SLS 1301
Career Planning
and the
World of Work
One of the most important decisions you will ever have to make concerns your choice of careers. And the experts tell us that it is likely that you may have to make this decision more than once in your lifetime, perhaps as many as three or four times. So it makes good sense to obtain skills that will assist you in making sound career decisions. This course will provide those skills. Please review the course syllabus for an overview of the course.
Syllabus
| Course Information | |
| Course title: | Career Planning and the World of Work |
| Course number: | SLS 1301 |
| Course description: | This course assumes that career choice is a continuous process involving the understanding of self and one's environment. Using assessment instruments as well as group discussion, students will utilize decision-making techniques to select a career direction which is compatible with their aptitudes, abilities, interests, and personal values. |
| Textbooks | |
| Required reading: | The Career Fitness Program: Exercising Your Options, Diane Sukiennik, William Bendat, and Lisa Raufman, Pearson/ Prentice Hall, Seventh Edition/2004, 0-13-049615-4 |
| Instructor Information | |
| Name: | Jane H. Bryant |
| Email: | jhbryant@fccj.edu |
| Office location: | South Campus U-116 |
| Office hours: | Virtual- I will normally answer email on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. |
| Phone: | 904 646-2105 |
| Course Goals | |
| Course goals: | 1. To understand that the components of career choice include career, personal, and educational awareness 2. To recognize that a career is a life-long process that involves continuous evaluation and reprioritizing of values 3. To learn how to identify your personal interests, skills, and values and compare them with several career options 4. To learn the skills involved in researching and acquiring a job 5. To learn how to make decisions and set short- and long-term goals |
| Grading Policy | |
| Introduction: | This course will be graded on a point basis. There will be twelve (12) quizzes worth 20 points each for a total of 240 points including a comprehensive final exam. There will be eleven (11) Exercise Summaries worth 20 points each for a total 220 points. There will be two (2) Summary Papers. The first Summary Paper will cover Chapters 1-8 and will be worth 100 points. The second Summary Paper will cover Chapters 9-12 and will be worth 40 points. Total Possible Points=600. Grading Scale: A = 550 -600 points; B = 450 - 549 points; C = 350 - 449 points; D = 250 - 349 points; F = 0 - 249 points |
| Chapter 1 | |
| Lesson: | Taking Stock |
| Objectives or Goals: | The unexamined life is not worth living. —Socrates- At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. differentiate between a job and a career 2. identify life stages as they relate to career planning 3. understand why personal assessment is the key factor leading to career satisfaction |
| Chapter 2 | |
| Lesson: | Programming Yourself for Success |
| Objectives or Goals: | Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t . . . you’re right. —Henry Ford - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. discuss why building self-esteem is important in developing a successful career plan 2. identify specific components of the success profile 3. recognize approaches and techniques for creating opportunities for success in your career planning |
| Chapter 3 | |
| Lesson: | Values Clarification |
| Objectives or Goals: | He who has a why can endure any how. —Nietzsche - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. define and clarify your values 2. discuss how your values motivate you 3. describe how your values affect your career decisions |
| Chapter 4 | |
| Lesson: | Focusing on You: Personality and Interests |
| Objectives or Goals: | How can one separate personality from work? They blend together to form who I am and what I wish to be. —Bill Clinton - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. list differences in personality types 2. explain your own personality type 3. recognize how personality type relates to career planning 4. identify college majors that interest you 5. match your interests to occupations, using the Worker Trait Groups and other inventories |
| Chapter 5 | |
| Lesson: | Skills Assessment |
| Objectives or Goals: | When we do more than we are paid to do, eventually we will be paid more for what we do. —Zig Ziglar - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. discuss the importance of skills in your career search 2. define and identify your skills 3. recognize the power of the transferability of your skills 4. use the language of skills in writing your resume and preparing for an interview |
| Chapter 6 | |
| Lesson: | The World and You |
| Objectives or Goals: | Never look back unless you are planning to go that way. —Confucius - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. identify personal beliefs and assumptions that will affect your career 2. Recognize how social and cultural conditioning influences your career choice 3. identify trends that will affect your career planning through the next decade 4. list changes in the workplace 5. recognize the skills employers expect in new employees Learn the value of a liberal arts degree |
| Chapter 7 | |
| Lesson: | Information Integration |
| Objectives or Goals: | Knowledge is power, but only when it is used. —Kahlil Gibran - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. brainstorm possible career options based on information you learned about your attitudes, beliefs, interests, personality, and skills. 2. adopt a strategy to approach occupational research that will enhance your efficiency and effectiveness. 3. list printed and computerized sources of information to use in further clarifying your career choices. 4. use your skills to gather information about specific occupations and career-related opportunities by using library materials and computerized resources. 5. confirm or revise your first impressions about your top career choices |
| Chapter 8 | |
| Lesson: | Making Decisions |
| Objectives or Goals: | Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. —James Bryant Conant - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. describe and explore your own decision-making process 2. apply the principles of decision making to your career search 3. identify psychological barriers to decision making and develop alternative strategies for success 4. write a clear objective 5. summarize insights gained from past chapters and identify potential occupations 6. make tentative career/education/training choices 7. define and use stress management techniques |
| Summary Paper 1 ( Chapters 1-8 ) | |
| Putting It All Together : | Please look back over your Exercise Summaries from Chapters 1-8 and fill in as much of the Exercise Summaries on pages 203-208 as you can. Then complete the following exercises on pages 209-212: Quick Impressions and Information Integration and Goal Setting. Develop a three page paper integrating the knowledge you have gained about yourself and how you fit into the world of work. Be sure to include material from all eight chapters. |
| Chapter 9 | |
| Lesson: | Targeting Your Job Search |
| Objectives or Goals: | Nobody should think they can just coast through life on the basis of gifts that they have nothing to do with in the first place. You have to pay your dues and do your homework. —Steve Allen - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. identify the components of a successful job search 2. begin the process of searching for a job 3. explain how to find the hidden job market |
| Chapter 10 | |
| Lesson: | Preparing a Winning Resume |
| Objectives or Goals: | Well done is much better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin - At the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. list the advantages of developing a resume 2. identify guidelines for resume preparation 3. write a resume and cover letter |
| Chapter 11 | |
| Lesson: | Interviewing Successfully |
| Objectives or Goals: | I’m turned off by people who haven’t done their homework. —Donald Kendall, chair, PepsiCo - At the end of the chapter, you will be able to: 1. describe the art of interviewing 2. summarize how to prepare for an interview 3. use guidelines and techniques for good interviewing |
| Chapter 12 | |
| Lesson: | Future Focus |
| Objectives or Goals: | There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. —John F. Kennedy - At the end of the chapter, you will be able to: 1. understand the concept of lifelong career management and career fitness 2. recognize the role of the future in your current career-planning efforts 3. explain the philosophy of personal empowerment and career flexibility |
| Summary Paper 2 ( Chapters 9-12 ) | |
| Look back over your Exercise Summaries
for Chapters 9-11 and the reading assignment for Chapter 12 and develop
a three page paper summarizing your experiences and describing what
you've learned.
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