbook dimensions of
“What They Do;” “Work Environment;” “How to Become One;”
“Pay;” and “Job Outlook”
) provide a good match for your personal characteristics as
outlined earlier in this paper
(i.e., Personal History, Skills, Talents and Abilities, and
Personal Values, including salary, desired location, and working
environment).
This section of the paper will require that you demonstrate
research on your chosen occupation(s). You should look up
your occupation(s) in the Occupational Outlook Handbook,
O*NET, New Guide to Occupational Exploration, or in other
appropriate sources as necessary. Use the library references
available though PSU and/or the Internet to collect relevant
information that will allow you to demonstrate that the chosen
prospect is a good match for your personal characteristics,
goals, and desires.
Be sure to list all of your research sources in the bibliography
at the end of your paper. Note that the bibliography is very
important. More research demonstrated through the
bibliography will yield a higher grade.
Include
a section in the appendix that summarizes
CA 3-7: Job Qualifications Profile
for your chosen job. Better papers will provide a clear and
concrete integration of your personal characteristics with the
demands and opportunities of the occupation/job prospect,
written to integrate the content of CA 3-7 within the five
subheadings listed above from the Occupational Outlook
Handbook. Note that this section could be a revision and

7. elaboration of the analysis you did for Homework #2.
Potential Organizational Choices
Identify and research one organization that hires people (with
the type of qualifications that you possess) into your chosen
occupation within your desired location. The organization you
research can be different from the one in your job
listing/tailored resume. It should be an organization that sounds
exciting to you, to allow you to research and identify those
aspects of that organization that particularly appeal to you.
Explain how your research on the organization’s policies,
structure, culture, and strategic outlook demonstrates that they
would be appropriate places for you to work.
That is, use your research to demonstrate that the salary range,
location, working environment, and other aspects of the
organization and job would be a good match for your personal
preferences. Note that this discussion is to
focus not on what you want, but what the company has
for policies, structure, culture, and strategic outlook.
You are expected to research a minimum of one organization
, explaining the relevant dimensions just outlined in detail. You
should use PSU library, Internet (such as Vault, Glassdoor, and
multiple creative problem solving online searches), as well as
any personally requested information (such as email, annual
reports, etc.) as resources in this section. I expect to see
detailed research on at least one company
that you might like to work for in this section.
Be sure to list all of your research sources
(including personal interviews)
in the bibliography
at the end of your paper.
I would recommend that you
use four subheadings in this section

8. :
Policies
(describing salary and benefit structures, specific policies on
sexual harassment, security, political activities, etc.);
Structure
(describing the size of the organization and how it is structured;
e.g., number of divisions or locations, level of decentralization,
etc.);
Culture
(including the mission and values, expectations for employee
behavior such as egalitarian versus hierarchical, etc.); and
Strategic Outlook
(describing the degree to which the organization can be
expected to grow, remain stable, or decline in the future, thus
impacting your longer term career prospects). Note that this is a
frequent weak point in previous student’s papers. It will
require effort to research a company beyond the content of a job
posting. Note that this is NOT a description of the requirements
necessary to get the job as listed in the job posting; rather, it is
a description of the whole company or organization in the
aggregate. Better papers will review the company’s website in
detail, and often obtain further information from news reports,
interviews, online social networking sites or informational sites
such as Vault.com, and/or other sources as well.
Personal Job Search Plan
Using the material presented in the Harwood text, class
discussions, and recommended Internet links,
outline your specific plan for locating and becoming hired into
your entry level job
. That is, explain how you will generate interest in your job
candidacy among individual decision makers in appropriate
organizations.
Develop and present a concrete networking plan for penetrating
the “hidden” job market

9. .
Specify in detail the things that you have done and plan to do
in order to maximize the probability of obtaining your ideal
job.
Include your resume
in an appendix, and
explain
in this section
why you have used the specific approach to your resume
(i.e., chronological, functional, or combination) that you have
in order to achieve your stated career goals. Also
include
in an appendix an advertisement or
job posting
similar to your ideal,
as well as a cover letter
expressing your interest in that position. Both the resume and
cover letter should be clearly and appropriately tailored to the
specific job posting that you use. Note that this section may be
tailored to individual needs for an existing or promised job with
no posting, or to application for graduate school.
If you wish to use an approach other than tailoring to a standard
job posting, you should discuss that with me before submitting
your paper for specific guidance on how to do this
.
In this section, I will be looking for extensive application of the
material from the DML text.
In particular, you should
include a table summarizing information about the people your
Personal Career Network
; (please include the title, position, and organizational
affiliation of each person in this table). If you conducted a
Career Information Survey meeting, you should specify the
details of who you met with, what you discussed, and what you
learned from the interviews. This could be a reworking of the
material you developed for optional Homework #4. The job

10. posting, cover letter, and resume could be a reworking of the
materials submitted and critiqued for Homework #3. Better
papers will describe a detailed information gathering plan for
generating job leads, including a concrete networking plan
listing names, company affiliations, addresses, occupations,
relationship to you, etc., for all relevant contacts. Such papers
will also include a highly polished and refined resume tailored
to a concrete personal job objective which is aligned with the
contents and focus of this personal career plan.
Integrative General Education Insights
Based upon the various class discussions, readings, and
exercises in the course,
explain how your learning through various general education
perspectives has been integrated into your career planning
process, and will likely impact upon both your life and career
development in the decades to come
. Follow the guidelines for the General Education Integration
Exercise in explicitly integrating comments on the various
general education perspectives offered at PSU. Remember that
the emphasis here should be on the perspectives in a generic
sense, and not on the content of individual courses. In
particular, relevant comments should be made regarding the
contributions or relevance of the philosophical, technological,
and social/psychological perspectives to your analysis, thinking,
and decision-making in this paper. If appropriate, the historical
and global perspectives should also be integrated. Note that
this has been a frequent weak section in previous papers. Better
papers will provide insightful analysis of how your personal
career development and success will be dependent upon
integrating an understanding of issues or problems through
multiple disciplinary perspectives, and will include the use of
perspective concepts and definitions.
Bibliography

11. Provide a
complete listing
of all source and research material used in the development of
this paper.
Be sure to include complete bibliographic and Internet
references
in appropriate format
(see for example,
http://citationmachine.net/
). The links available in the syllabus are an excellent way to
achieve success here. In a general sense, you may follow APA
format in listing references, although any generally accepted
reference style will be acceptable. Note that
Internet citations should include a narrative description of the
material used, the date accessed, and the complete URL.
The following brief description provides some examples:
Humanities Style
To cite files available on the WWW, give the author's name,
last name first (if known); the full title of the work, in quotation
marks; the title of the complete work (if applicable), in italics;
any version or file numbers; and the date of the document or
last revision (if available). Next, list the protocol (e.g., "http")
and the full URL, followed by the date of access in parentheses.
Burka, Lauren P. "A Hypertext History of Multi-User
Dimensions."
MUD History
. 1993. http://www.utopia.com/talent/ lpb/muddex/essay (2
Aug. 1996).
Scientific Style
Give the author's last name and initials (if known) and the date
of publication in parentheses. Next, list the full title of the

12. work, capitalizing only the first word and any proper nouns; the
title of the complete work or site (if applicable) in italics, again
capitalizing only the first word and any proper nouns; any
version or file numbers, enclosed in parentheses; the protocol
and address, including the path or directories necessary to
access the document; and finally the date accessed, enclosed in
parentheses.
Burka, L. P. (1993). A hypertext history of multi-user
dimensions.
MUD history
. http://www.utopia.com/talent/ lpb/muddex/essay (2 Aug.
1996).
Further questions regarding format should be addressed to the
reference librarians. The material in this section will be used to
judge the depth of your research effort, in addition to the actual
content provided in the paper.
Conclusion
Comment on the overall learning value of the course and this
paper to you personally
General Summary
The paper will be graded by section, using the form on the
following page. The overall paper grade will be the arithmetic
average of each of the individual components.
Contents of the appendices should be appropriately labeled,
both on the documents themselves and in the Table of Contents.
Any material presented in an appendix should be explicitly
referenced at the appropriate point in the body of the paper
, and not simply “added on.”

13. Personal Career Plan Paper Evaluation
Name
_________________________________________________
Date ___________
Grade
Paper Dimension
Presentation
(including spelling, grammar, style, binding, presentation
quality, appendices)
Personal History (including development of attitudes, values,
abilities from childhood and culminating in current occupational
interests)
Skills, Talents and Abilities (including CA exercises 2-3, 2-4,
3-1, 3-2)

14. Personal Values
(specifying
salary, location, working environment
, and including CA3-4
and
the Ryan Brook Values Inventory rankings from the
Coursepack)
Concrete Career Goals
(based on either a short term or a long term emphasis)
Integration of Personal Characteristics and Occupational Goals
(requires reference citations and inclusion of CA 3-7: Job
Qualifications Profile)
Potential Organizational Choices (requires appropriate reference
citations and description of company policies, structure, culture,
and strategic outlook)
Personal Job Search Plan (including resume, cover letter and
job posting, as well as Personal Career Network member
information in a separate table along with your narrative)
Integrative General Education Insights (including multiple

15. disciplinary perspectives used to understand issues related to
your personal career development)
Bibliography (using appropriate print and Internet citation
style)
Final Grade
(average of the above components)
Resume Grade = ______