Assignment 1.c - Developing Career Goals

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Ch. 1 -	Developing Your Career Goals

Starting Your
Career Plan

Ch. 1 - Developing Your Career Goals At this time it is important for you to put your dream down into writing. If you did not download the Ch. 1 - Work Sheet, go back to the Ch. 1 - Index page now. Download the ch. 1 Work Sheet and then return to this page.
If you know what your dream is, use the outline listed below and start writing about it now. If you have several things in mind and nothing is a passion with you, follow the next few steps. Take out a piece of paper and make a list of the most important things in life to you. After you have finished this list make another list of careers of jobs you would like to consider. Is there any career or job that stands out among those listed? How well does it fit with the list of important things in your life. Select one career of job and use this for the focus of this career planning assignment.
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Step One

Design Draft: It is important to have some structure to your initial career writing. First you should develop a rough draft about your career ideas. The draft should be created on a word processor, or if you prefer to hand write the draft (use a separate piece of paper for each section). Your draft will include seven sections, each will be separated with its heading. This allows for additions, changes or deletions as you review this draft by yourself and with others.

Below you will find the format for your Design Draft. When you have completed this step move on to the next.

Section 1. INTRODUCTION, A brief introduction of yourself, who you are, where you grew up, what has influenced you, and what is important to you.
Section 2. YOUR DREAM: What do you want for yourself?
Section 3. PERSONAL STRENGTHS: What strengths do you bring to this decision, and what personal traits will you have to develop?
Section 4. PROFESSIONAL SKILLS: What professional skills do you possess?
Section 5. INDUSTRY INFORMATION: What information have you gathered so far about the industry or career field that interests you? What do you know about its job market? What education, training, skills will you need to be successful?
Section 6. PRESENT PLAN: Outline your present career plan, the parts and a time line?
Section 7. CONCLUSION: What do you think your career goals should be? What other conclusions do you draw from what you have just written?

Step Two

Rough Draft Consolidation: Next develop your consolidated rough draft from your design draft and notes. Make sure that you have written one or more paragraphs for each section. Make a heading for each of these sections matches the seven (7) given to your in Step One. Organize the information so that it has a flow and sequence that makes it easy to understand. Remember to take your time, this is not just an ordinary assignment, it is a draft of the plan for the next few years of your life.
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Step Three	Peer Review: When you have completed your design draft it is important to get feedback from others. This review will give you objective feedback on the completeness, organization and structure of your design draft. This stage is essential to laying a good foundation to your career plan. Find two or three people whose opinion you trust and read your draft to them. This is usually a constructive experience and they may find some missing pieces to your design or give you additional positive suggestions. ,
Step Four	Final Draft: After completing your rough draft, edit and complete on a computer word processor the final draft. You should use the spell check on the word processor or a dictionary to check all spelling and grammar. This will be the first formal step in your career planning process. This is the evaluation of your present plan. This original plan will probably be revised and improved as you proceed in this monograph. Good luck and have fun, remember it is your life you are planning. Be ambitious and do your best. Put a heading on your final draft with the following information on it. My Career Dream Draft #1 By: (Your Name) Date: (date submitted) .
Conclusion	This may seem like a lot of work, but trust me it will be something you will use over and over again. It will also be something you will be proud to show others, the design of your professional life. Now get out the seven sections and start planning your life. Complete only the first step before reviewing your career plan with your work group. When this review step is finished, complete the rest of the steps. Remember the major focus of this writing is to develop your career goals. This writing should be fun because it is as real as things get! This is your life! When you have completed all of this assignment send it to me via e-mail and attach the work sheet. Then you can continue with Ch. 2 Gathering Personal Information or quit at this time.


	Ch. 2 Assignment